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Fitness and Weight Loss Tools for Success...

The Eat Clean Diet Recharged by Tosca Reno: At age 40, Tosca Reno made a lifestyle change and today at 50, she is a top figure competitor, best selling author and speaker.  Her plan is based on the bodybuilder's lifestyle of eating small meals often comprised of healthy whole foods. Check it out!   
www.ToscaReno.com
www.EatCleanDiet.com

NOTE: The Eat Clean Diet Recharged is now available! If you have to choose between the two, I recommend getting the Recharged book.
 

Clean Eating Magazine:

A truly terrific resource! Get great new recipes that actually taste good and are good for you! Check out the website here.
 

Devin Alexander:  This amazing chef has put out several terrific cookbooks. We've yet to try a recipe we haven't liked! I highly recommend! Visit her website.

Igloo Cooler:  This is the easiest part of building your new healthy lifestyle. Many stores offer the Playmate Igloo cooler  for between $20 and $30. You can order it directly from Igloo, also. The 16 qt. unit is the correct size to carry all my food needs for the day. I have 2 meals and 2 snacks away from home during the day... depending on how many meals you have away from home, you might go with a different sized  cooler.

Be sure to also purchase the freezer packs that keep your food cold during the day!   

Visit the Food Plan page and scroll down to view examples of what's in my cooler.

Steamer Bags:  These little bags are a godsend! Truly! If you can think of it, you can probably cook it in a Ziploc Zip n Steam Bag! Or in a Glad Simply Cooking Steamer Bag! Personally, I use the Ziploc bags for everything except my omelets. The omelets are just easier in the Glad bag because they actually stand up in the microwave. Both companies offer lots of recipes online, too!

The steamer bags make food preparation a snap! On Sunday, I chop up all my veggies, load them into their bags, add Mrs. Dash, seal, and toss in the fridge. I just grab however many bags I need, when I need them! This is soooo much faster than fast food! Give it a try!

Ziploc Website & Recipes         Glad Simply Cooking Bags & Recipes

George Foreman Grill:  I would be lost without my Foreman Grill. Every Sunday, when I do my food prep, this is what I use to grill my meat. From Buffalo to Beef to Chicken to Pork... whatever I'm preparing, this Grill can do it. The interchangeable plates are wonderful (the waffle plates are awesome!) and it's super easy to clean. It takes up only a small space on my counter, leaving me free to continue chopping veggies or make wraps... I love it! Available at WalMart and many other places.  online, too!

The Eat Clean Diet FOR MEN (2009) by Robert Kennedy &Tosca Reno:  No more excuses! This book is packed full of MANLY recipes and information written just for men.    Available at Barnes and Noble
www.ToscaReno.com
www.EatCleanDiet.com
 

iPod or mp3 player

iPod (or mp3 player)

Must.Have.Music. To get through my cardio & strength training sessions, I have to have music pumpin'. In iTunes, I've created many, many workout playlists. I change 'em up and keep 'em fresh. Want to see some?  View my iTunes playlists for cardio here.

Chocolate! 
There's absolutely no reason to give up chocolate! Godiva dark chocolate pearls are PERFECT! Just a few calories each (literally), and 3 or 4 pearls satisfies my sweet tooth!  I get my chocolate fix without sabotaging myself! Give 'em a try! You can order them direct from Godiva, or find them in many department stores including Macy's.
 

Heart Rate Monitor:    If you're looking to monitor your calories burned during exercise, along with your heart rate, then picking up a good heart-rate-monitor is essential.  I love mine, recommended by Tabitha Citro, a Polar F6. It prevents signal "bleed", meaning that when there are 30 people on the cardio machines, the monitor is only registering me. Also, it keeps a running total during the week, so on Monday I get a "report" showing me how many times I exercised, where my heart-rate averaged, and how many total calories I burned while exercising in the previous week.  Also, health-wise, it really helps me to keep control of my asthma. I've learned that when my heart-rate is in a certain range, I'm more prone to an asthma attack and the monitor lets me know when I'm approaching that range, so I can back off, breathe deep, and avoid an attack.

You can find a full list of available models here.

CalorieKing.com Online Tool:  FREE!!!   CalorieKing makes it easy to look up foods and get the nutritional information you need. I use this website almost daily!

TheDailyPlate.com Online Tool:  FREE!!!   TheDailyPlate has an impressive library of foods and their nutritional content. I use this website almost daily!

FitDay.com Online Tracking:  FREE!!!  Yep, that's right! This is a fabulous tool available to you right now... no strings! FREE!!  Just register, login and begin tracking your nutrition! The system is very easy to use, though you may have to create "custom food" to be sure all your calories and such are tracking correctly. For instance, the way I make my oatmeal isn't listed in their system, so I've had to itemize out the ingredients as custom. Then I just select them and add them to my food log. 

Here's a snapshot of one of my recent day's food. I've outlined the "meals".  Below is the nutritional breakdown of this day's food.