Eating Clean & Getting Fit with Tosca Reno – The Eat-Clean Diet

Have you heard of The Eat-Clean Diet by Tosca Reno? Recently the publisher of the book asked me if I’d be interested in reviewing it because they noticed that I have often talked about eating clean here at Fearless Fat Loss.

The topic of eating clean has come up so often because my healthy experiences have been with the Six Week Body Makeover lifestyle that helped me drop 43.5 pounds by eating clean, whole foods, doing regular cardio, and body sculpting exercises. I kept it off for over a year while continuing to live that healthy lifestyle and while it’s true that I have been having my own struggles with my lifestyle lately, I do believe 100% in getting off of processed foods and returning to a diet of whole, healthy foods; not only to lose weight but also to live a vibrant life full of energy.

Well, I can honestly say that I recommend The Eat-Clean Diet to you because I strongly resonate with the foundational principles of it. This makes perfect sense because both the Eat-Clean Diet and the 6WBMO are based upon the disciplines of bodybuilding and physical fitness athletes; therefore The Eat Clean Diet’s principles are quite familiar to me.

Additionally, both plans are lifestyles, not diets, even though The Eat-Clean Diet has the word “diet” in the title. Tosca includes in her book an excellent forward by Dr. Clifford Ameduri, M.D. (he specializes in sports medicine) who states that the Eat-Clean Diet is nothing like the fad diets such as Atkins or the cabbage soup diet, both of which really are diets and not meant to be lifestyles. The Eat-Clean Diet is a how-to manual that teaches you how to live a lifestyle of eating great tasting meals made from whole foods and engaging in regular physical exercise.

There really isn’t any magic here, but instead you’re given some healthy guidelines for how to eat and exercise in order to lose the fat, increase muscle strength, and get fit. I also really like that Tosca isn’t a skinny minny, but is a strong, physically fit woman. In fact, she started eating clean when she was a 40-year old mother of three and after losing 60 pounds, she went on to become a fitness model in her 40’s. Now that’s an example of someone who isn’t using any excuses to get healthy and fit! 🙂

Here is an outline of the healthy principles that The Eat-Clean Diet is based on:

• Eat whole foods. Stop buying and eating the stuff that is in the pretty packages on the shelf, that processed food that is filled with refined sugar, added sodium, unhealthy fats, white flour, as well as additives and preservatives. Yes, I know it makes the “food” (dead food in my opinion) taste good, but you’d be surprised how good real food tastes once you kick the processed stuff.

• Eat smaller meals throughout the day every 2-3 hours. Space out your meals and eat smaller amounts at each sitting. This will keep your blood-sugar levels even and keep your metabolism up. The book includes 2 weeks worth of sample meals so that you learn how to put your meals together the way that Tosca eats.

• Exercise portion control. Eating clean isn’t enough, you also need to use portion control because if you overeat on whole foods, you either won’t lose or you will maintain your weight.

• Drink plenty of water. Tosca recommends 8 full glasses each day. I’ve learned to drink 100oz each day. However you measure it, be sure to get in that water.

• Drop the sodas. Sodas are filled with either refined sugars or artificial sweeteners. Either way they don’t help you lose weight or maintain good teeth. They can also get in the way of you drinking your fill of water, which you do need to keep your body in tip-top working order!

• Exercise regularly. Not only cardio, the type of exercise that keeps you in your target heart rate for at least 30 minutes (I like fast-paced walking), but also strength building exercises. You can use weights like Tosca does, or resistance bands like I do.

• Stop Dieting and Make it Your Lifestyle. I mentioned this above so this is just a reminder that short-term dieting isn’t going to help you keep that weight off. When you make clean eating your way of life and incorporate regular exercise, you won’t have to worry about the weight coming back. 😉

Also included in the book is a 2-week meal guide so that you can learn how to plan your meals and portions, over 25 tasty whole food recipes, a shopping guide for whole foods, and clean-eating Q&A. Also included is more background on Tosca’s journey to eating clean as a lifestyle, and a section on how to get your kids to love clean eating while helping your family get healthy!

As far as what I wouldn’t use in the plan, there are a couple of recipes that include flour and sugar, and I would exclude the salt and dairy, too. Tosca also uses healthy oils to cook with (i.e.: olive oil) however I wouldn’t use that myself until I get to my goal weight. This doesn’t mean that this plan won’t work for you, and if your diet presently consists of processed and fast food, eating clean will bring you into a whole new way of life; you won’t believe just how good you can feel eating like this until you experience it!

I also love that Tosca includes a section on packing your daily cooler filled with your healthy meals made from whole foods. I am so used to doing that, in fact my little soft-sided cooler is getting a bit tattered. Packing your cooler isn’t hard and you need it for work and your errands. It ends up becoming just another part of your routine. 😉

Tosca Reno is a regular contributor to Oxygen Women’s Fitness magazine, and it was her reader’s questions that motivated her to write the book, The Eat-Clean Diet. If you’ve been looking for some motivation to get healthy, lose weight, and get your body in shape, then you can pick up a copy of Tosca’s book below and start eating clean. Enjoy!