Eating Clean

Last week I picked up a copy of Tosca Reno's book "The Eat-Clean Diet Recharged" at Barnes and Noble. I've been looking for something to help me lose this baby weight that I can't seem to shake and her system and philosophies just seem to make sense.

Here are the basic Principles:

1. Eat MORE- 5-6 small meals per day

2. Eat Breakfast every day- within an hour of rising

3. Eat a combo of lean protein and complex carbs at each meal

4. Drink lots of water, 2-3 liters per day

5. Adhere to proper portion sizes

6. Avoid over-processed/chemically charged/preservative laden/artificial sugared foods- if you can't pronounce it, its probably a chemical and not good for you.

7. Avoid sugar-loaded beverages like juices and sodas

8. Avoid saturated and trans fats

9. Avoid (or limit as much as possible) alcohol

10. Avoid calorie-dense foods containing little or no nutritional value (anti-foods)

So the idea is to eat whole fruits and veggies paired with lean protein (think chicken, turkey, fish) and whole grains (brown rice, quinoa) staying away from sugar, white flour and chemicals.

It doesn't sound difficult, does it?

But it definitely has its challenges, mostly because just about everything you can buy in a traditional grocery store is loaded with all the things you're trying to avoid from high fructose corn syrup (more on HFCS is a later post and how much the new commercials make me mad!) to aspartame and preservatives.

So, this means more cooking, but so far its worth it, i've lost 5lbs in the last week, without exercise....and i'm adding that in tomorrow. I'm looking forward to being slimmer, healthier and to having more energy to play with my 3 young boys! Stay tuned to see how it all works out!