Hello Gorgeous (some thoughts on Kris Carr & her book Crazy Sexy Diet)

From the first pages of this book, I so wanted to be friends with Kris Carr. And not just the veggie loving, juice drinking, chilled out meditating pillar of awesomeness that she is now but also the party girl who used to run around Manhattan drinking until the sun came up. Despite the fact that she has completely changed her life and how she looks at food and nutrition, she still has the party girl spark that draws others to her. She just uses it now to talk to us about how we can change our lives and possibly what we thought was our medical destiny. Reading this book felt like a conversation between friends over cocktails. That she was spilling all her juicy secrets and discoveries to me because we are the best of friends and she can't imagine something terrible happening to me. This is a powerful way to write a book. It either appeals or is a turn off. For me, it works. I mean anyone who calls me gorgeous on the first page has my attention.

Kris Carr decided to change her life when, at 31, she was told she had cancer in her liver and in her lungs. She went through a slew of doctors who had various recommendations. She finally found a doctor she jived with and the decided to wait it out and see what happened. She completely changed her life. She went back to school to study nutrition. She learned how to sleep and meditate. Today her cancer lays dormant. She has a documentary that focuses more on her medical stuff than this book does (Crazy Sexy Cancer) so if this is something that interests you, by all means pick it up.

After a brief introduction to her start down this path to wellness, she talks about the PH of the body. Acidic vs alkaline and how the right balance in our diet is the key. Animal products, processed foods, sugars, alcohol and even some legumes (black beans, soybeans & chickpeas) are the acidic and veggies, fruits, nuts, seeds and legumes are the alkaline. For drastic change we should strive for a 80/20 ratio and for maintenance a 60/40.

There is a lot of information about the benefits of going vegan in this book, but very little pressure. Her point is that if you can't give up all animal products or don't want to give up all animal products, strive to keep them to a minimum rather than the main. And if you are going to add in dairy or meat (in small amounts) make sure it is good quality. She keeps in mind the big picture and if not being able to eat a little bit of cheese is going to keep people from eating this way, giving into that little bit of cheese is better than going back to the Standard American Diet (SAD - every time I abbreviate this I giggle at the irony....)

There is a lot of info in this book from information about food, our digestive system (a whole chapter so if potty talk makes you uncomfortable you may want to skip or skim this chapter) juicing, meditating and more. It is light, conversational and has lots of pretty charts to help break down all the scary number stuff for people like me - especially when all the acidic balance chemistry talk started to make me a little dizzy. There is also a 21 day cleanse outlined day by day at the end of the book along with some recipes. And if those intrigue you there is a follow up cookbook (which I am going to try and pick up to review.)

Kris Carr is a remarkable woman who could have given up. Instead she empowered herself and is really living each and every day. I love the idea that we have the ability to create our strongest, sexiest selves based on what we pick up and put in our mouths. I love the strength in this way of thinking. It is up to us to do the research, try out the different recommendations for food and see what gives us the most energy.

The decision on how to live your life is up to you.  How's that for empowerment? It makes me want to go grab some kale.

To nab a copy of Crazy Sexy Diet click here.

For more info please visit her website at http://kriscarr.com