A Breath Of Fresh Air in the Diet Book Landscape

By and large, I’ve spent little time on the topics of diet and weight loss since launching Mom’s Kitchen Handbook, beyond this post on juice cleanses and this one about maintaining a healthy weight. Our culture is already so saturated with the subject, I’d rather put my focus elsewhere. That said, there is no doubt that many of us, probably the majority, struggle with our weights, whether that means an five extra pounds or 50. Sound resources are few and far between in comparison to the abundance of fad diet books with empty promises and miracle potions with fantastical claims.

This is exactly why when the book Snack Girl to the Rescue, A Real-Life Guide to Losing Weight and Getting Healthy landed on my desk a few weeks ago, it felt like a breath of fresh air. I’m loathe to even lump it into the diet book category because it is so far from the disappointing norm. Author Lisa Cain, the voice behind the enormously popular Snack Girl blog, makes no inflammatory claims, doesn’t guarantee you’ll drop 10 pounds in as many days, and never once sounds like a tiresome “know it all” diet book author. What she does do is the following:

• Shares her own trials with weight loss following the birth of her children, along with her journey towards eating and living more healthfully.
• Makes you laugh with relatable, self-deprecating humor. She titles one chapter subhead “Going Out to Restaurants Without Wearing an Elastic Waistband” and highlights a drink recipe called, “A Green Smoothie That Doesn’t Taste Like Grass.”
• Gets real. There is nothing precious about Lisa or this book. She is someone who connects with women on varied weight loss journeys everyday, so she has a true sense of what that means. She talks about her own ups and downs, including her love for donuts and difficulty getting a handle on what she calls “Junk Food Drive Buys.”
• Delivers sound information. Although not a registered dietitian, Lisa does have a Ph.D. in science. Her academics chops are clear in her understanding of food and nutrition, and her ability to deliver the data in a “just us girls talking” tone.
• Offers practical tips, tools, and recipes, including suggestions for stocking the pantry, ideas for group exercise classes to try, and useful guidance on how to decipher a food label.

Below you’ll find a recipe for Lisa’s Chocolate Shake, one of the 100 recipes in the book that all clock in at under 400 calories.

Well done Snack Girl.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions expressed are my own.