Lift like a man, look like a goddess.....

...the promise is printed on the front cover in bold, lavender letters.

Of course frumpy-dumpy me wants to look like a goddess, so I purchased the book after hearing lots of great feedback from women who tried Lou's The New Rules of Lifting (dude version).  For this chick guide, Lou Schuler teamed up again with Alwyn Cosgrove (the mind behind the actual program) and newcomer Cassandra Forsythe, M.S. (the mind behind the diet plan) to give ladies the attention they deserve in the heavy-lifting circle.
New Rules... takes women through seven stages (including an optional stage thrown in to increase strength to weight ratio and prepare chicks for unassisted pull ups...I excite!) of progressing intensity, all with the goal of increasing power and strength.  The diet plan is straightforward--eat healthy, real food to power your body for the beastly workouts--and cutting calories to speed up weight loss is discouraged.
I've read through the book a couple times and it's as entertaining as it is informative.  I found myself laughing and learning (and fretting the day I would actually start this butt-kick-fest) throughout the read.  I almost feel like I need to have a huge poster printed with the 20 New Rules and hang it everywhere I go, lest I fall back into the mindset fuzzy-pink-hand-weight pushers want to keep me in.
And well, now the time has come.  I've set many start dates that have come and passed since buying the book and every time I had an excuse.  This time, I can't think of any good excuse to reason myself out of starting (I was going to throw the "I'm too fat and weak" card but it just didn't make sense), so I'm digging in and trying to mentally prepare myself as much as possible.  I have everything ready for my meet-and-greet with the squat rack tonight...

..I hope it likes me.  Wish me luck.