You can’t out run a bad diet: The basics of clean eating
Are you spinning 5 days a week or running everyday? Lifting and taking those body pump classes? And you have lost some weight and inches, but you still have a little junk in the trunk? A little weight in your mid section still? Well, then I have news for you – the secret is your diet.
When it comes to toning up, and looking good (not just feeling good or getting stronger) your diet plays a critical role. Even if you run and lift every single day, if you aren’t eating clean then you will not get the muscles to pop through.
Tosca Reno is a big proponent of Clean Eating and has several books an online programs to help people to learn clean eating. Here are the basics:
Eat 5 or 6 small meals every day.
Eat every 2 to 3 hours. This is somewhat redundant with the above. Eating regularly may reduce the risk of snacking.
Combine lean protein and complex carbs at every meal. Protein promotes satiety, and the requirement to combine it with complex carbohydrates is presumably based on the idea that it will result in more stable blood sugar levels.
Consume adequate healthy fats each day. Substituting saturated or trans fats with refined carbohydrates is either neutral or negative as a health benefit. Substituting monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats for saturated and trans fasts helps lower the risk of heart disease.
Drink at least 2 liters, or 8 cups, of water each day.
Never miss a meal, especially breakfast. Breakfast literally means “breaking the fast” from the night before so if you don’t eat breakfast (even a little something) you are more likely to gorge on food at the next meal.
Carry a cooler loaded with Eat-Clean foods to get through the day. Prepare your snacks for the week on Sundays and keep them prepped in baggies so you can grab them on the go.
Avoid all over-processed, refined foods, especially white flour and sugar. Heavily processed foods tend to be higher in salt and calories, and may also be less nutritious. There is good evidence to suggest many people obtain an excessive number of calories from sugar, and from refined carbohydrates in general.
Avoid chemicals, preservatives, and artificial sugar.
Avoid saturated and trans fats.
Avoid sugar-loaded colas and juices.
Consume adequate healthy fats (EFAs) each day.
Avoid alcohol-another form of sugar.
Avoid all calorie-dense foods that contain little or no nutritional value. This is a general statement that speaks to caloric and nutrient density. On balance we want to maximize the nutrition within a given amount of food consumed. But while intuitively appealing, studies don’t show a strong relationship between caloric density and weight. It may be that we increase overall consumption in response to deliberately cutting calorie density. Whether these types of foods need to be avoided completely hasn’t been established – it’s a restrictive rule, and it’s probably better to consider the consumption of these products in the context of the overall diet. Forbidding “treat” foods entirely may be more difficult to manage than accommodating them within daily or weekly eating plans.
Depend on fresh fruits and vegetables for fiber, vitamins, and enzymes. Fruits and vegetables are good sources of nutrients, fiber and vitamins. but so are other foods, such as grains. Insisting on “fresh” produce is unnecessarily restrictive, as frozen or canned versions can offer the same nutritional benefits. Enzymes are large proteins that act as catalysts for biochemical reactions throughout the body – but our body produces what we need, and digests the ones we consume.
Stick to proper portion sizes-give up the super sizing! This is also reasonable advice. Portions sizes, particularly in restaurants, have grown over time. While Reno doesn’t mention calories, they’re the fundamental energy unit of diet.
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