Book ~ " The Eat-Clean Diet" (2007) - Tosca Reno

From Goodreads ~ With The Eat-Clean Diet, the diet that fitness professionals rely on, readers will transform themselves from sluggish, exhausted and overweight to energetic, lean and fabulous Just like the author and cover girl Tosca Reno did when she was sixty pounds overweight, readers will discover how to make their bodies burn fat while eating tons of food. We've all seen the fitness professionals on the covers of magazines and wished we could look like them. The truth is, they are real people. Just like you, they had to figure out how to get their bodies to look like that. And they all came to the same conclusion: Eat Clean So who better to write a book on the subject than formerly overweight fitness diva and mother of three, Tosca Reno? Tosca shows you how to lose over sixty pounds, like she did, or just that last ten. When you read The Eat-Clean Diet you will: Rev up your metabolism to burn more fat -faster ; Lose weight quickly and easily; Never go hungry; Eat all food groups: protein and carbs and fat; Eat five to seven meals a day; Receive Eat-Clean recipes with color photos; Have more energy than you ever dreamed possible; Stay lean forever never worry about dieting again.

I like reading books about eating healthy. I saw Tosca Reno briefly interviewed on CP24 a couple weeks ago. She looked great so I thought I'd check out one of her books.

I didn't learn anything new ... but it was a good reminder to eat complex carbs with protein to stay full longer, eat smaller meals and drink lots of water.

Alas, there's a lot of repetition in this book. Drink lots of water. Yep, I've got it a couple times already. Eat complex carbs with protein. Yep, I've got that too.

At times, I found the writing was condescending and not in reality. Here's an example in the "Ordering out" chapter under "Making friends with the server".

"Use your charm in a firm but polite manner to win him or her over. Keep your instructions simple. Once you have charmed him into your corner, tell him politely but meaningfully that you will return the food if it comes covered in the things you didn't want."

Really?? He's going to spit in your food!

Or how about the chapter about feeding your kids:

"Once your children start Eating Clean they will not enjoy junk food in the same way. That's a promise! Teenagers have notoriously poor eating habits. They feed voraciously on greasy French fries and sugar-loaded carbonated beverages and all manner of garbage foods. These foods will lose their appeal after Clean Eating has been implemented in your household."

Hmmmm ... I doubt it.

Though there is some useful information, this is not a book I'd recommend.