“The Go Green Get Lean Diet helped me lose 12 pounds in about 2 months, and it’s stayed off. It’s just part of my lifestyle now. Kate has figured out all the nutritional complexities, leaving her clients with a simple road map to shed extra pounds and get healthy. This book is fascinating. With Kate’s help, I’m leaner and greener. And I love that red wine is part of the secret….”

—Nick Seifert, outdoor television personality,
president, Fischer Productions, LLC

So what’s to gain by losing?

Or, to put it a tad less eloquently, like the blogger named “Sugar- Daddy,” who recently posted: “Hah. You can’t even get people to save their own fat arses. I highly doubt that if you tell them it’s for the good of the environment that it will be any different.”

SugarDaddy’s post (not to me personally, but to a 2008 report in Human Ecology) got me thinking. Why do I think this knowledge will trigger change in people, if data shows that currently only a small percentage of Americans are actively changing their habits in response to global warming? The answers came to me on many different levels.

First of all, because unlike squeezing onto a steamy, crowded bus in the name of saving the planet, there’s an immediate personal benefit to gain by greener eating—namely, weight loss and improved energy. And the reality is that people are more likely to change if they see an immediate benefit to themselves.

Further, this easy solution also connects to another issue close to home that most Americans care deeply about: our kids. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) predicts that one out of three children born in 2000 or later will be saddled with type 2 diabetes as a direct result of our unhealthy food and lifestyle choices. The Go Green Get Lean Diet incorporates some of the healthiest eating patterns known to cut the risk of developing diabetes (not to mention heart disease, cancer, and obesity as well). The reality is that people are more likely to change when they perceive a threat to their children’s well-being.

Maybe for you, SugarDaddy, it will be because our country’s latest economic squeeze is already forcing you to move to some greener choices without even realizing it, to ditch things like bottled water, 100-calorie snack packs, and designer coffee drinks in favor of cheaper alternatives such as tap water, conventional snack cartons, and coffee from a pot at home. If so, you will be in the company of millions of Americans who are already feeling a pinch in the pocketbook and making greener buying decisions without even realizing it.1 The reality is that people are more likely to change when it’s in their own economic best interest.

As there is a growing call to reinvigorate America through clean energy and green jobs, a cleaner diet offers an immediate, low-tech, and low-cost tool to help us reduce health-care costs. We need fresh ideas that don’t depend on costly medical interventions like drugs and surgeries, and a lean and green diet offers a viable alternative.

What’s more, in this world of color-coded threats and rapidly changing political and economic conditions, Deborah Madison, author of The Greens Cookbook, notes that “knowing that our food is grown nearby and not in some unknown place gives us shoppers a sense of security and connection.”2 This is invaluable to the discomfited American psyche, a “tangible antidote” in the form of local food and increased connection. The reality is that food provides one of the strongest senses of well-being and security that there is—just ask someone who’s gone without it.

Why will people be moved to change? Because all roads are now pointing to the same place, and it is a crossroad in history on which the very state of the planet hinges. And eating represents an immediate opportunity to make a difference. However you look at it, one thing is clear: The impact of the foods you choose is no longer limited to the immediate impact to your hips or the long-term impact to your health. Your stakes in the food choices you make run deeper than you likely have thought; they run to food companies and agribusiness, to Congress, to Wall Street, to the energy sector, and most important, to the well-being of the planet. And it is the power of your pocketbook, the power you wield every single time you purchase food, that tips those stakes in one clear direction or another. Think of it as good nutrition with a mission.

So this is where we make it happen. And ultimately, the Go Green Get Lean Diet is really pretty simple when you get right down to it; what works for effective weight loss and improved health (strategies I’ve been using successfully with clients for years) is very, very closely tied with what works for a better planet. Choco-flavored snacks that are fat-free, carb-free, calorie-free, and shrink-wrapped tight enough to survive another Hurricane Katrina may help dieters feel they can “have their cake and eat it too,” but it’s increasingly clear that that cake is costly to the planet.

As Bill McKibben wrote in his best-selling book Deep Economy, it is time for a new way to think about the things we buy, the food we eat, the energy we use, and the power of our pocketbooks. Our purchases can reinforce rather than be at odds with what we value.

