Eat Like a Fatass, Look Like a Goddess: The Untold Story of Healthy Foods

By Erika Herman

"With characteristic sass, Erika Herman has taken on the assumptions of popular diet culture. This is the anti-Skinny Bitch, the much-needed answer to the misguided idealizing of veganism as the pinnacle of health. Herman’s penetrating research, driven by hunger for the truth beyond fads and band-wagon mentality is delivered in an accessible, illuminating and empowering way."
—Julian Walker, Author of Awakened Heart, Embodied Mind: A Modern Yoga Philosophy Infused with Somatic Psychology & Neuroscience

"Eat Like a Fatass, Look Like a Goddess is, without a doubt, the most important book of the 21st century. If the principles of this book were followed by all...obesity, autoimmune diseases, cancer, heart disease [and] diabetes...would virtually disappear. This brilliant book refutes the lies we have been told about nutrition—and in an insightful and humorous fashion. It should be required reading in schools across America." —Don J. Serio, D.C.

"Erika’s book is a godsend in our modern world of nutritional misinformation. Erika's understanding of nutrition science and sustainability is far more comprehensive, in-depth and tasty than that of most physicians, dietitians, nutritionists and other 'experts' out there."
—Chelsea McLean Casey, Advisory Panelist and Model Liaison for Fashion Week San Diego, Co-Founder of Three Sisters Wellness

Eat all the taboo foods you’ve been told will make you a fatass and kill you.

Eat them as if your waist, life, and the planet’s health depend on it—because they do.

What if everything you know about health isn't true?

Hailed as "the anti-Skinny Bitch," Eat Like a Fatass, Look Like a Goddess: The Untold Story of Healthy Foods cuts through countless popular myths about nutrition, weight loss, disease-prevention, sustainability and planetary health with razor-sharp wit, hardcore research, and a whole lot of heart. What if

--most food cravings have nothing to do with lack of willpower
--calorie-counting isn't an accurate tool for weight loss
--dietary fat doesn't make you fat
--saturated fat is actually healthy and you should be eating a lot more of it
--women with higher cholesterol live longer than women with low cholesterol
--salt consumption doesn't give you high blood pressure, or make you bloated
--the real Mediterranean Diet is very different from what you think it is
--the Glycemic Index is flawed
--plant-based diets trigger inflammation
--plant foods can’t do many important things for your body that animal foods can
--no culture in the history of humanity has been able to continue its line on a diet devoid of animal foods
--ecological sustainability depends on non-commercial animal husbandry?

What if science indicates these what-ifs are reality? Because it does. What if you could lose weight, feel vitalized, nix cravings, and save the planet--all while indulging in foods you love? Because you can. Eat Like a Fatass, Look Like a Goddess: The Untold Story of Healthy Foods shows you how.

A Nutritional Consultant, Holistic Health expert, incisive researcher and food-lover, Herman reveals what it actually takes to be a vibrant truth-seeking modern woman.

Whether you know little about nutrition, consider yourself well-versed, or are a member of the medical or scientific community, Eat Like a Fatass, Look Like a Goddess will surprise, relieve, and outrage you. You’ll feel excited about food again—and how tasty it can be to save the planet, your health and your waistline. You’ll learn which foods peer-reviewed scientific research exposes are deliciously good for you and flat-out hyped-up BS. You’ll learn how to think about health, instead of simply memorizing what is healthy. You’ll read powerful stories from dynamic women who transformed their bodies and lives according to these principles—just like you can.

Read up. The time has come to unleash your inner Goddess!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Erika Herman
• Release date: Sep 5, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301751624

Erika Herman

Erika Herman is a Health Hacker, Real Food + Functional Nutritionist, and Bestselling Author of Eat Like a Fatass, Look Like a Goddess: The Untold Story of Healthy Foods. She is also the Creator + Host of Erika Herman’s TOTAL HEALTH REVOLUTION. Erika debunks hype and misinformation with hardcore critical thinking and evidence-based research at every turn because she loves it as much as she loves food, science, liberated intelligent living made simple, and unraveling biochemical mysteries. Erika’s work is based on 18+ years of research and experimentation with real food nutrition science, functional nutrition, biochemistry, nutrigenomics, and mind-body integrative practices, as well as coaching countless women and men of all ages and walks of life (from stay-at-home moms and dads to A-list celebrities, high-powered attorneys, and seasoned medical professionals). A sought-after speaker, Erika regularly presents at media events, summits, workshops and seminars. Erika is also a Registered Yoga Teacher through Yoga Alliance, specializing in Yin and restorative forms, informed by her near-decade-and-a-half of practice, as well as her studies in mindfulness, somatic psychology, trauma, Meridian Theory, HeartMath and neuroscience. Erika and her work have been featured in the likes of Redbook, Yahoo!, Mental Floss, Natural News, SheKnows, SkinnyMom, Dr. Laura, Babble, The Daily Meal, Beauty High, Wanderlust, Elephant Journal, Mamavation, Intent, The Momiverse, Parenting Bookmark, Hitched, and beliefnet. A highly sought after speaker, Erika regularly presents at media events, summits, workshops and seminars. Sign up for Erika’s FREE updates and snag your FREE gift at www.erikaherman.com.

