The Skinny Confidential Book

Lauryn Evarts at The Skinny Confidential has a great new book out, The Skinny Confidential:  A Babe's Sexy, Sassy Health and Lifestyle Guide.  The book is full to the brim with great nutrition, fitness, fashion, and self-care advice, and some very simple, but delicious healthy recipes (I made the banana pancakes and the kids ate them up and asked for seconds).

Lauryn is clearly passionate about all these subjects.  But most importantly she knows what she is taking about.  Lauryn is working to become a certified nutritionist and she's been a Pure Barre teacher for two years.  She also  teaches Proformer Pilates and writes for a whole host of health and fabulous-lifestyle oriented sites.  Lauryn's writing style is light and humorous.  She also gets straight to the point, which I really appreciate.

Here are the titles and subtitles of the chapters of the book, which will give you a good idea of what's inside (and what Lauryn's writing is like):

1. Fake It Until You Make It.   Time for a change, Peeps!  Not tomorrow.  Not the next day.  Today.  (Love the message!  Yes, start today -- whatever changes in your life you want to make, don't wait until Monday, until you get a new job, move to a new city, or get a beach vacation on your calendar.)
2. Cravings, Schmavings.  Tips and tricks for subsiding cravings and turning healthy living into a full-blown habit.  (I like the message about not ignoring your cravings, but rather having a small portion and moving on with your life.  Lauryn tells a riveting story about a certain snack, commercially produced with all sorts of not-good-for-you ingredients, that she craved until she decided to give it up FOREVER.   I don't know about you, but I've given things up in the past FOREVER.  Usually, it lasts no longer than a week, which I spend in total obsession with whatever I'm trying to break up with.  Lauryn lasted a whole month!  But with the same results.  Lesson learned.)  
3. Skinny Recipes that Will Change Your Freaking Life.  Easy, quick, accessible recipes every woman should memorize.  (The aforementioned banana pancakes were amazing!  The other recipes look very tempting, as well.  I don't plan to memorize them, but I do plan to be taking my Kindle to the kitchen a lot.)
4. Green Potion.  The good, the bad, and the not-so ugly on green drinks.  (I was reading this chapter yesterday on my iPhone's Kindle, while waiting for Sherman and Mr. Peabody to come on the screen and became so inspired that I decided to do a green-juice cleanse in the near future.  It's been ages since my juicer's been up and running and apparently Lauryn's passion for the green juice was just enough to send me right back to it.  I always feel amazing drinking green juice.   Thank you for the reminder, Lauryn!)
5. Meet Cardio, Your New Bestie.  F off, Fat.   How to easily, effectively and inexpensively melt away those extra pounds.  (So, first of all, I spent months going to a barre studio, where I was repeatedly told that no cardio is required and that barre workouts were perfectly enough to get me where I was going.  I really wanted to believe it.   So I did.  That is until it got me nowhere.  To hear from a Pure Barre teacher that you have to do cardio is refreshing honesty.  Yes, you do have to do cardio.  I was reading this chapter this morning while on my treadmill and found myself nodding my head when I read that Lauryn endorses running as the best fat-melter/metabolism-booster.  I've gotten into jogging in the last few weeks (it only took my last and my current trainer months of nagging to get me going) and it's been a game changer.  As luck had it, just as I warmed up, I read about Lauryn's regime for a thirty-minute high intensity interval treadmill workout that involves changing speeds for just a minute at a time, taking your heart rate up and down the entire workout.   I made slight modifications to it:   walk at 3 mph for 1 minute; jog at 4 mph for 1 minute; run at 5 mph for 1 minute; run at 6 mph for 1 minute; back to walking at 3 mph for 1 minute, and repeat the interval until 35 minutes are up.  I had the best cardio workout in a month!   Thanks, Lauryn!)
6. Strength Training:  Get it Right, Get It Tight!  Weight lifting isn't just for the boys!  Why weights equal long, lean, sexy muscles.  (I've been doing strength training with a trainer for 6 months now and I see a big difference (although adding jogging to it really took things to another level!), so I didn't need to be sold on the importance of strength training.  This chapter introduced me to some simple innovative moves sure to tone the hard-to-tone areas.  The best thing is, as Lauryn says, you can do them as you watch The Real Housewives of Whatever City.  These days, I am watching the Housewives of New York and waiting for the OC edition to begin soon.  That's two hours a week of added toning and reduced guilt for spending my time with the Housewives.)
7. WTF's in My Makeup Bag?  Makeup tips that will rock your world.  (Lauryn has some great makeup tips that I haven't seen anywhere else before.  And I read about makeup a lot.)
8. Buh-Bye, Pimples.  Improve your skin asap.  Easy tricks from a total product whore. (As I've said before, to have great skin, you have to fill up on nutrition.  I was glad to see that this was also Lauryn's message.  Staying out of the sun and using the right products with SPF is also huge help.)
9. Hair, Hair and More Hair.  Learn about dusting and how to maintain bombshell locks.  (So, Lauryn's hair looks amazing, and she must know what she's talking about.)
10. Flatter Your Bod.  Fashion, fashion, fashion!  Just because it's cute doesn't mean it's for you.  How to pick sexy styles that flatter your bod and make you feel sexy.  (I just talked about this one a couple of posts ago -- know yourself and choose clothes that flatter YOU, not your neighbor or a VS model.)
11. Love Chub.  Relationships 101.  Plus, why you shouldn't let another person control what you eat or when you sweat.  (I think as women, we tend to take care of everyone around us and put ourselves last.  Although Lauryn talks about not falling out of your healthy habits as you fall into a new relationship, I find that the same applies for all of your other relationships and responsibilities.  For moms of small children this can translate into not eating leftover chicken nuggets off their child's plate and finding time to workout either during the child's nap or courtesy of a gym's daycare.  The kids can be even better at controlling what you eat and when you sweat than any Mr. Man, but do what you can to not let them!)
12. Learn It, Live It, Love It.  Embracing your inner skinny girl.  It's a lifestyle, not a diet.  (You are in it for the long haul.  You can't take care of yourself for two weeks and go back to not being your best self.  You deserve tender loving self-care every day of your life.)

Mixed greens + romain lettuce + apple + ginger + lemon + kiwi + tangerine + plum + parsley

Thanks for the inspiration, Lauryn!