July 23, 2009
BOOK REVIEW: 'Eat-Clean Diet for Men': Guys, It's Your Turn to Lose Weight the Clean Way
By David M. Kinchen
Huntingtonnews.net Book Critic
A diet book for men? It sounds like the ultimate oxymoron! The only way you'll get that hot dog away from many men is to pry it from their cold, dead hand. Don't even think about taking away my burrito. When I read "The Eat-Clean Diet for Men" (Robert Kennedy Publishing, Mississauga, Ontario (Toronto); 272 pages, $19.95) by Robert Kennedy and Tosca Reno I actually believed the husband and wife team has come up with the impossible -- a diet book that even I can follow faithfully.
They have recipes for chili, one of my favorite dishes; there's a neato recipe for the wonderful Cuban meat stew called Ropa Vieja and many more hearty ethnic dishes from around the world that will appeal to men, and the women who love them enough to get them off that regimen that's put ugly pounds around their guts.
Diet to many men brings forth horrifying images of celery, lettuce, counting calories and carbs, warning them away from the pizza they love (there are pizza recipes in "The Eat-Clean Diet for Men") and giving up everything edible that makes life worth living.
Still, we look at pictures when we were lean, mean loving machines and wonder....can this come true as we advance in years? The couple -- he was born in 1938 and she was born in 1959 and from their photos in this book, both look at least a decade younger -- are responsible for two previous "Eat-Clean" books -- for women and children (the obesity problem of North American children is major league) -- so it was logical for them to write and publish this book. It's no secret that many of the foods we shovel down that old pie hole are responsible for making us look older.
How about "Risky-Business Barbecue Ribs," guys? There's a recipe on pages 272-3 for the kind of food that guys I know love. On pages 284-5 there's a recipe for a five-bean stew that I'm gonna try. I love beans of all kinds, especially properly cooked Texas beans to go with BBQ (you cook them properly, with just the right al dente touch or they take away your Texas drivers license!).
"Lazy Sunday Venison Stew" anyone? It's on pages 276-7...And did I say what a wonderful job of design and printing this book presents? It's printed in Canada, too, not China, the way so many fine American books are these days. It's a tribute to book designers and it will look just as good on your coffee table as on the kitchen's cookbook shelf.
Kennedy and Reno recognize the obvious: Most diets don't work for men because we stubborn creatures don't eat like women! It's simple; we don't like to go hungry and most of us -- I may be an exception, I love them! -- don't like salads all that much and we certainly can't live on them. As good as we are at baseball box scores and tuning up our motorcycles, we don't like counting calories. The Eat-Clean Diet allows men to lose weight -- now that's something we all want to do! -- and get healthy while freeing us from all those dieting evils.
The book has 60 recipes for dishes that men really like. Chili is something I know, having served as a judge in a chili cookoff in Summers County, WV. Kennedy and Reno include a non-artery clogging chili recipe on pages 280-281 that I'm going to try. Chili can be healthy.... After all, properly made, with lean meat, it's really nothing more than a healthy stew with tomatoes and beans and peppers.
Along with the wonderfully photographed recipes, the authors provide plenty of information on exercises you can do at home or in the gym and how to get clean and stay clean when it comes to food. You have to be ruthless following their advice about cleaning out that artery-clogging refrigerator and pantry, but once you do, you're on the road to healthy living.
Kennedy and Reno promise to get rid of that spare tire you've been lugging around, improve your love life (yes, diet can affect that, too!) and make you look more like the men pictured in the book. That's some promise because these guys are very athletic looking. I'm guessing they're models who've appeared in Kennedy's fitness magazines.
Think about eating five to six meals a day -- not big meals, but small ones, with lean protein combined with every meal. That's an essential part of the "Eat-Clean" diet. Don't skip meals -- especially breakfast -- and drink at least two liters of water (the book has measurements in both Canadian metric weights and our obsolete system, so don't worry, you're covered). Supersizing is a dirty word, so don't even think about it. And yes, you'll have to give up all those fast foods that have contributed to so many pounds on your once-upon-a-time lean frame.
Kennedy and Reno provide shopping tips like avoiding the interior of a supermarket, shopping the healthy perimeter, and avoiding all trans fats and sugar of all kinds. Even diet soft drinks are bad for you, although you can fall off the wagon occasionally -- as long as you get back on it and follow the Kennedy-Reno principles.
So plunk down the money for this book -- it's available on Amazon.com and may be in your favorite bookstore -- and get clean. You'll be better off for it, I promise, and so do the authors. From this day forward, I'm going to do my best to Eat-Clean.
About the authors: Robert Kennedy has been in the forefront of physical culture and bodybuilding for years. He publishes six fitness magazines, including Maximum Fitness, MuscleMag International and Oxygen. He's written more than 50 books on fitness, including the New York Times bestseller "Hardcore Body Building."
Tosca Reno lost weight and got in shape at 40, becoming a top fitness model, columnist and author of books on health and fitness, including "The Eat-Clean" series. Celebrity endorsements have come her way from Nicole Kidman, Angelina Jolie and Halle Berry, among many others.
