What Can You Eat On The Bob Greene Diet?

Bob Greene is an exercise physiologist and certified personal trainer known for his appearances on the television show "Oprah." In 2006, he published "The Best Life Diet," a book encompassing his three-phase plan to develop a healthy lifestyle for weight management and overall well-being. The Best Life Diet permits a wide range of foods, while discouraging high-fat meats, sugars and sweets, refined grains and saturated or trans fats.

Protein

Replace fatty cuts of meat such as ground beef, rib roasts, pork shoulder, sausage, bacon and salami with leaner options. If you opt for red meat, go for top round, flank steak, turkey bacon or 90 percent lean ground beef or turkey. Greene puts fish high on his list of healthy, quality protein sources. Eggs are also part of the Best Life Diet, providing B vitamins and the antioxidant selenium. Soy products, such as tofu, soy milk and beans are other featured protein options.

Fruits

Only as a rare treat should you eat sweets made with refined white sugar and high fructose corn syrup, stresses Greene. Instead, regularly have fruits to appease your sweet tooth. When you must have dessert, opt for a healthy version, such as his roasted peaches with ricotta and almonds, a fruit crisp or a small serving of dark chocolate.

Grains

In phase two of the Best Life Diet, you are instructed to completely eliminate white bread and pasta, replacing with whole grains, such as 100 percent whole wheat bread, whole wheat pasta, brown rice, bulgur, millet and oats. Some breads and whole grain pastas display the "Best Life Diet" label so you know they are Greene-approved.

Vegetables

Greene asserts that vegetables are the best foods you can eat for good health and weight loss. The Best Life Diet challenges you to make vegetables the main thing you eat every day. Greene recommends sweet potatoes, carrots, spinach, chard, tomatoes and red peppers along with mushrooms, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, rutabagas and turnips. Cook these vegetables with minimal added fat to get the most benefit and minimize calorie intake.

Nuts and Seeds

Greene notes that nuts and seeds are sources of heart-healthy fats and should play a role in the Best Life Diet. He emphasizes walnuts, almonds, cashews, peanuts, pecans, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and flaxseeds as the most nutritious. Because nuts and seeds are calorie dense, Greene stresses that you must measure portion sizes or use them sparingly on cereals, salads or fruit desserts.