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Acknowledgments

So many people were integral in making this book what it is today. My mostest heartfeltiest thanks to Lily Nichols for giving this beast a final review, for contributing some off-the-hook research, for years of fiendish sound-boarding about this project and everything under the stars, and for sharing her friendship and sisterhood. I am grateful for Eric Bromberg’s enthusiastic support over the years (even with some of my loftier ideas), for his friendship, and for joking about titles with me—this would not be as awesome and as me as it is today without him. Thanks to Blaine for seeing the potential in my half-joke about a book cover concept. Special thanks to dynamic and radiant Real Life Goddesses, Lily, Brooke, Shannon, Lauren, Kathleen and Janette for sharing their powerful stories. The book cover was brought to life by Patrick Shipstad’s masterful photographic talents, Andres Ribot’s ace graphic design, and Colby Bluth’s evocative illustrations. I am grateful to my parents for always supporting my curiosity, and to all my family members, far away as they may be, for their love and support. Thank you everyone from the bottom of my heart.

www.erikaherman.com

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

How to Devour This Book

1. Introduction: Let’s Become BFFs and Change the World!

Where I’ve Been, Where I’m Going (What the Hell Do I Know?)

Where We’ve Been, Where We’re Going (Read: SomeplaceAwesome!)

2. The Goddess’s Ground Rules

The Goddess’s Ground Rules

The Goddess Rethinks Healthy

BS List Offender: Your Doctor Is Definitely a Nutrition Expert

The Non-Diet?

The Opposite of Empty-Calorie: Nutrient-Dense

Nutrient-Dense Foods: Anti-Inflammatory & Your Key to Health

What This Isn’t

Don’t Fuck with Mother Nature: Processed Foods You Don’t Even Know You’re Eating

Absolutism Is Absolutely Whack

Erika’s History

3. Fat & Cholesterol: The Misunderstood Kids on the Block

What You’ll Learn in this Chapter That Will Forever Change Your Diet & Your Life

Icky Lies & the Tasty Truth

How the Low-fat Craze Began

BS List Offender: The Mediterranean Diet

The Money Behind Low-fat

The Myth of the Low-fat Diet

BS List Offenders: Calories & BMI

Things Fat Does & How We Store It

Kinds of Fats & Nitty Gritty Stuff You Never Knew About Them

Saturate This!

The Buck Doesn’t Stop at Omega-3: Plant vs. Animal Essential Fatty Acids

From Farm to Your Face: Grass/Seed/Insect-Fed Animal Foods vs. Grain/Vegetarian/Corn/Soy-FedAnimal Foods

Cholesterol: The Other Misunderstood Kid on the Block

The High Cholesterol Gimmick

Cholesterol in Your Food? Oh No? Oh Yes!

Fat & Cholesterol Review

Real Life Goddess: Lily Nichols

4. Carbohydrates: Setting the Record Straight

InGRAINed

The Fiber Hype

Carbs & the Hunger Button

Carbohydrates, Inflammation & Disease

Sweets: The Ugly Truth that Will Set You Free

The Limitations of the Glycemic Index

Funky Fructose

Fruit: Mother Nature’s Dessert

Ketosis with the Mostest

Safe Sweeteners

The Devil Eats Sugar: The Feast of Candida

The No-Brainer Way to Maintain a Healthy Acid-Alkaline Balance

About Gluten: Beyond All the Mainstream Stuff

Special Treatment Required: Whole Foods that Need a Little Massaging

Real Life Goddess: Brooke Niss

5. Protein: Let’s Start at the Very Beginning

What Protein Does & What Our Bodies Do with It

Quantity vs. Quality & Variety with Protein

Not All Proteins Are Made Equal

Why You Need to Care About Getting Quality Protein

Don’t Make the Mistake of Fearing Higher Protein

Overly Acidic? Don’t Wig Out Over Protein

Case In Point

Real Life Goddess: Shannon Baltzer

6. The Goddess Calls BS: Holes in Logic that Hurt Your Health, Your Wallet & Your Planet

ATTENTION GODDESSES!