This book is about the specific connections between greener eating and better health for you and your family. It seeks to ask the same questions that you might pose while standing in the supermarket aisle or at the meat counter, and to outline the benefits to you in terms of weight loss. The goal is to get you to think about your food behavior in the context of being a consumer.

Like many Americans, I am a busy working mother of two young children, and as such, I know firsthand the practical needs and concerns that real life requires as we struggle to “do the right thing.” I’m well acquainted with those times when we may be too pooped to experience the Joy of Cooking or too tired to engage in the ethical maze of choices confronting us at the supermarket. I also know what it’s like to live on a budget with little room to run up a higher food bill in the name of saving the planet. But rest assured, no matter where you are in your life, this book is packed with practical and easy suggestions to make leaner and greener living totally achievable.

My intent is not to highlight yet another dimension of your life about which you should feel guilty yet powerless. If the diet world is any paradigm, using guilt as a motivator creates little, if any, lasting momentum for change. Rather, my goal is to inspire you to create easy, positive changes in your life that will help you look and feel your best. In fact, the framework is surprisingly simple. And unlike other elements of the green movement, from solar panels to hybrids (or a sweaty, overcrowded bus), we all have to engage with food. Daily.

What I hope you will take away from this book is this: Your choices have trade-offs. Always. And for most of us, the mental calculation we do on those trade-offs involves how it impacts us personally in the next 5 minutes. (Think about it: How many people would really down a pint of ice cream at midnight if they were focusing on how they’d feel in the morning? Their brains are humming with the pleasure they want to derive now—consequences will be dealt with later.) It’s now time to extend that time frame further—to think about what sort of food you want to feed yourself and your children, and what sort of body you want to spend your days in. Here’s how it works.

The Go Green Get Lean Diet:
A 6-Week Plan for Optimal Eating

The Go Green Get Lean Diet is a 6-week program that tackles one high-carbon area of your diet at a time. At the end of 6 weeks, you will have in place all of the building blocks you need to tread more lightly, literally, for the rest of your life.

Each week will give you a step-by-step road map to making leaner, greener choices. Right now you’re in week 1, which will help you see the big picture when it comes to the diet/carbon connection, and all that you have to gain by losing. Here you’ll also jump right into action, zeroing in on the top carbon and calorie “hot spots” in your diet, with specific steps to start cooling them.

In week 2, you’ll realign one of the most critical elements of your diet, your protein sources, which can potentially help you shed the carbon equivalent of an SUV from your annual carbon footprint and get you on the fast track to lean. In week 2 you’ll also be introduced to your new “flexitarian” lifestyle, a lifestyle with a fresh new emphasis on leaner, greener, more sustainable protein sources, enjoying higher-carbon proteins as a once-in-a-while “splurge” instead of daily fare. Red meat, poultry and pork, fish, wild animals—we’ll cover them all in week 2 so you have a strong road map to get you and your family on the way to leaner and greener living.

In week 3, you’ll begin to work on eating more like a “locavore” a couple of times a week, and you’ll discover why lean plates are often green plates. You’ll see why eating like a local, while not a catchall for cutting your carbon footprint, is still an important way to boost your nutrition, rediscover flavors and tastes of food, and sow the seeds in your children for a lifetime of healthier eating habits. In week 3 you’ll also get the latest skinny on dairy products, another high-carbon component of most people’s diets; you’ll learn which dairy products are the best choices, and how much you should be getting in order to maximize nutrition and health benefits while keeping this “high-carbon cow” in check.

In week 4, you’ll learn how to go for the greener grains, and you’ll rediscover ancient grains that have made a comeback to your pantry; these help pack nutrition and flavor into your new lifestyle. It is also time for an ecomakeover for your pantry and fridge; as you complete the Project Pantry Purge, you’ll begin to clear away your carbon clutter from your everyday basics. Along the way, you’ll discover easy tips for moving from high-carbon, high-calorie, low-nutrition industrial food toward cleaner packaged foods that can give you those valuable shortcuts and time-savers with ingredients and packaging that are greener for the earth and healthier for you. You’ll also get an easy, up-to-date primer on fats—and discover how to separate the clean and green from the mean.

