You have seen her on television as a Real Housewife of New York, now Bethenny Frankel has written a diet book called “Naturally Thin.”

According to Frankel, no foods are forbidden as long as you follow her 10 golden rules for weight loss success. She does recommend eating more raw, local and organic foods as much as possible and also suggests eating mostly vegetarian foods with ingredients you can pronounce.

In Part 1 of the book, Frankel has 10 golden rules with a chapter devoted to each one. 

The Golden Rules are: 

1. “Your diet is a bank account.” Learn to balance your calories on a daily basis.
2. “You can have it all, but not all at once.” No foods are forbidden, but don’t eat everything at the same time.
3. “Taste everything, eat nothing.” Enjoy your food and eat small bites without eating too much of one thing.
4. “Pay attention.” No mindless eating, be in the moment.
5. “Downsize now!” Your portion sizes that is.
6. “Cancel your membership in the clean plate club.” Don’t eat everything on your plate, leave something behind.
7. “Check yourself before you wreck yourself.” Stop emotional and binge eating.
8. “Know thyself.” Get to know your trigger foods and saboteurs.
9. “Get real.” Eat wholesome food and fewer processed ones.
10. “Good for you.” Make peace with food.

Part 2 of the book discusses the Naturally Slim Program offering a daily template of meals and snacks for you to follow.

• 1 carbohydrate based meal.
• 1 protein based meal.
• Another carbohydrate or protein based meal.
• 1 to 2 servings of fruit or juice.
• Unlimited non-starchy veggies.
• Optional 2 servings of fats
• 2 servings of sweets
• 2 small snacks that are 100 to 200 calories a piece
• 2 beverages including alcohol
• 6 to 8 glasses of water a day
• 2 exceptions such as a few bites of dessert or a rich entrée or a ½ piece of bread with butter or olive oil.

Some examples of the many recipes within this book are:

• Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Whole Wheat Fusilli with Tomato, Basil, Pine Nuts and Smoke Mozzarella.
• Bethenny’s Faux Cheesecake
• Easy Impressive Frittata
• Roasted Spicy Broccoli

 Exercise is encouraged whether it be hitting the gym or going out for a walk. Frankel wants you to be active whenever you can.

• Offers tasty recipes and tips for dining out. 
• Discusses how to satisfy cravings and meal ideas along with “Bethenny’s Bytes,” where Frankel gives you 3 weeks of her daily meals and snacks.

• Frankel is not a dietitian and this very low-calorie diet could promote disordered eating behaviors. 
• This program is calorie and nutrient deficient and provides less than 1,000 calories per day. 
• This diet promotes skipping meals which can lead to increased hunger thus setting you up to eat high fat or sugary comfort foods. 
• Naturally Thin encourages too much alcohol consumption. It is recommended that women stick to 1 drink a day while men can have 2 drinks daily. 
• There is no structured exercise plan. 

This diet may be appealing and work for those in need of just shedding a few pounds, however as a long term diet plan it is deficient in nearly every aspect. The one area in which Naturally Thin does shine is that it encourages you to eat the foods you love, which is a key component to not only losing weight, but also to keeping it off. 

However because this is a very low calorie diet that offers advice that borders on eating disorder, it is doubtful that any weight loss experience on this diet plan will last for any significant length of time. With that being said, Frankel does offer one piece of advice that all dieters could use: Mangiare per vivere e non vivere per mangiare. It is an Italian saying for “eat to live and not live to eat.”

The Naturally Thin book can be found at Amazon by clicking HERE. You can also get the supplemental recipe guide, The SkinnyGirl Dish on Amazon to help you make your own skinny girl meals.