Websites: www.eatcleandiet.com; www.toscareno.com
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BOOK REVIEW: 'Eat-Clean Diet for Men': Guys, It's Your Turn to Lose Weight the Clean Way
By David M. Kinchen
Huntingtonnews.net Book Critic
A diet book for men? It sounds like the ultimate oxymoron! The only way you'll get that hot dog away from many men is to pry it from their cold, dead hand. Don't even think about taking away my burrito. When I read "The Eat-Clean Diet for Men" (Robert Kennedy Publishing, Mississauga, Ontario (Toronto); 272 pages, $19.95) by Robert Kennedy and Tosca Reno I actually believed the husband and wife team has come up with the impossible -- a diet book that even I can follow faithfully.
They have recipes for chili, one of my favorite dishes; there's a neato recipe for the wonderful Cuban meat stew called Ropa Vieja and many more hearty ethnic dishes from around the world that will appeal to men, and the women who love them enough to get them off that regimen that's put ugly pounds around their guts.
Diet to many men brings forth horrifying images of celery, lettuce, counting calories and carbs, warning them away from the pizza they love (there are pizza recipes in "The Eat-Clean Diet for Men") and giving up everything edible that makes life worth living.
Still, we look at pictures when we were lean, mean loving machines and wonder....can this come true as we advance in years? The couple -- he was born in 1938 and she was born in 1959 and from their photos in this book, both look at least a decade younger -- are responsible for two previous "Eat-Clean" books -- for women and children (the obesity problem of North American children is major league) -- so it was logical for them to write and publish this book. It's no secret that many of the foods we shovel down that old pie hole are responsible for making us look older.
How about "Risky-Business Barbecue Ribs," guys? There's a recipe on pages 272-3 for the kind of food that guys I know love. On pages 284-5 there's a recipe for a five-bean stew that I'm gonna try. I love beans of all kinds, especially properly cooked Texas beans to go with BBQ (you cook them properly, with just the right al dente touch or they take away your Texas drivers license!).
"Lazy Sunday Venison Stew" anyone? It's on pages 276-7...And did I say what a wonderful job of design and printing this book presents? It's printed in Canada, too, not China, the way so many fine American books are these days. It's a tribute to book designers and it will look just as good on your coffee table as on the kitchen's cookbook shelf.
Kennedy and Reno recognize the obvious: Most diets don't work for men because we stubborn creatures don't eat like women! It's simple; we don't like to go hungry and most of us -- I may be an exception, I love them! -- don't like salads all that much and we certainly can't live on them. As good as we are at baseball box scores and tuning up our motorcycles, we don't like counting calories. The Eat-Clean Diet allows men to lose weight -- now that's something we all want to do! -- and get healthy while freeing us from all those dieting evils.
The book has 60 recipes for dishes that men really like. Chili is something I know, having served as a judge in a chili cookoff in Summers County, WV. Kennedy and Reno include a non-artery clogging chili recipe on pages 280-281 that I'm going to try. Chili can be healthy.... After all, properly made, with lean meat, it's really nothing more than a healthy stew with tomatoes and beans and peppers.
Along with the wonderfully photographed recipes, the authors provide plenty of information on exercises you can do at home or in the gym and how to get clean and stay clean when it comes to food. You have to be ruthless following their advice about cleaning out that artery-clogging refrigerator and pantry, but once you do, you're on the road to healthy living.
Kennedy and Reno promise to get rid of that spare tire you've been lugging around, improve your love life (yes, diet can affect that, too!) and make you look more like the men pictured in the book. That's some promise because these guys are very athletic looking. I'm guessing they're models who've appeared in Kennedy's fitness magazines.
Think about eating five to six meals a day -- not big meals, but small ones, with lean protein combined with every meal. That's an essential part of the "Eat-Clean" diet. Don't skip meals -- especially breakfast -- and drink at least two liters of water (the book has measurements in both Canadian metric weights and our obsolete system, so don't worry, you're covered). Supersizing is a dirty word, so don't even think about it. And yes, you'll have to give up all those fast foods that have contributed to so many pounds on your once-upon-a-time lean frame.
Kennedy and Reno provide shopping tips like avoiding the interior of a supermarket, shopping the healthy perimeter, and avoiding all trans fats and sugar of all kinds. Even diet soft drinks are bad for you, although you can fall off the wagon occasionally -- as long as you get back on it and follow the Kennedy-Reno principles.
So plunk down the money for this book -- it's available on Amazon.com and may be in your favorite bookstore -- and get clean. You'll be better off for it, I promise, and so do the authors. From this day forward, I'm going to do my best to Eat-Clean.
About the authors: Robert Kennedy has been in the forefront of physical culture and bodybuilding for years. He publishes six fitness magazines, including Maximum Fitness, MuscleMag International and Oxygen. He's written more than 50 books on fitness, including the New York Times bestseller "Hardcore Body Building."
Tosca Reno lost weight and got in shape at 40, becoming a top fitness model, columnist and author of books on health and fitness, including "The Eat-Clean" series. Celebrity endorsements have come her way from Nicole Kidman, Angelina Jolie and Halle Berry, among many others.
Websites: www.eatcleandiet.com; www.toscareno.com
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