Sara Pilot
Age: mid-40s
Profession: fashion stylist
Breakfast: 1 latte, 2 boiled eggs, kombucha gingerade drink, 1 banana
Lunch: butternut squash, 1 small slice of whole-wheat spinach-and-ricotta pizza, lentil soup and a few bites of a chocolate chip cookie at ABC Kitchen 4 p.m.: sugar snap peas, carrots, apple chips and a cranberry kombucha
Dinner: a few bites of whole-wheat bread, a glass of white wine, balsamic tricolore salad, grilled salmon and sauteed spinach, berries and a biscotti, mint tea with honey
Exercise: morning spin class at SoulCycle
I always thought the reason Manhattan women tend to be so skinny is because they don’t eat anything, drink lots of wine and walk everywhere (in my world we call that the Janet Dimet diet, less the exercise. Janet’s my mom, by the way) and work in the fashion industry. I’m partially correct. I feel the pressure to be thin here in NYC much more than I did in Chicago or anywhere else in the US for that matter. Then again, I have never lived in LA. Well, according to yesterday’s NY Post, a new book to be released the end of this month will share all the trade secrets of NYC’s size zeros. Author Eileen Daspin’s, “The Manhattan Diet,” (out March 27) has uncovered the tricks, rules and regimens behind some of the borough’s tiniest bodies.
Yes, I know to order two appetizers, take small bites, leave half on my plate, yadda, yadda, yadda…but sometimes I’m just damn hungry! According to Daspin, Manhattan women, are crafty about keeping temptation out of reach. They don’t keep “trigger foods” like peanut butter in their homes, she insists. If I told my husband no more peanut butter in the house, he would leave me. It doesn’t tempt me though. Another one of Daspin’s more extreme friends throws away any leftover food that entices her — pouring water over it for good measure (I use the disposal).
If you want to learn some of the tricks of the skinny trade, read the rest of the article here.
Danyelle Freeman
Age: 37
Profession: founder of Restaurantgirl.com and author of “Try This: Traveling the Globe Without Leaving the Table”
Morning-midday: For breakfast it’s two cups of black coffee, Greek yogurt with chia seeds and blackberries. Lunch: hijiki salad and fresh sushi. Snacks: honey ginger candy, a big scoop of peanut butter, a bag of Pop Chips and an orange.
Dinner: Wong in the West Village: two glasses of Pinot Grigio, and a sampling of the following dishes: calamari salad; appetizer of scallops, duck tongue and jellyfish; shrimp fritters; a noodle dish; a side of collard greens; a chocolate snowball with blackout cake; chocolate pudding covered in a meringue; duck ice cream.
Exercise: morning exercise class at my sister’s fitness studio, SLT (best described as Pilates on crack!), 16-block walk to a meeting
I always wondered how someone who has to eat for a living stays so thin, now I know. There are 24 Key Foods that keep Manhattan women skinny according to another article in the same paper. Here are some of the tips from The Manhattan Diet:
Eat well, but not too much. Walk like a maniac (easy in NYC & in my case I am usually pushing a double stroller!). Cook at home. Leave a little something on the plate. Indulge your sweet tooth. Don’t go hungry. Don’t deprive yourself. Eat whole foods; dump anything with “diet” in the name. Water is good. A glass of wine is fine, too. Here are some more tips:
• Eat what your body craves. Just because it’s 8 a.m. doesn’t mean you have to have eggs, fruit, oatmeal or Pop Tarts. At midnight, how about a bowl of granola (actress Christine Baranski’s default snack)?
• Have fun. If you pick an exercise you like, it will seem less like work.
• Olive oil is good for you — this is crucial. Lots of people have written about the trap of low-fat diets. Low fat makes you fat.
• Always leave a little left over. It can even be small, a crumb; just be aware you’re doing it and watch it go into the garbage.
• Savor every bite and take time for it. Never eat while in motion — not walking or in a car.
• Don’t always have a salad at lunchtime — it’s not always satisfying. Instead, choose a sandwich, a controlled way to have your carbohydrates, and you can pack in extra nutrients by using spinach instead of lettuce, as well as extra tomatoes.
• Skinny Manhattan women don’t patronize fast-food joints. Their idea of fast food is a Starbucks cappuccino. Frozen meals from Amy’s or a couple Boca Burgers are as close to processed food as thin Gotham gals get.
For a list of the 24 Key Foods click here!
Source & Photos: NY Post