Friday, March 16, 2012

The Manhattan Diet: Manhattan Women Don't Get Fat


Part of what I consider market research is to periodically peruse the diet section of my local Barnes and Noble. No matter how farfetched a book’s concept is I like to familiarize myself with it. This past weekend, I grabbed a stack of seemingly interesting books and crouched in a window seat overlooking Broadway. I had zero intention of purchasing any of them and briefly thought of Borders going bankrupt and felt a little guilty but continued. I flipped through the first two books; incredibly bored I put them to the side. Next, I opened The Manhattan Diet. Twenty minutes later, I was still reading and decided to do the honorable thing and buy the book.

Eileen Daspin, the author, and self-confessed dieter since age 12, thought of the concept for the book when she heard that Manhattan was the thinnest of New York’s boroughs and the “skinniest of all the sixty-two counties in New York State.”  She proceeded to interview the city’s  svelte-est to distill their habits into something others could learn from or emulate.  I constantly hear from clients "I have a friend who eats _______." this is a compilation of those vignettes. One reviewer on the back cover said, “The Manhattan Diet is French Women Don’t Get Fat meets Sex and the City.”

Some Manhattan Diet tenets:

Be a Foodie- Daspin describes New Yorkers clamoring for reservations at ABC Kitchen or Red Rooster and yet thinking about every morsel they eat. So we differ than the French in that weight is on the radar. However, the similarity is that much of the food Daspin describes isn’t processed, low fat or flavor free. As I read on though, the book seems to have trouble combining the concepts don’t deprive yourself and be extremely weight conscious. Is it “don’t deprive yourself” or “don’t look like you’re depriving yourself”?

Obsess (in a good way) some of the best parts of this book are the portraits of various New Yorkers and their eating and exercise regimes. There are a lot of different approaches but Daspin writes, “The single common thread I’ve been able to discern on this subject is the amount of time they [New Yorkers] spend thinking about eating.” I hear from clients that they wish they didn’t think about food and weight so much. I think this thinking is actually fine as long as it’s positive and leaves you feeling good.

Walk Everywhere- there is no doubt that urban living necessitates walking in a way suburban living doesn’t. Daspin talks about the amount of walking New Yorkers do to get groceries or the subway. She also notes that as you walk down a city street it’s natural to compare yourself to those around you.  I’m all for walking but have plenty of thin Manhattan friends who can make it through a full day while only logging a block or two “taxi please”.

Live in Tight Quarters- Daspin suggests than Manhattanites spend time outside and more active because living space is small. Additionally small refrigerators necessitate small containers that result in eating less. I was intrigued reading this but with talk of CEO’s and butlers in The Manhattan Diet are we really supposed to believe space is such an issue?

Work out when you’re not walking or working or eating at great restaurants many of Daspin’s profiles are of busy, accomplished women. One woman wakes up at 5 to do the Intensity DVDs and another takes three children to school crosstown on scooters. You also hear about the cult that is Soul Cycle and a description of that sign up process “it’s 11:45 in Monday morning and women up and down Manhattan are poised at their laptops. Hand on trackbar, each is clicking anxiously hoping to get a spot.” Exhale, Pure Yoga and Punch also get shout outs.  There’s an exercise as lifestyle message that was interesting to read about.

Choose Thin Friends- it’s well documented that you’re more likely to be overweight if your friends are. Well there’s such thing as positive peer pressure too. Daspin doesn’t expect you to dump your friends; she mentions group exercise classes and stores with communal dressing room to reap the benefits of healthy competition.

It may not sound like it but I enjoyed this book. It’s well written, thoroughly researched and entertaining. Daspin lives in my neighborhood so, like Sex and The City, when you see your markets, workouts and favorite restaurants dished about it’s fun. And just as people from far and wide fell in love with Carrie and her crew you don’t have to be a Manhattanite to eat like one or enjoy this book.

I do have a few issues (I’m a Manhattanite issues are mandatory). First, I don’t know this is a diet book in the sense that people will purchase it and follow it. It’s just a couple of days since I read TMD and I had to look back to recall the advice. The food’s suggested weren’t any I hadn’t heard of. Additionally, I’m not a fan of the concept of eating like someone just because they’re thin. I have thin friends who never work out or eat poorly or smoke (two friends you’ve been called out). Does the end justify the means? If the “end” is small enough, in Manhattan it just may. And finally, of course some Manhattan women get fat, please.
Have you heard of this book? If you live in Manhattan, can you vouch for Daspin's tips? Do you observe the habits of your fit friends and behave similarly?

20 comments:

  1. Never heard of that book!
    I do observe the habits of my fit friends but it doesn't change my habits.
    I think it is wise to obsess a little over food. I don't see how you couldn't after watching movies like food inc =)
    Have a great weekend!!

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    1. Agreed Lisa, if you don't "obsess" or think about it how do you seek out quality sources, plan meals and make good choices. I would love not to think about dental health but I do and brush and pack toothbrushes etc. Anything we want to do well takes forethought and attention.

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  2. Sounds like a fun read. I do live in Manhattan, and it's so true that we Manhattanites walk a LOT. Not sure I buy the whole "eat like your thin friends" thing, though.