Newer Isn’t Better When It Comes to Nutrition

Calories: Shady Like Under a Tree

Allergies vs. Food Sensitivities

Supplements: What They Can & Can’t Do for You

Salt: Another Misunderstood Kid on the Block

Dairy: The Good, the Bad and the Massive Confusion

Friendly Bacteria, Raw Dairy, Fermented Foods & You: Pumpin’ Up Your Workers You Couldn’t Live Without

Soysationalism!

Detoxing: The Good, the Bad & the Pointless

Other Kinds of Food

The Other Half of Exercise

The 90% Code: Psychological Sustainability & the Goddess

Real Life Goddess: Lauren Karisko

7. Ethics & Ecology: Animals, Goddesses & the Planet

Kickin’ It Old School: What Humanity’s History Tells Us About Our Dietary Needs

Other Ways to Look at Omnivorism

PETA: Where’s the Animal Love Now?

Animal Husbandry, Ecological Sustainability & the Goddess

Real Life Goddess: Kathleen DeLong

8. Practical Steps for Goddess Success

Real Life Goddess: Janette Timm

9. Conclusion

SPECIAL BONUS: Goddess Resources

Chapter Notes

Bibliography

About the Author

How to Devour This Book

It is with great excitement and joy that I avail myself to you as your guide throughout this book. That said, this book encourages self-direction and self-advocacy. You’ll feel curiosity and momentum build as you explore the following chapters, composed of short easy-to-read info-packed sections. I’ve designed chapters to stand alone (should you feel like a spontaneous quicky), or be read consecutively. Chapters 3, 4 and 5 do build on one another, so I encourage you to read them as a group to maximize your experience. Sections in Chapters 6, 7 and 8 can be read in any order you like. You’re behind the wheel. I know you’ll enjoy the ride.

The first part of Chapter 1, the Introduction, gets you acquainted with the author's voice and history—my voice and history. I’m a board-certified Nutritional Consultant and Functional Health Practitioner. I'm a writer, researcher and speaker, but I'm also human—very human. Just like you. Part two offers a quick big-picture recap of today’s health crisis and broken food system, along with a friendly verbal love-tap to your figurative behind to get you revved up for personal and collective transformation.

Chapter 2 unravels the idea of what we consider healthy, and the idea that the foundation of health lies in doctors, health practitioners, supplements, self-help books, or even food—basically anything outside of yourself. The Goddess’s Ground Rules (fourteen in total) is an inspiring list that shines light on the fundamental psychology and ideology necessary for sustainable individual and collective health.

Erika's History goes into intimate detail about my past all-too-human struggles. I describe how I transformed my health problems (minor, chronic and life-threatening), weight struggles and disordered eating. I reveal the qualities that made this transformation possible, namely curiosity, investigation, and an openness and commitment to sit with discomfort and try revolutionary (though rational) new approaches. 

The Real Life Goddess sections are powerful stories narrated by real women about how they transformed their health and weight struggles through integration of The Goddess Lifestyle teachings. You’ll hear from six Goddesses: a Registered Dietitian and Pilates Instructor; a Licensed Acupuncturist, clinic-owner and mother; a CEO and Stylist; a Stay-at-Home-Mom, Journalist and Blogger; a Sustainable Farmer; and a Screenwriter for a major cable TV network. These Goddesses will inspire you and give you hope.

Chapters 3, 4 and 5 go into detail about each of the three macronutrients (fat, carbohydrates and protein), as well as cholesterol. You’ll learn how the media and medical communities have perpetuated widespread misinformation about these food-parts, impacting your health and freedom to enjoy the satisfying, delicious foods science validates your body longs for on a biological level. You’ll walk away from these chapters hopeful, angry, smarter, savvier, and driven to reconnect with and trust your instincts about food—no, you are not bad for wanting to eat so many foods you’re told you shouldn’t eat! Dietary cholesterol and saturated fat aren’t bad for you (they’re way healthy!). Vegan sources of protein aren’t comparable to animal protein. Whole grains aren’t as healthy as we’ve been led to believe they are. Willpower isn’t necessary for Goddesses to nix cravings, lose weight and prevent disease--because they understand how the right foods work with their brains and bodies. You’ll also learn that willpower isn’t necessary for Goddesses when it comes to eating for weight loss and disease-prevention because they understand how food works with their brains and bodies. You’ll learn how easy and delicious it is to transform yourself into a Goddess.

