In Review: The Denim Diet

Due to my slightly higher than usual interest in nutrition, I tend to read every new fad diet book (or at least a fair amount of excerpts from it online...) whenever one comes along. I recently heard of a new book titled The Denim Diet, written by Kami Gray, a wardrobe stylist out of Portland, OR. As a native Oregonian, and an individual who works in Media Production, I was not only intrigued to hear her take, but I also wanted to be supportive of this Oregonian's new endeavor.

The book was an incredibly quick read, and Kami's writing style is both humorous (without breaching on annoying) and concise. As she isn't a nutritionist or dietitian, I can only assume that she did thorough research to back up her "16 Simple Habits" before publishing the book - if she just had all the info memorized, it's fairly impressive; she doesn't skimp on scientific evidence.

All in all, I had a really good time reading the book. Good enough that I'll probably be sticking it on a shelf and NOT loaning it to people (diet books never come back...). Her tips are straight-forward and presented in a "common sense" kind of way that makes you feel empowered to make better decisions when it comes to food. That being said, for me, an avid diet and nutrition reader, most of it was redundant information. That's the problem with writing a book about common sense - it's common sense.

The thing to keep in mind, however, for all of us out there with emotional eating habits, and massive binge crashes after even the smallest attempt at a diet, is that sometimes we just need a gentle reminder of the facts. Yes I may have known most of what Kami was talking about, but I wasn't really practicing it, and when I was, it was in a begrudging fashion. Now, with the help of her humor and humanity, I've been able to realign my thinking back to the way it used to be, AND (here's the kicker...) feel good about it.

So to summarize the book, I would highly recommend it. She's got the cold hard basics down, she doesn't preach perfection, just a lifestyle, and it's entertaining. Sometimes we need a little entertainment to help us mourn the loss of our Wendy's Baconator Sunday rituals.