Customer Reviews

The Eat-Clean Diet Recharged: Lasting Fat Loss That's Better than Ever!

5 star:		(59)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I purchased the original _Eat-Clean Diet_ book when it came out a few years ago, and used the principles in it to lose sixteen pounds (two dress sizes). Recently, I've been a little more lax in my eating, so I purchased this book last week to help motivate me to get back on track with my eating for the new year.

Before purchasing this newer edition, I was worried that it would be very similar to the first version of the book, but, as Reno explains, it contains over 100 pages of new text. While there are some chapters that are similar in both books (like chapters on the importance of drinking water and eating breakfast), there are a lot of new ideas. If you are trying to decide whether to purchase the older, original edition of this book or this one, I would recommend buying this one since it contains more recent information about nutritional studies. If, like me, you already own the original book, I think you'll still find the ideas in here useful and inspirational.

I find Reno to be very motivating, and, if you're struggling to lose weight, you will probably find her books really helpful. The idea behind clean eating is that you eat foods that are as close to their natural state as possible, without adding in extra sugar, chemicals, etc. Eating six meals a day ensures that you never go hungry, and you don't have to worry about calorie counting.

Another great feature of this book is that she includes a vegan meal plan in it. The first edition was very centered around meat, which made it difficult for me (as a lacto-ovo vegetarian) to see how I could incorporate all of her suggestions since I wasn't about to gnaw on a chicken breast as my morning snack.

Reno also focuses much more in this edition on the environmental effects that our food choices have, citing Michael Pollan's work and the principles of films like _Food, Inc._. Since I am concerned with environmental issues, I really liked this new focus on eating locally and sustainably.

This book also contains 50 new recipes. I have not tried any of them yet, but will be sure to update my review after I have tried a few. The inclusion of quite a few vegetarian recipes is another nice feature.

I first discovered Reno in _Oxygen_ fitness magazine, where she is a monthly columnist, and last year was happy to see that Robert Kennedy Publishing (the group that publishes Reno's book and _Oxygen_) began a new magazine called _Clean Eating_. If you want even more seasonal, healthy recipes and nutrition tips, I definitely recommend subscribing to it. Just be warned, however, that it contains a lot of ads promoting Reno's books -- to an annoying degree. If you can look past those ads, it makes a nice addition to a clean-eating lifestyle.



UPDATE ON 3/1/10: I've made a few of the recipes, and all of them have turned out to be really good! In my original review, I accidentally said that the book has over 15 new recipes, but it actually has 50 new ones. If you have the original version of this, you definitely don't *need* this newer version, but the updates and success stories make it a nice addition to my collection of health books.

This book is a reference manual for Tosca Reno's philosophy of life. Like some others, I was a bit put off by all the photos of her, particularly as I started reading the front end of the book. I tried to read the book, but I found it to be a very complicated Users Manual. My family is already on the leading edge of overall health and fitness. We eat very "clean", fresh and colorful, and we all train extensively (swim, bike, run, weights). But one thing I firmly believe is that in order to be truly changed, you must adopt a lifestyle that you can live with for the rest of your life. And I found Tosca's lifestyle to be too demanding, too detailed and too "unusual" - meaning that things aren't readily available in my local grocery or health store. And that statement is coming from someone, as I said, who has already adopted a very very healthy lifestyle. So for me, the book was just too heavy-handed.

I almost lost my healthy dinner of chicken breast and broccoli when early in the book I read the following: "I was recently surprised to read that a celebrity I admire, Angelina Jolie, Eats Clean. When I saw her at the Academy Awards in 2009, she looked so radiant that I wondered to myself whether she was following my eating plan. Her skin looked a lot like mine, which is why I suspected she might be on to what I had discovered...". Talk about an immediate turn-off - GACK!

I wish I had seriously read the lower rated reviews before I bought this worthless, self serving, self inflating tome. As a person committed to fitness and healthy diet I thought this would be a welcome addition to my library of resources and motivation. Instead, as other reviews state, it is a page after page advertisement to how "wonderful" Tosca thinks she is. Yes, she has achieved a great body and certainly seems healthy. However, I question her credentials. Her formal education and degrees are not related to nutrition.

Ms. Reno seems to be wonderful at self promotion and obviously has a slick designer. The book is colorful and well designed. Unfortunately the content is so obvious that unless you have been living on another planet you already know that "white sugar is the enemy". This book is simply chapter after chapter repeating the same information over and over. I kept waiting for her to teach me something concrete. Instead virtually every page has a picture of her in some form and/or a "testimonial" to how fabulous her plan transformed a life.

I returned the book and will gladly pay the $3.99 shipping fee to get this thing out of my house.

When I order from Amazon I rely fairly heavily on these personal reviews so I felt compelled to share my experience with this book to help others. In short this book is a whole lot of the same old same old. The first 13 chapters are nothing more than a repeat of all of the information that books, newspapers, magazines, etc., have been saying for years. There are full chapters on subjects like sugar, longevity, and basic exercise. Then finally you get to chapter 14 which actually sets out the eat clean plans...two pages each...nothing new! This eat clean diet is a whole lot of infomercial and not alot of substance! In case I am not making myself clear....SAVE YOUR MONEY.

