Month: January 2010

I love the concept of eating clean! When you eat whole (clean) foods, you naturally lower your sugar, salt, and calorie intake. I started off slowly, and it’s now become a lifestyle. Something I hopefully can follow for the rest of my life. And isn’t that the point of a “non-diet” – something that you can keep doing forever?

Now, let me be honest. I am not a rigid 100% clean eater. Processed foods do make their way into my diet occasionally, but for the most part, I try to eat as clean as possible. And I think that is how most people would as well.

Anyway, about the Eat Clean books by Tosca Reno . I guess I did things a little backward. I started learning about eating clean from online web sites and and I subscribed to Clean Eating magazine. In retrospect, I am glad I did it this way, instead of reading Tosca’s books first. I think I might have been scared off by the whole concept.

I received the The Eat-Clean Diet: Fast Fat-Loss that lasts Forever! book from the library.

While it’s a beautiful book, with great photos and colorful pages, it’s much too rigid. There are way too many restrictions like chocolate, fat (butter), egg yolks, beef, potatoes, and cheese. No eating after 6pm? We always have a light snack after dinner while watching TV.

Eating 5-6 daily meals (one meal every 2-3 hours) isn’t for me. I eat 3 regular meals plus snacks, and I don’t normally go over 500 calories for any meal, but Tosca suggests each meal to be 300-400 calories. If I divided my daily calories into 5 meals equally, I would only be eating 300 calories each meal.

Tosca also promotes non-stick cookware and bakeware, which I find to be dangerous to living things and the environment. I don’t know why a lot of chefs recommend non-stick, but it’s not something I like to use except for eggs and the occasional pancake breakfast. I would rather use a little more olive or coconut oil instead.

I don’t particularly care for some of her supplement recommendations either, like HGH (human growth hormone) and creatine. There’s just too much emphasis on body building and protein consumption. At this point in my life, I don’t desire to have a body like Tosca’s. While I admire her and all the work she puts into maintaining her fabulous muscles, I just don’t think it’s relevant to my particular lifestyle. But that’s not to say I won’t want to accomplish a buff body later in my life. I just don’t know!

Everyone knows for weight loss to work, you need to make it a lifestyle change, but this concept feels more like a dreaded “diet” to me. Too many restrictions will make you crave those foods even more. I prefer my Clean Eating magazine subscription instead of this book.

Disclaimer:
I love reading cookbooks, like some people love reading novels! I am inspired by recipes, and enjoy learning ideas from cookbooks; I like putting my own spin on a recipe rather than exactly following it. Please keep in mind that my opinions might be completely different from the other home cooks.