Chapter 6 is an assortment of brief stand-alone info-packed sections that bring clarity to hot nutrition topics widely distorted by hype and misinformation. Soy, dairy, calories, salt, detoxing, supplements, exercise, and the confusion about food allergies vs. sensitivities—they’re all in here.

Chapter 7 calls out the hype surrounding popular ideas about how certain diets help or harm the planet. You’ll be very surprised what, in fact, helps Mother Earth, and what hurts her. You’ll also learn about the hypocrisy behind big-name advocacy organizations.

Chapter 8 includes simple, practical and nourishing steps to integrate into your daily Goddess Lifestyle. You’ll learn simple steps how to weed out false dairy sensitivities with the help of the steps in Dairy Detective (yes, you might not be lactose-intolerant or sensitive to dairy after all!), and how to respond to and balance emotional eating.

The SPECIAL BONUS: Goddess Resources is a special offer for FREE Goddess goodies to help you live The Goddess Lifestyle. Don’t miss out!

The Chapter Notes and Bibliography are jam-packed with the loads of peer-reviewed research that supports all the ideas presented in the book. Go deeper by reading some of these sources.

Introduction: Let’s Become BFFs and Change the World!

Be patient towards all that is unsolved in your heart and dreams, try to love the questions themselves.

—Rainer Maria Rilke

Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.

—Albert Einstein

In oneself lies the whole world and if you know how to look and learn, the door is there and the key is in your hand. Nobody on earth can give you either the key or the door to open, except yourself.

—Krishnamurti

Where I’ve Been, Where I’m Going (What the Hell Do I Know?)

When I was a wee grade-school girl, snarky classmates would often lay into me, You ask a lot of questions, don’t you? I’d be lying if I were to say these reproaches didn’t make me feel self-conscious—and want to sling my lunch bag at said naysayers (kids can be such meanies sometimes!). I didn’t understand why asking a lot of questions could be a bad thing; it felt so natural, so imperative.

Somehow through the gauntlet of adolescence, then the increasingly fluid social arteries of college, I developed super-springy Moonboot-like rebound. Adulthood finds me undaunted for the most part by inquiry-naysayers, as I putter about on my merry why-way as if insatiable curiosity was etched into my genetic code and the question mark was going out of style.

This isn’t always the most convenient route, but it’s definitely the most revealing and likely to yield (sometimes profound) insights. Plus I rarely get bored. It’s this hard-earned resilience and insatiable curiosity that have conspired over the years to transform my appearance, my health, my life, and the manner in which my life affects the world around me, in the most revolutionary ways. I also feel an undeniable drive to share the fruits of my personal transformations in the hopes I might empower others to change their lives and feel more alive.

I’ve been a mess. But I’ve confronted and transformed my weight struggles and myriad health issues because of my curiosity. I couldn’t alleviate any of these problems via the healthy diets I had been raised to eat, nor those recommended by the media and health experts, including doctors.

I was never obese, but around age 14 my metabolism shifted gears—downshifted gears. Despite eating in the same seemingly healthy way I had before, I gained 15-20 pounds within two years. I wasn’t simply devastated, I was flabbergasted. (Keep in mind, 15-20 pounds might not sound like a lot, but I’m 5'4". Though I gain weight in a more evenly-distributed hourglass manner, 15-20 pounds can show on me the way 30 pounds might on a much taller person.) And it wasn’t just weight, other mysterious health complications also arose.

I struggled with my weight and health for the next decade, searched and experimented left and right for solutions, fell flat on my face over and over again (if only I could have fallen on my ass—that had a lot more padding). But I kept investigating. It took me years, but eventually everything clicked. Everything changed.

I weighed more during almost all the years between ages 14 to 25 than any of the years after, including now. Yet I feel more satisfied with the foods I eat now than I did before (I’m talking finger-licking-good foods). And my body runs the way it should. You see, I tapped into a nexus-point wherein my years of experimentation and research finally provided something simple and sustainable that worked—without downsides. I was able to transform my body, to make it not only slender, but healthy.

Of course, I’m going to share with you how I transformed myself, but not before I share with you just how human I am. Because my success required not only research and experimentation, but frustration and defeat.