I bought this book along with two of her cookbooks in one of the package deals that Amazon has and boy am I glad Amazon has a good return policy! While I feel her nutritional principles are sound (they aren't new and they aren't hers) I was completely overwhelmed and turned off by a picture of her on almost EVERY page! If you are looking for a woman who it seems like is as obsessed with herself as Martha Stewart is, this book is for you! If you would like a book that gives you good nutritional advice without all the hype and how completely wonderful her life is and how incredible she is (!) then don't bother!

The recipe section is decent - in fact if you buy this book and can tolerate her everywhere, by all means use the recipes and DON'T bother with the other cookbooks - recycled info with a lot of shiny pictures!

I purchesed the previous Eat Clean Diet book by Tosca and feel that the previous edition does a far better job explaining how the diet works and what kind of foods you should eat and why. This version is more about inspirational stories, but if you're serious about the diet, buy the previous edition (with the green cover and tosca's arms full of produce). Good luck!

I actually liked Tosca's first book much more than this one, and I had high hopes for this one. To me, the first Eat Clean Diet book was more simple and easy to follow and plan. I'm not going to run out and buy bee pollen, weird supplements and expensive oils that will completely deplete my grocery budget. I think this book will be more of a turn off to a lot of people because of that. Not to mention, some of the items she seems to not be able to live without aren't even available in some areas. I have a family to think about, and I can't spend all of our grocery money on a tiny bottle of weirdness.

On another note, I have stopped subscribing to Oxygen Magazine because it might as well be renamed, "Tosca Central". When you marry the publisher, I guess you get a lot more space than other, well-deserving models and experts. I am tired of hearing about her quite frankly. Sure, she has some sound nutritional advice, and has had great success, but she has had cosmetic surgery and she gets a ton of promotion for being married to Robert Kennedy (Oxygen's publisher). The difference between her writing in her first book compared to the writing in this book, shows that her success has gone straight to her head. She looks phony to me now. There are many other successful women out there who have great tips.

All in all, I have had good success with her first book, and about the only thing I wanted to do with this book was get it out of my house. I'd highly recommend her first book if you're looking for a more easy-to-follow plan. And I'd recommend checking this book out from your library instead of buying it to see for yourself.

I thought that I was onto something when I bought this book but with each chapter, I find myself saying to the "author": you said that already in the previous chapter. In essence, she keeps repeating herself with no new information. I also skeptical about some of the info she presents...I believe that equal emphasis on nutrition and exercise gives you that great body we see in magazines.I am sure that an 80% focus on nutrition and only 10% focus on exercise, was not how she or the many fitness professionals out achieve their super bodies...come on everyone knows, when you lose the fat through nutrition, you better work your butt to get that toned and taunt bodies otherwise you would still look like a prune. Finally, what's up with those redundant testimonials - each person keep saying the same thing as if paid to do so - WHAT'S NEW!!! I think they were included to help with the page count - but substance please, no fluff.

I like a lot of this book, but what's with spelling "flour" as "four" throughout the ENTIRE Kindle version?! Also, like others have mentioned, there is no table of contents in the Kindle version. Booo.

I liked the original book, it really helped me, as an already clean eater, remember the basics and refine my packing skill set. I've packed lunch for years. Recently, in the interest of building my Beachbody business, I got into some supplements that take up some of the calories in my diet, and even at the wholesale price, I am getting to the point where I don't want to spend the money.

I pulled the original Eat Clean book off the shelf, but remained non-plussed about the food plan for Cooler #2. I weigh my food instead of measuring and had to look up how much a cup of food weighed. I also didn't like the ambiguity of eating a potato throughout the day. Original Weight Watchers and other diets have me zoned in on counting calories too. I know it's all small sweet potatoes right?

Anyhow, I got the Recharged on my Kindle, with the hope that Cooler 2 would be updated. It was and I am grateful for the more specific directions. For eating about 1600 to 2000 calories each day on that plan, I am not hungry which means it's doing it's job. The 100 pages of updated text are things I already know as fitness professional, but it's worth reviewing to reinforce my knowledge. The one thing that I wish she'd explained a bit more was how to do a strict HIIT workout. A HIIT does marvelous things if you can figure out what works for you.

I don't recommend the Recharged version for Kindle. There are a lot of gray areas that won't display correctly, and none of the charts display correctly either. I can't make them larger to view. Pass this up on Kindle for sure.

Other than that, as one reviewer noted, if you don't have the first book, buy this one as it's a bit more refined. I like the hand method of measuring things. I've know about it for a long time, but never got in-depth with it. Tosca does a good job at explaining it. The bigger you are the bigger your hands and so it almost automatically right-sizes things without having to count calories. I'm going to get out of my compulsion to weigh things one day and give it whirl. This book also address vegetarian needs, but with the bad display of charts on the Kindle, it's hard to say if the topic is addressed well.

Have fun, get fit, get healthy and be happy!
Linda
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