Book review: Eat drink and be gorgeous, A nutritionist’s healthy guide to living the good life, by Esther Blum
You want to look like a million bucks and feel even better? Instead of a dreadful corporate consultation wouldn’t you rather just kick back with your best pals on a Friday night, sip some lowfat cocktails and have a good hearty chit chat about the best ways to be your most fabulous self?
Don’t you wish that looking good and feeling great wasn’t such a clinical/ corporate process. When I think of a personal training session I picture a stuffy little consultation office, a personal trainer sitting behind a desk in a cheesy track suit with a clipboard ready to listen to you confess your sins laziness and overindulgence and then poke and prod you and pinch your fat folds with a strange contraption.
I know it all too well, I have been that trainer for many years and as part of my plan to give personal training an overhaul I am ecstatic to have discovered this little gem of a book to support my cause: Eat, Drink and be Gorgeous, A nutritionist’s healthy guide to living the good life.
Enter Esther Blum, your new best girlfriend or your ‘nutritional fairy godmother’ as she describes herself. She is hip, stylish, likable, a bit of a party girl and she just happens to have a whole lot more credentials than cocktails she serves up, and that’s alot. Your new bestie just happens to be a highly educated and respected nutritionist and she wants you to live the good life and she has a smart, healthy plan how you can do it.
How I heard about Eat, drink and be Gorgeous
I actually read a review of this book on another blog I follow. It was the website of the highly respected Charles Poliquin, the foremost strength and conditioning coach and educator in the world. This is a guy who isn’t exactly for sensitive types. Having left any regard for personal feelings somewhere on a gym floor years ago, he tells it like it is (his following continues to grow because of it). Within 2 hours of reading the following entry I had the book in my hands:
“When I first saw this book’s neon-pink cover jacket with a woman floating in a giant champagne glass with a drink in her hand (not to mention the word gorgeous in big letters on the cover), I thought twice about exploring its contents. After all, we professional strength coaches have an image to maintain – and if someone caught me reading pink books with silly cartoons on the cover, well, let’s just say it might not make the best impression. But looks can be deceiving, and such is the case with Esther Blum’s new nutritional gem…”– Charles Poliquin
The gist
As your ‘nutritional guru’ Blum’s philosophy about food and eating is a breath of fresh air that permeates the whole book. She speaks the language of women, not the language of science or therapy.
She believes that food is sensual and that “a sensual experience does not include guilt”. Blum also recognizes that “change doesn’t happen by force, judgement, criticism or guilt”. She doesn’t make you feel guilty for living it up and doesn’t impose harsh rules or guidelines. Her approach is more of a high-five on your way out the door for a glamorous evening of fun, while casually arming you with an arsenal of sneaky nutrition tips to keep you on track to looking fabulous and feeling great.
With a great discussion of the role of alcohol on the body, a list of ‘gorgeous’ friendly drinks and nutrition based hangover remedies, Eat, Drink, and Be Gorgeous is an absolute must for the 20-something ‘boozie suzie’ who rocks the town a couple times a week (and a smart reference for those of us that have toned it down a bit).
Blum hits the nail on the head with her living it up strategy and she entertains the whole time. Don’t expect in-depth meal plans, menu make-overs or a whole lot about the emotional side of eating, however this is how we should be learning about our bodies, health and nutrition and this book should definitely be on your healthy living bookshelf.
TALKBACK QUESTIONS
Have you read Eat, Drink and be Gorgeous? What did you think?
I started pumping iron and drinking green smoothies in my teens. Now a 40+ mama with 25 years of experience working in the fitness industry, I do things differently. What I discovered during my personal healing journey made me pivot in my approach as a personal fitness and wellness coach. Now I teach people how to sweat, nourish and glow from an entirely new perspective.