Eating for Steady Weight Loss and Weight Maintenance : Cooler Plan #2

Clean eating is not a diet, it's a lifestyle.  It's a lifestyle that everyone should adopt, and by doing it your body will have a better chance at looking it's best.  It's all about eating whole, real foods and getting rid of processed foods.  Tosca Reno's Cooler Plan #2 in her The Eat Clean Diet book explains how to eat for steady weight loss or maintenance of weight.  It's basically a year round healthy eating plan.  The occasional treat, like dark chocolate and red wine (antioxidants! yay!) are permitted, but as always, stay away from processed sugars and trans fats (which you should be no matter what).  And remember, you can still eat too much healthy stuff - 2 cups of quinoa at dinner isn't a good idea, even though quinoa is a superfood, so this helps to think about portions.  I know the book says diet on it, but it really isn't.  This way of eating is the best for us and should become a lifestyle.  If you're new to this type of eating, start slowly, and just focus on adding in fruits and veggies everyday, along with whole grains and lean protein.  You'll get there.

Eat Clean Principles:
- Eat 5 or 6 small meals everyday (this ensures you are never starving, keeps your metabolism up, helps to curb cravings and help you to not overeat)
- Eat every 3 hours
- Combine lean protein and complex carbs at every meal (helps keep your blood sugar stable and prolongs digestion, keeping you full)
- Consume healthy fats each day
- Drink appx half your bodyweight in ounces of water each day
- Never miss a meal, especially breakfast (the most important meal of the day)
- Carry a cooler with your snacks during the day
- Avoid over processed, refined foods, especially white flour and sugar
- Avoid chemicals, preservatives, and artificial sweeteners
- Avoid saturated, trans fats and partially hydrogenated fats
- Avoid soda and juice
- Avoid alcohol (here and there is ok)
- Avoid calorie dense food that contains no nutrition (i.e. processed foods)
- Depend on fresh fruits and veggies for fiber, vitamins and enzymes
- Stick to proper portion sizes

Complex Carbs from Fruits and Veggies:
6 portions each day (however I always say no one got fat and unhealthy from eating too much spinach and kale, so if you must overeat, overeat in this category).  A portion is
- 1 cupped handful or fist sized piece of whole fruit, berries, grapefruit, melon, apple
- 2 cupped handfuls of raw or steamed vegetables.  This includes broth based and vegetable soup puree's (NO CREAM)

Complex Carbs from Whole Grains and Starchy Carbohydrates:
2-4 portions each day.  A portion is
- 1 handful of cooked, whole grain cereal such as oatmeal, millet, quinoa
- 1 piece of ezekiel bread or whole grain bread (check the ingredients)
- 1 handful of sweet potao, yam, banana, corn, squash or carrots

Lean Protein:
5-6 portions each day.  A portion is
- 1 cup/handful of dairy product such as soy, almond, hemp, rice or milk, cottage cheese, kefir, or plain greek yogurt
- 1 scant handful or raw, unsalted nuts or seeds
- 2 tbsp of all natural or organic nut butters (look at the ingredients, nuts only!)
- 1 palm sized portion of animal protein (preferably organic, pasture raised) or tofu
- Quinoa can also be used as a protein, along with beans, peas and lentils

Drink half your body weight in ounces in water each day.  Other drink options are black coffee, green tea, black tea and unsweetened herbal tea.

Use natural sweeteners like honey, agave, stevia, sucanat and rapadura sugar in moderation - NO artificial sweeteners aka chemicals.

Fats to consume in moderation are olive oil, nut butters, fish and fish oils.

Avoid juice, commercial salad dressings and sauces and fried, refined or processed food (aka food like substances that do nothing for us nutritionally)