This Science of Skinny, by Dee McCaffrey, is the last book in 2014. I had seen this book several times on the shelf but the name had turned me off to reading it. I have been "skinny" all my life and also very unhealthy. I often feel like the goal of being skinny gets a bad reputation due to the lengths of bad health choices people make to get there.
However, in reading Michael Pollans books, my kindle started recommending books like his. I will review some of his books later for you all. They are quite frankly amazing in explaining our relationship with food and how to eat for life. So when this book showed up on my book recommendation list, I read the overview of it and realized the book was nothing of what I expected.
Never judge a book by it's cover comes to mind now. After taking a closer look at the book, I realized its the journey a chemist took after realizing that a chemical in her lab was in her favorite cake mix. She struggled with obesity and other health problems. And of course I was super interested when I realized a processed free life style changed her life.
McCaffery goes into great detail not only about her journey, but the journey of processed foods before you eat them, and what they do to your body after. You can read about the complicated process refined sugar and wheat take to become what they are.
The reason I enjoyed this book so much is because since starting the New Fit Body lifestyle I have known processed foods were bad for me. But, I could not put my finger on the science of why. I sometimes fought with the idea that refined sugar was once sugar cane and white bread was once a beneficial grain. Once you look at what happens to them, you will see that they are truly nothing of what they started and can not hold the health benefits of what they started as.
I highly recommend reading this book. It was the biggest push for me to clean out my pantry that I have had in the two years of New Fit Body. The biggest help was explaining the healthy versions of things I eat and love. For example, honey. Which I like to use in cooking, but have been using basically sugar water with food coloring. Instead, now I choose to use honey they is organic and unfiltered. It makes a big difference in taste as well as in health benefits.
Some other examples of pantry rescues I have been swapping:
Regular Vinegar to Unpasturized/Unfiltered Vinegar with the Mother
Whole Wheat Pasta to Whole Grain products
Whole Wheat Breads to Sprouted Grain Breads
Refined Coconut Oil and Veggie Oils to Organic Unrefined Coconut Oil
Low Fat Cheese to Raw Unpasteurized Cheese
Vegetable Oil based "butter to Butter from grass fed free range cows
Chicken to organic grass fed Chicken
And of course why I made those swaps is explained in the book. I have been making these swaps slowly over the last few months. I just pick one or two things each week as to not overload my grocery budget. I love each and every swap I've made and am happy to announce that I will be posting some before and after photos on the New Fit Body program. The processed free lifestyle it has led me to has had done wonders.
The scariest thing is that I look at the before pictures and realize I struggled for so long with being committed to the New Fit Body lifestyle but when I finally did, I shocked myself with the results. The results that I have maintained instead of bouncing back to my old lifestyle. I could have been doing this all along. Sometimes it take a while to establish yourself. However, creating new healthy habits, no matter how long it takes, is the key to long term health. And of course, a long term Fit Body. Coupled with a Fit lifestyle you can also see amazing long term results.
This book is worth reading for anyone committing to using the New Fit Body program to start living a processed free, fit lifestyle.
