Eat Clean, Get Lean: More Food May Be the Secret to Weight Loss

Could more food be the secret to losing weight? Hard to believe in a diet that makes such lofty promises! But welcome to the world of clean eating, where quality trumps quantity. It’s a philosophy that has been applied by athletes and those in the physical fitness industry for years, but now one Canadian woman, Tosca Reno, is delivering the message to the masses.

Less time on the treadmill does have its allure, particularly if you like to treat yourself to the occasional organic chocolate chip cookie. “Pure” is pretty much the premise of the clean eating diet, which means no over-processed foods (sugar or white flour), no chemically charged foods, no foods containing preservatives, no artificial sweeteners, no saturated and trans fats.

Wondering what on earth (and when) you can eat? Faithful followers can indulge by eating more, specifically 6 meals a day, not skimping out on breakfast, healthy fats, lean protein and complex carbs. If ever in doubt, best-selling author Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma; Food Rules; In Defense of Food) suggests you do the following:

1.      Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.
2.      Avoid food products that contain more than five ingredients.
3.      Avoid food products containing ingredients that a third-grader cannot pronounce.
4.      Shop the peripheries of the supermarket (where the fresh food is) and stay out of the middle (where the processed, packaged, chemically altered stuff resides).
5.      Eat only foods that will eventually rot.
6.      If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don’t.
7.      It’s not food if it arrived through the window of your car or if it’s called by the same name in every language. (Think Big Mac, Cheetos, or Pringles.)

For rapid weight loss, to break through plateaus or show increased muscular definition, Tosca Reno recommends her hardcore eating plan which includes:

-          1 pear or apple, ½ in the morning and ½ in the afternoon or evening
-          2 cups or handfuls of high water content complex carbs, four times a day (grab veggies like cucumbers, tomatoes, broccoli or spinach)
-          One handful per day of complex carbs specifically derived from whole grains and starchy vegetables (think quinoa, brown rice, millet)
-          1 hand-sized sweet potato or yam serving per day, ½ in the morning and ½ in the afternoon or evening
-          1 palm sized portion eaten five times a day of chicken, tuna egg whites, turkey or non-oily fish.
-          And ONE GALLON of Water!

Of course if that seems too extreme yet you still want to adopt a clean eating philosophy, here are some samples foods from which you can choose: