The Martini Diet by Gin Sander

I picked up this book because I deeply heart martinis  [and I was waiting in GCT for my train].  While this book has more flowery extra phrases than it needs, I think we can all benefit from the concepts in this book.

First of all, the subtitle is:  The Self-Indulgent Way to a Thinner More, Fabulous You".  Calling a diet book 'self-indulgent' is quite brilliant, IMO.  In a nutshell, Ms. Sander advises eating only the very best food you can afford, and then, practice some restraint by eating a little less of it.  This book is about eating real food -- just the way Julia Child intended.

To make this work, you must become the biggest food snob on the planet.  Do not lower yourself to consuming whatever cardboard is lying around the house.  If you like macaroni and cheese, make it with the very best ingredients and savor every bite.  If you take the time to really savor your food, a smaller portion will satisfy you.  And she does pay homage to the Slow Food Movement.

The second idea in the book that I appreciate is that exercise can also be self-indulgent -- even elegant. The activities that Sander recommends are quite glamorous, but certainly rigorous.  Why watch TV in a gym when you can be ice skating or horseback riding?  Picture Jackie Kennedy riding English style, with the tailored blazer and excellent posture.  That's a pretty powerful image to me!

Dressing up in beautiful clothes is an indulgence that doesn't come to us very often.  But what if you take up ballroom dancing?

Other (less expensive) indulgences are hiking, ballet lessons and swimming.  [I quite love swimming laps.  Swimming laps in a pool is about the most quiet and heavenly experience I can think of -- an incredible respite.]

This book has much more information -- including 'Cinnabon avoidance techniques', but the above two are the ideas that really left an impression on me.   I refer to this book all the time.  I even pick it up if I need a little emotional comfort. 

What do you think?  Do you have any books that you turn to over and over?  Pop me a comment and let me know!

np:

I Should Know, Dirty Vegas

Complicated Shadows, Elvis Costello

Clouds Up, AIR