It looks like Victoria Beckham is the new Oprah -- for diet books, anyway. You know you are truly an icon when you can spike a book's sales just by being photographed reading the book. That's what happened when Victoria Beckham was photographed reading the Skinny Bitch by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin. The book has been flying off the shelves and online sales are booming.
A-LISTERS are renowned for their bizarre eating fads but a new diet book to hit celebsville claims to cut out the "crap" and tell it how it is.
Sales of Skinny Bitch soared by 674 per cent on Amazon after Victoria Beckham was spotted with a copy in Los Angeles at the weekend.
While it sounds like a guide on how to become a size zero lollipop with the bitching skills of Cheryl Cole, it's actually a vegan diet with a bit of attitude thrown in.
Written by ex-model agent Rory Freedman and former model Kim Barnouin - both self-confessed skinny bitches - it is billed as a guide for "girls who want to stop eating crap and start looking fabulous."
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But first, TV nutritionist and Sun diet expert Amanda Ursell gives her views.
The Skinny Bitch eating plan is basically a vegan diet, according to Amanda.
She says: "The authors want us to give up milk and dairy foods like cheese and yogurts as well as eggs, meat and fish. In a nutshell, it is a vegan diet.
As with any diet, if you follow it to the letter then you will lose weight but for your average woman it's not particularly easy to follow and you would have to be incredibly dedicated.
While much of the no-nonsense advice is good, the diet is quite extreme."
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So what can you actually eat?
Unrefined carbohydrates: This means wholegrain foods like oats, brown rice, brown pasta, brown pita bread, couscous, barley, granary and wholemeal bread because they are great for slow-release energy, vitamins, minerals and fibre.
Fruits: Unlike the Atkins diet, the Skinny Bitch diet encourages us to eat fruit because it is so rich in vitamins, minerals and supernutrients. Preferably organic to avoid pesticides.
Vegetables: Again, preferably organic, to give us vitamins, minerals and fibre.
Pulses: Filling pulse vegetables like soya beans, red kidney, butter and cannelloni beans. Great for vegetable protein and fibre.
Soya: Around two servings a day of soya food, including soya milk, for protein.
One complaint by some readers is the crude and vulgar tone of the book. But some women loved the abusive style and just can't stop raving about it. The authors also have another book coming out in December, 2007, called Skinny Bitch In the Kitch, which is available for pre-order at
Amazon.com.