In week 5, you’ll whittle your waistline and carbon stream even further by redefining what it means to drink responsibly. You’ll see which two “Ws” should be in your glass and why, and how to sip sus-tainably to cut your waste-line and your waistline. Then there’s also the fun part—we’ll take a look at sustainable splurges (things such as coffee, tea, chocolate, and nuts). We’ll talk about why it’s imperative to make the right choices when it comes to these splurges, as well as why it is important that you splurge in the first place (trust me, it really is important). Throughout the book, you will find stories of people just like you, people who’ve decided to make the commitment to change and have done so with great success, who share their tips and strategies for making it doable.

In week 6, you will begin the maintenance part of your program. After all, this book is about a new eating style for your new self, not a short-term diet. We’ll start with “Your Personal Pep Talk,” as if you were to step in my office and meet with me one-on-one. It’s a short chapter that reminds you that you alone have the power to create the life, the body, and the state of health that you want for yourself. I want you to read it any time you begin to question the impact of your efforts on your own health and weight, or whenever you waver in your belief in your own potential to be part of the solution of change. It will replace your current “inner monologue” (which, for many people who struggle with weight, is often negative and self-defeating) of stories you tell yourself about why you can’t change and how hard it’s going to be. Changing that inner monologue is one of the most critical steps in creating lasting success.

In week 6, you’ll also find 4 weeks of eating plans, one for each season, that will inspire you with specific, easy, and delicious meal ideas that would easily make up 2 months’ worth of eating (with all those leftovers). Many of these recipes, as well as more tips for greener eating, are available at www.leanandgreendiet.com. Still have some lingering questions about the practicality of the plan? Read on to see how easy it can be.

“How Much Weight Will I Lose?
Won’t I Have to Spend More Cash?”

The Go Green Get Lean Diet is designed as a 6-week program. On average, you can expect to lose about 5 to 9 pounds during the first 2 weeks, with the exact amount depending on how much weight you need to lose and your current eating habits (if you begin this program squarely in the hot zone and you follow all four fixes, you may lose even more). Some of this may be water weight as you focus on clean foods and stop eating all the preservatives and refined carbs that can lead to water retention. Regardless, after just 2 weeks of the Go Green Get Lean Diet, you will no doubt have more energy and be lighter on the scale and in your personal contribution to the global warming crisis.

As you begin the next 4 weeks of the program, the pace of weight loss will then likely slow to about ½ to 2 pounds per week, depending on how much weight you have to lose. Losing weight any faster can mean a loss of metabolism-boosting lean muscle and increased hunger and fatigue. And there’s nothing sustainable about that! As each week addresses specific areas of your diet that are critical to lean and green living, the exact amount will also depend on how quickly you read through and complete each step of the program and adopt the lean and green lifestyle.

The other thing you will notice changing is where your food dollar is going. Let me be clear: You do not need to spend more to eat better. It just takes moving from your current comfort zone of eating habits (which often comes with comfy sweats) to one of being a proactive steward of your planet and your body. You will be changing your spending habits to be a more conscious consumer. Dollars that stop going to dirty areas of your diet will then be freed up to help you build a fresher, delicious, fun, and sustainable plate.

Once you redefine the notion of “splurge,” it’s easy to recognize and celebrate the joy that comes from eating in a way that is naturally delicious and served without the heaping side order of planetary guilt. Best of all, you can still include your favorite treats from time to time (and you will likely discover new ones along the way).

“Should I Take Any Vitamins or Supplements?”

“Food first” is definitely the gold standard when it comes to better health. In other words, chasing that fast-food meal with supplements does not “even out” poor dietary choices. However, a standard daily multivitamin (it doesn’t have to be a fancy brand) containing nearly 100 percent of the RDA for most nutrients is likely a good insurance policy. (I say “most nutrients” because some nutrients, such as calcium, are simply too large to be included in a single pill, and fat- soluble vitamins such as A and K are often included in lesser levels.) Be sure to choose one that’s right for your gender and age (and if you are pregnant or planning to become pregnant, choose a prenatal vitamin with your health practitioner).

