The Clean 20: 20 Foods, 20 Days, Total Transformation

It's just what I needed. I taught alot about healthy eating habits. Love the book

I bought both a physical and digital copy of this book, I had been looking for a common sense, simple, affordable, clean method of eating that would be healthy and easy to implement. I am a fan of Dr. Ian Smith, so I was very excited when I came across this book.The positive aspects were that I feel the simple nutrition and encouragement of clean eating are great ideas. I read the book and was eager to step into the world of clean eating. And that’s when the issues became apparent, though, I understood the goals and principles, I did not know how to incorporate them into the next 20 days of my life.I tried, I wrote out note cards with the meal options for each day (extremely time consuming) thinking I could arrange the cards for each few days and have what I would eat planned out. During this process, I noted that no serving amounts were given, that did not bother me too much when, for example, he stated to eat 3 servings of vegetables, as I could refer to the package or health.gov dietary guidelines. I would have appreciated that being included though. What did bother me a little was when certain foods were listed with no serving amount or number was given. There were several very similar recipes, essentially duplicates that felt unnecessary, but that I could guess desired amounts from those.The next challenge I faced was creating a shopping list for a few days. I tried to list the required ingredients based on the note cards and figure out the amounts roughly needed to make meals for at the least 3 days at a time. I felt like this was time consuming and complicated when there was more than one option for each meal. I understand the attempt to give flexibility, but it just made it more complicated for me. A shopping list with the items needed and how much for the week would have been useful.When choosing the items to purchase, I figured I would look at the recipes for each meal then add up the amounts needed for each day. But, the recipes although simple, did not correlate well with the daily meals. Another missed opportunity to make this plan practical.Overall, the tone of the book was interesting and upbeat. I liked the information given on how to select clean food items. True, it might all be easily available elsewhere, but it made complete sense to lay it out in a concise and simple way for those of us who just want to know the basics to start the program. I will say, though kind of cute, I could have easily done without so many pep talks for each day. I did feel somewhat like this was just filler (when I would have much preferred to have the things I mentioned above).So, Dr. Ian and friends, if you decide to create revised edition, please keep these points in mind. Maybe you can have people test out the plan to make sure it is a workable one.

This diet is pretty easy to follow and during the 20 suggested beginning days, I lost about 10 pounds. I decided to stick with it since I never felt hungry and I never really felt deprived. I also have more energy overall and feel so much better! I’ve lost about 15 pounds 2 months in—with some occasional cheat days or foods. No sugar, which is the hardest to avoid (at least for most people), but lots of veggies, fruits (can help satisfy those sweet cravings at first), whole grains, and poultry (fish also, but I forget that since I don’t eat it). I picked the meals I liked , skipped the others (e.g., fish), and after a while got the general drift and can order at restaurants or make my own favorite foods easily without too much compromise on the diet. A few things about the book I don’t like: not a lot of don’ts, not always explanations as to why, and there are some glaring questions I still have questions that are not covered anywhere that I saw in the book (coffee/tea—yay or nay?). I wish there was a supporting website/blog to ask these questions, or even an FAQ section in the book for this. (There might be something on Facebook, but that doesn’t seem the right format—plus I don’t do Facebook.)Overall I highly suggest this diet to people who hate diets or just want to eat better. I’ve tried a lot of diets in the past and two weeks in wanted to quit because they were too hard, or too depriving, or constant cooking (or measuring), or starved me! There are no calorie restrictions in this book (though that doesn’t mean all-you-can-eat time), but with the types of foods suggested you don’t need to stuff yourself and the calories are “naturally” cut.

My daughter and I had weight loss goals and after hearing about the clean diet from other sites and hearing Dr. Ian on the radio I decided to try his clean 20 plan. The book provides daily meal plans but also explains some of the reasoning behind the food selection.This plan changes the way you think about food and the meals you eat. I lost 9 pounds on the clean 20 but I really didn't do the activity portion of the plan until the very end. My daughter lost a lot more 15 pounds because she works out and was more active. The Clean 20 group on facebook is one of the best parts of this plan and a huge reason that we made it to the end. This plan, kicks a lot of the cravings we've developed and changes your tastes, we can taste the difference when eating fresh organic foods and those foods that are processed.While on the clean 20 it's very restrictive but we've taken many of the concepts and have applied it to our lives for the long haul.- organic food, especially meat, produce and dairy ( before this we never at organic)- minimize processed foods- 5 ingredients or less in the products we buy- 100% whole wheat- minimized sugar- pasture raised brown eggsWe make a lot of our foods now versus buying processed foods, including the smoothies, salsa, pizza, and eating meals with mostly vegetables.Yes we read labels avidly, which took a lot of time in the store at first, but since we've been doing it so long we have a standard list of items.

I lost 30 pounds by following the diet guidelines continually for 5 months (without exercise, but combining the program with intermittent fasting).

I really enjoyed how the information was presented and I especially was impressed by the source of the information. The experience and expertise that went into writing this book was very amazing. To me it seemed as if you had the food laid out, next you had the plan laid out. After your 20 days you realized you just totally transformed your body without even thinking about where you were heading. Overall excellent experience incorporating this book into my world, I can use it anytime throughout the rest of my journey through the kingdom and I now feal comfortable making wise nutrition and lifestyle decisions ...

Some good ideas in the book.It arrived as advertised.

highly recommended for good clean/unprocessed eating. with lots of recipes/and 20 day menu plans, and a nice list of snacks. ALL clean. Its all laid out for you.

This was a great purchase. Brand new, arrived fairly quickly