9 November 2011
Glamour’s “Snob Diet”: The Good, Bad, and Ugly
So, for some reason, I’m still subscribed to Glamour. I never read it, and really have no desire to. I think I just outgrew the magazine and its concerns (“Eyeshadow creasing is ruining my life!” is an actual quote from the latest issue). It tends to make me feel like if I’m not buying $250 boots, I’m making poor life decisions. I’ve just been too lazy to figure out how to cancel my subscription, which I’ve probably had for three or four years.
Recently, Ashley mentioned a somewhat controversial article on something called the “Snob Diet” from the December issue. Intrigued, I searched for the article online unsuccessfully before I remembered I actually get Glamour.
From what I can tell, the “Snob Diet” is sort of like the concept behind French Women Don’t Get Fat: eat small portions of “upscale,” decadent, full-fat food and you’ll be more satisfied and lose weight. The principles of the diet:
- Choose high-quality food
- Enjoy that food
- Don’t deny cravings
- If it’s not truly delicious, don’t eat it
Okay, I’m fine with all of those concepts. In fact, they mirror many of my own previous posts, and the ideas behind intuitive eating. We all know I hate diet food, love fat, and think you should spend as much money on groceries as you feel you comfortably can given your budget.
But I take issue with a few of Glamour’s basic assumptions that everyone has the time/mental energy, to make a homemade omelet for breakfast, a homemade salad and brownie for lunch, and homemade pot roast for dinner (or something along those lines).
Sometimes, you have five minutes to grab breakfast on the way to work. Sometimes, you don’t get home until 8:30, an the idea of even thinking about a pot roast is just out of the question.
So while I’m 100% behind the principles of the Snob Diet, I’m not sure it would be feasible for many people. There are real, satisfying foods that don’t require a week’s worth of menu planning. Given Glamour’s suggestions above, here’s how I’d modify the Snob Diet to fit a busy/stressed person’s lifestyle.
- Breakfast: a couple pre-made hard-boiled eggs (either make ‘em the night before or buy ‘em) and an apple
- Snack: handful of trail mix (dried fruit and nuts)
- Lunch: Chipotle steak or chicken salad (or similar)
- Snack: piece of your favorite cheese and baby carrots
- Dinner: pre-cooked chicken sausage and baby spinach microwaved with a little butter (just zap the sausage in the microwave with the spinach)
- Dessert: berries in a little cream
None of the things on my menu take more than five minutes to throw together, but they’re all real, satisfying foods.
If you have the time to make pot roast and omelets, by all means, DO IT. Sometimes I have time, and sometimes I don’t, but I need to have options. Most people need to have options.
What I do agree with? The quote at the end of the article from a dietitian: “No one’s investing millions into making women want cave-aged cheese and shiitake mushrooms. Instead, 10,000 new diet products are marketed heavily each year.” Word.
