The Secrets of Skinny Chicks by Karen Bridson

I have to confess, I wasn’t crazy about reviewing a book called The Secrets of Skinny Chicks, thinking it would be just another one of those books offering the same information we’ve heard time and time again. But, I have to admit, though she does cover plenty of old ground here, there are some interesting aspects about Karen Bridson’s book, namely in how the book is set up and her inclusion of profiles of so-called skinny chicks, many of them Hollywood types who have the bodies many of us want. It's this part of the book that offers some insight into the real lives of skinny chicks.

As she points out in her introduction, Karen’s purpose is to show what it really takes to be a so-called skinny chick which she defines as, "Those tiny-butt girls in their size 6 (or smaller) jeans strutting around with complete confidence." What Karen is attempting is to show the real deal – how skinny chicks (who aren’t necessarily naturally thin) eat and exercise in order to manage their weight. I like this approach, since the reality of keeping your weight down is often much different than the generic recommendations put out by organizations like ACSM or the USDA. She says that the book is meant to empower women and help them find their own healthy range whether that’s a size 2 or a size 10 which is a noble goal. Whether she actually achieves it or not probably depends on the attitude of the woman reading the book.

In the first section, she discusses making lifestyle changes, sketching out a broad view of factors that affect our weight (e.g., metabolism and genetics), determining ideal body weight (using BMI or body fat calculations), how body image affects our choices and the dangers of eating disorders. She stresses here that many of the routines of skinny chicks she profiles are hardcore, including an amount of exercise and an attention to eating that many of us can’t (or shouldn’t) try to follow, mentioning that we have to find our own balance of exercise and eating. As she puts it, she’s "presenting them in this book because they have the bodies of the typical Hollywood starlet, and I want you to know the truth about what it takes to look that way."

This is the most interesting part of the book, profiling a variety of skinny chicks along with an evaluation of their workouts and meals. For example, one skinny chick, Shelley Michelle (Julia Roberts’s body double in Pretty Woman), works out out some 2-4 hours each day and eats only 1,549 calories, which keeps her 5’8” frame at 122-125 pounds. On the other hand, you have Kristen Chen (1999 Miss New Jersey USA) who is 5’3”, weighs only 98 pounds but eats up to 1,905 calories a day, much more than Shelley Michelle and with less exercise. It's interesting to read the profiles and see how very different each woman is. The evaluations of each profile are presented by a panel of experts (a doctor, personal trainer and registered dietician) and cover areas they could improve on or that seem unbalanced.

Karen peppers these profiles with the secrets revealed from these women’s regimens (such as Secret Number 1 – burn all the calories you eat), secrets that she presents in detail in the next section of the book along with details for how to make them a reality. Many of these secrets are no-brainers, like the first one mentioned above and others such as eating more high-bulk, low-calorie foods, knowing your portion sizes and planning out your meals. In fact, most of the 50 secrets aren't earth-shattering, although her tips for implementing them into real life are offered in an easy-to-digest style that may just give you some new ideas or at least new motivation to make these changes in your own life.

The last part of the book is the most sparse and discusses how to implement a plan to incorporate all these secrets. She blows through this section, briefly covering how to figure out how many calories you need followed by a recap of the Food Pyramid and a discussion about carbs, protein and fat…again, nothing new here.

The chapter on cardio covers the basics of heart rate zones and then discusses the favored cardio choices of skinny chicks (running, elliptical trainer, cycling, walking/hiking and dance classes). The strength training section is woefully short, including descriptions of just five moves (bicep curls, tricep extensions, lateral raises, squats and lunges) followed by a brief description of circuit training. She also discusses the basics of yoga and Pilates with descriptions of various exercises.

I can only conclude that she ran out of room here because it's clear that exercise is a huge part of the skinny chick lifestyle and she only covers the bare bones here. I find this odd since she spent so much time going through the workout routines of skinny chicks – it would’ve been nice if she’d included some of the actual workouts that skinny chicks do so we could try them for ourselves. I hardly think that the skinny chicks profiled would only do five strength training exercises to get the bodies they have.

Overall, this is one of the more readable exercise books I’ve seen in awhile. I like her casual, girlfriend-like tone and I also like the profiles included in the book. It really is enlightening to see how Hollywood-types get and keep those bodies. Seeing these regimens laid out in such stark form offers a reality check...namely that, if you're a Hollywood actress or model, you have a lot more motivation to have a skinny chick body.

If you want to learn the ins and outs of skinny chicks' workout and diet, you'll probably find this an interesting book. If you're looking for a detailed workout/eating plan to become a skinny chick, that isn't what you'll find here.

What I hope is that readers are enlightened by this rather than discouraged. In other words, rather than feeling frustrated that they don't have the time or energy for killer workouts to get that skinny-chick body, accepting that they can get the best body they can within their own lives.