An Eco-Friendly, Healthy Diet

Do you ever wish you could fit into the jeans you wore in high school? It might sound like wishful thinking, but Kami Gray—wardrobe stylist and author of The Denim Diet: 16 Simple Habits To Get You Into Your Dream Pair of Jeans—is living proof it's not just possible, it's easy.

Twenty-two years ago when Gray started eating better, she says it was more of an issue of "wanting to be cute and look good in my jeans." She had gained a lot of weight in college and ended up on medication for high blood pressure. When she finally started changing her eating habits, it was all about getting back to a slimmer figure, but as the years passed, the focus shifted from a svelte figure to a healthy body.

It was a trip to Amarillo, TX, a year and a half ago that prompted her to put pen to paper. She kept passing overweight people and "these big huge billboards for 72 oz. steaks," she told Naturally Savvy. It was the polar opposite to the healthful eating that is the norm back home in Portland, OR. After a lunch out and a long nap to recover, Gray started writing.

So what's the secret to her program? Why is it so different from all those other diet books out there? Gray is first to point out she's not a doctor or a dietitian, and she's not trying to make anyone feel guilty or overwhelmed by complicated rules. "It's not rocket science, it's not complicated, it's just eating. It's making decisions, and they're not even complicated decisions," says Gray.

It's a lifestyle shift with gradual results rather than a strict diet that promises to shed the pounds quickly. "I think a lot of Americans want, you know, the quick fix and they want things to be the 100 calorie snacks, but really it can be so much simpler than that-and less expensive, and way better for your health, and the byproduct of that is you won't have excess weight and you'll keep it off forever."

Gray's habits revolve around eating lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids and heart-healthy HDH—all those things that are good for your body and will help keep your blood sugar stable. She avoids refined sugar and flour, high fructose corn syrup, trans fats and processed foods, and this keeps her body and the planet healthy.

"We buy all that processed and packaged foods and [the packaging] all ends up in landfills," she says. "And those big huge plants making that stuff, not only are they emitting so much in the way of carbon emissions, but those giant trucks that they are hauling all over the country stocking shelves with all that stuff is also creating a problem for the environment."

Gray admits organic eating can be a difficult sell in a weak economy, but she says it's worth it. "It's all priorities," she begins. "It is more expensive overall to shop and only eat healthy organic foods. But there are other things you're spending money on that maybe aren't contributing to a healthy lifestyle, whether it's too much time watching television, or whatever. To me, I'd rather not have HBO and have organic food."

Admitting The Denim Diet takes some effort, Gray says it's designed for success—which means there's room for your moments of weakness. Gray herself isn't immune to falling off the wagon, so to speak. When she's out with the girls or celebrating a special occasion, her weakness is French fries.

"[French fries] would probably be the only thing that if it was sitting right in front of me, I would absolutely devour the entire basket," she says unapologetically. "That would probably be the big one for me because they're just so salty and so tasty and so fried and so good!"

But it's all about moderation. If Gray indulges in fries one night, she says she eats very healthfully over the next few days to balance things out. The rest of the time, she handles those cravings by eating just one bite of that piece of cheesecake or the chocolate bar-enough to satisfy her pangs but not enough to pack on pounds.

The Denim Diet: 16 Simple Habits to Get You Into Your Dream Pair of Jeans, by Kami Gray is available in bookstores now.

Craving more? Read our review and an excerpt of The Denim Diet.