    When I think about eating like a New Yorker, I mean truly enjoying food and seeking out what speaks to the senses, which I guess is easier to do for some when, after the meal, you say, "What subway are you headed to?" and then you end up walking past your stop because you're having a good conversation and then, "wow, how did two miles just happen?"

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    1. The book really does make you feel lucky to have great markets, so many great restaurants etc. I didn't know you were local Jess, we should plan a "walk" one day.

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    2. Sure am. I love it here. And a "walk" sounds like a plan :)

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  3. Very interesting book.
    I do think it's a great point about how New Yorkers walk more often. In Vegas (except if you're on the strip) the city isn't really built for walking. I work 30 minutes away from my home, so even if I biked, it would take me quite some time. I do love that about certain cities.

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    1. Having the walk options is fantastic. Walk home from dropping kids (.75 mile), walk there and back to spin another half a mile. It adds up especially if you focus on it. Maybe you bike to work 1/week Kristen? You could start a movement.

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  4. I'm so with you on perusing books at B & N with no intention to buy. I usually end up buying something, just so they don't go in Borders direction!

    It seems like this book has a lot of similarities with "French Women Don't Get Fat." Walk a lot. Have a small place and a small fridge. I think this would be an interesting read but I also think you just did a great breakdown...not sure if I need to go get it now?

    I'm just waiting for someone to do an LA version of this book. It'll be really short: "Don't eat anything, just chew gum and drink wine."

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    1. There's actually a lot more that I am omitting, Ameena I think you'd like her writing. Love the idea of every place having their "Diet" I may change the questions at end of the blog. The LA diet, love it.

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  5. Sounds interesting but you've summed it up so well that I don't feel inclined to buy the book! Thanks:)

    I like your point under "Obsess (in a good way)" about the disconnect between "don't deprive yourself" and "don't look like you are depriving yourself". I think that there are a lot of women out there who have mastered the art of making their figure seem effortless, but I think that there is more effort that goes into it than they let on. They tend to not finish their entrees, not over-imbibe and who knows how much they eat the other 2 meals a day...

    I lost 5 lbs the minute I moved to New York. First Brooklyn, then Queens, so I vouch for the walking.

    I think that all the boroughs are similar though, it's not Manhattan is more active. I think it's that Manhattan is more affluent so has more of a cultural pressure to stay thin as well as education, and access to the Soul Cycles, etc.

    Nice Review!

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    1. I know Cameo, is it borough-ism? I actually think parts of Brooklyn would get my healthy seal of approval...Williamsburg? As for the financial component it's definitely addressed in the book. When you're paying 30 dollars a workout class or a gazillion dollars for Tracy Anderson and drinking juices other people make (guilty) you need the funds to support this. I actually could see this diet getting slack in the same way G Paltrow's Goop is criticized.

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  6. Sounds like a funny book!!! I live in downtown Seattle and I love walking everywhere even groceries. I agree with the space, living in a tiny studio makes you to not buying what you don't need (doesnt apply with shoes!!). We have a regular size fridge but not too many cabinets so even if I want to buy junk food i have no space for storage it
    That's why i prefer my veggies

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    1. Marifer, thanks for the comment. Space confines defnitely don't apply to shoes. Plus, we need the shoes to walk everywhere, right? So not right, the shoes I buy aren't the ones I schlep in. It's the anti-costco effect.

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  7. I have not ehard of this book but can definitely relate to the tips that are offered. I am one of those people who loves trying out the "restaurant du jour" but I make it a point to be watchful of how I eat. I do get criticized by friends who tell me to just enjoy myself but I am mindful of how I eat at home so why should it be any different at a restaurant. And anyhow I always thoroughly enjoy my restaurant meals.

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    1. Sam, can you imagine for a second if every restaurant meal was treated as "special" we wouldn't fit "at the barre". Well you would. Can't wait for next Friday. The bike I usually pick needs to be recalibrated. Any pref? Can't do front row.

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  8. What a great concept for a book. It's one of those "why didn't I think of that?!" moments (although I don't live in New York...however, I still feel like I could write this!).
    I think all of the walking really helps. When I visited New York once I felt like I ate and drank more than ever, yet I lost two pounds because we walked EVERYWHERE!

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    1. IT's a fun concept. With the French, book about Japanese, I think it's following a formula in a fun way. The was a book "the Skinny" which may be out of print that compiled thin New Yorker's tips and tricks. It's the walking, it's also access to very high quality food. Interesting.

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  9. I haven't heard of the book either, but it sounds like a fun read. I'ts raining here today, so maybe I need to go hang out at the bookstore and read some (and not buy the book :-). I think the walking part makes the most sense to me. Everytime I've visited NYC I walk a ton, although I'm wondering if people living in Chicago are the same compared to the suburbs of Illinois. When I lived there, I also walked everywhere, but not sure you'd see the same comparison...

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    1. No doubt the walking is part of it. I do think when you're walking, as the author mentioned, you are looking at people and comparing. There is also a big fitness scene with classes and gyms as nice as many bars and restaurants.

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  10. I heard about this book on Good Morning America...my first thought was that like in Europe in Manhattan women walk a lot. I thought it was interesting and I think it has a lot of common sense.

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