I didn’t get to know what I know now, and look and feel how I do without many challenges. Sustainable change isn’t easily won. I live proof of that fact. The fact that you’re reading this is proof as well. It’s also your key to the easiest transition into sustainable change—that’s my offering to you. Check out my journey through weight and health struggles (after Chapter 2) to see for yourself.

So how did I bring about this transformation to my healthy, slender self? How did I turn around my chronic health issues? How do I have the wherewithal to keep going every day? You’ll find out in the coming pages.

What I’ll tell you right here, right now is my curiosity and willingness to ask questions were, above anything else, what allowed me to lose and keep off the weight I battled for ten years, break disordered eating patterns, get my health issues in line, and maintain a healthy, satisfying relationship with food. As uncomfortable as my life had been before that point, as intimidating as it was to confront the unknown and the feeling my body was doing things I couldn’t help, I can say with full certainty I would never give any of it back.

Those years gave me the opportunity to come into a greater awareness of my own body. They inspired me to ask why, then go out and go within to discover the answers. Those years allowed me the opportunity to feel the awe and satisfaction that come from being able to watch myself care for and carry myself through difficult transformation—physical, emotional and psychological. I learned to give birth to myself, over and over again. I can now say with full certainty, I really like how I’m turning out.

I am here to tell you, before anything, before diets or self-help books or therapists, or weekend retreats, it is your curiosity that will save you. While I’m excited to share with you what I’ve learned about nutrition and health (I’m talking provocative, revolutionary stuff!), I’m most excited about and committed to inspiring in you how to think about health: wide-eyed, insatiable, asking questions until the end of time. This is the only way you will change your life.

Where We’ve Been, Where We’re Going (Read: Someplace Awesome!)

As much as my curiosity has revolutionized my life, the ultimate for me comes when I can explode my questions and the fruits of my questions to subjects that affect the bigger picture: humanity and the planet.

When I stop and think about it, like really nerd out, incessant questioning is the crux of science. Science is about inquiry; a proven theory is only true until it’s falsified. And any practice, religious, spiritual or mindful, that emphasizes the cultivation of self-awareness, consistent reflection and reevaluation also pivots from this center-point of questioning. As does democracy, ideally speaking (I’ve always believed it’s our job to work to actualize an ideal that shows us a healthier version of ourselves, no matter how ambitious such an enterprise may feel). Curiosity is what moves us forward. Curiosity is what brings us together.

Sure, I can devour technical books and pore over scientific journals, my synapses snapping in ecstasy as I mentally dress the paper dolls of possibility, enraptured by never-ending evidence that the world we share is devastatingly awesome. Sure, I enjoy all that. A lot. I’ve just always felt my true calling lies in my ability to feel that inexplicable sense of wonder, that drive to question, then to go out and help others feel inspired to ask their own questions, so they might better their lives, along with our collective life. Because the world could really use a heaping helping of that kind of drive right about now.

Any honest, unsentimental survey of our current cultural pulse and dire ecological predicament reveals less of a need for overly complex explanations as it does a need for a practical and engaging means by which to weed out what does and doesn’t make each of us feel better and enjoy and value life more—things that always seem in short supply. It’s time we turn that around.

Mass-level transformation might sound like some high hopes, but hard times give rise to high hopes, and girlfriends we are livin’ in some hard times! The fact that we stand in the thick of a health crisis is kind of a duh, so I won’t recap the as-is too extensively.

Chances are you probably know at least one person who is overweight, has diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer, menstrual problems, or is infertile—all problems that are all too preventable. Here are some scary statistics about the American population…

Obesity

In 2008, 149,300,000 adults (20 years or older) were considered overweight or obese—that’s 67.3% of adults in that age range¹

33.7% of US adults are considered obese²

Diabetes

Almost 26 million have diabetes³

79 million adults haveprediabetes*⁴

7 million adults with diabetes don’t even know they have it⁵

35% of adults age 20 and older have prediabetes, as dohalfof those age 65 and older⁶

If things continue as they are, 1 in every 3 U.S. adults could develop diabetes by 2050⁷

215,000 people younger than 20 years had diabetes (type 1 or type 2) in 2010⁸

Heart Disease**

Cardiovascular (heart) disease was responsible for 33.6% of all 2,243,712 deaths in the US in 2007—that’s almost every 1 in 3

Reviews for Eat Like a Fatass, Look Like a Goddess

[Keila · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Decently written and not as dogmatic as some other diet books. But I couldn't help but be irritated at the author placing advertisement for her (rather expensive) diet/coaching program at the end of every chapter.