In addition, if you are at risk for osteoporosis or do not consume enough calcium-containing foods, consider a calcium supplement; adults over age 50 need 1,200 milligrams per day, while adults under 50 need 1,000 milligrams per day. Choose one made from calcium citrate or calcium carbonate that delivers 500 to 600 milligrams in each dose. Take this twice a day to maximize absorption. Look for one that also has vitamin D. In addition to boosting calcium absorption, it may protect you against disease. The research on vitamin D continues to expand and show health benefits, and it seems that many Americans (especially older Americans) are deficient.

Lastly, if you don’t eat fish, consider an omega-3 supplement. Look for a supplement that provides 1,000 milligrams each day of omega-3s in the form of EPA and DHA for maximum heart benefits. Read the label, because you may need to take two in order to reach this amount. (For example, a 1,000-milligram capsule may contain 250 milligrams of EPA and 250 milligrams of DHA, which adds up to 500 milligrams of omega-3 fat, so you would need to take two.)

And remember, you are what you eat. Those words are as true today as they were a million years ago when some rather smart person first uttered them. You are what you eat. Take it in. Live it. Breathe it. And eat it.

Are you ready to jump in with me? Fantastic. Let’s start cooling the planet together. It’s time to tackle some of your biggest hot spots and get you on the fast track to lightening up.

It Is Easy Being Green:
Four Quick Shortcuts to Cut Your Carbon
Footprint without Touching Your Diet

If you’re starting to feel concerned about how much your diet may need to change in order to lighten your carbon load, take heart: Some of the biggest pieces of your “food footprint” come from your food-related behaviors rather than your actual food choices. Even if you change nothing, zilch, nada about what’s on your plate, here are four quick shortcuts to take a big bite out of your diet’s carbon footprint without even touching your diet.

  1. Become a sustainable shopper. Your individual behavior as a shopper is quite possibly the biggest issue in determining the total carbon footprint of your food. In our suburban culture, we are logging more miles than ever before on food. How often do you shop? How many stores do you visit to save money? What type of bags do you use? Your habits as a shopper matter.
  2. Cut your waste-line. A recent British study concluded that, on average, Brits waste about 30 percent of food they buy, and that they “could make carbon savings equivalent to taking an estimated 1 in 5 cars off the road if we avoided throwing away all the food that we could have eaten.”3 In our economic downturn, I imagine few Americans can afford to toss one in three grocery bags, but my hunch is we’re not too far off from our English friends, probably without realizing it. Whether it’s tossing out leftovers or buying a cookie at the mall and then guiltily throwing it away after three bites, the energy involved in growing and transporting that food has been wasted. And, as food decays in landfills, it emits one of the most potent warming gases of all—methane.
  3. Reduce, reuse, reuse, reuse some more … then recycle. It’s easy to get bogged down in questions such as “Should I buy aluminum or plastic? Frozen or fresh?” But one thing is clear; it is what happens to the food packaging after you’re done that is critical in determining the actual carbon footprint of that choice. While the idea of “reusing” often gets glossed over in this oft-quoted trio of action steps, it’s critical to cutting your carbon footprint.
  4. Make sure your appliances are energy efficient. Ho hum, sounds boring, right? Wrong. A striking conclusion made by the University of California, Davis, Sustainability Institute after an extensive review of the literature was this: One of the biggest “hot spots” in determining a person’s personal “food footprint” is that household food storage and preparation account for 25 to 30 percent of the total carbon load of that food.4 So tucking those organic farmers’ market strawberries into a 20-year-old fridge that’s belching out warming gases misses the point.
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“How Do I Join the Green Plate Club? ”

There are many factors that impact your food’s carbon footprint. While there are certainly exceptions, this wheel can be used as a handy tool to help you see how green your plate really is.

Notes - Chapter 2

1. Gary McWilliams, “U.S. Consumers Trade Down as Economic Angst Grows,” The Wall Street Journal, July 11, 2008.

2. From Deborah Madison’s foreword written for Carlo Petrini’s Slow Food: Collected Thoughts on Taste, Tradition, and the Honest Pleasures of Food (White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing Company, 2001).

3. Waste Resource Action Programme (WRAP). “The Food We Waste: A Study of the Amount, Types and Nature of the Food We Throw Away in UK Households.” April 2008.

4. S. Brodjt, E. Chernoh, and G. Feenstra, Assessment of Energy Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the Food System: A Literature Review (Davis, CA: Agricultural Sustainability Institute, University of California, Davis, 2007).