Think Dirty, Eat Clean

      I've been going to the gym for years. It's one of my main priorities and it is without a doubt the best thing that I do for myself. As a training guide I often turn to Oxygen magazine. In my opinion it is by and far the best magazine of its kind. Many of Oxygen's competitors claim to be dedicated to fitness but really just seem like regular fashion/celebrity magazines with a few wimpy workouts thrown in. But every month Oxygen publishes multiple really hard workouts for at home and at the gym.  At $6.99 an issue on newstands compared to the $80 an hour my gym charges for a trainer, Oxygen is probably the most valuable magazine I buy each month (and I buy a lot of magazines).

Tosca Reno on the cover of Oxygen

      Oxygen also provides information in other areas related to fitness, especially nutrition. One of the magazine's columnists, Tosca Reno, entered the fitness world at the age of 40 after divorcing and losing over 70 lbs. Now at 51, Reno has published a series of books based on the concept of eating clean. After reading about her in Oxygen, I purchased her first book, "The Eat Clean Diet". I don't really like that it's called a "diet", because Eating Clean really seems like more of a way of eating-like how veganism is a way of eating and not a diet. But the concepts of eating clean make a lot of sense to me. In many ways they parallel the ideas brought forth by Michael Pollan in his books "The Onmivore's Dilemma" and "In Defense of Food". Reno presents the idea of "eating the way nature intended". That is, foods that are close to their natural state. She recommends a combination of lean protein, whole grains, fruits and vegetables. Other guidelines include avoiding processed foods, white flour and sugar, and drinking lots of water. With over half a dozen books in the Eat Clean series, and a spinoff magazine published every other month, there's definitely more to it than that, but the basic concepts are really simple.

   
I would recommend these books to anyone who wants to eat healthy. Yeah, Tosca Reno is one of those ultra peppy fitness kind of gals. And she so often makes mention of her "past life"-the marriage that didn't work out (she is now remarried), that you almost start to wonder if the whole thing isn't just an incredibly blown up version of "getting hotter is the best revenge". But then you think well, even if it is, girlfriend sure did it. She looks bangin'.
      Eating clean really does feel good. Even though I do love to bake cookies and banana bread, healthy meals are really what I eat on a daily basis. Like breakfast this morning, a bowl of hot whole grain cereal topped with strawberries, blueberries and almonds. I also ate some scrambled egg whites but those poor guys just weren't pretty enough to make the photo cut.