Eating Clean - No Such Thing

ryry_

I'd like to clear this up once and for all. Lately, the forums have been plagued with people claiming that they are "eating clean" and it's getting quite annoying.

There is no such thing as “clean" food.

There is no such thing as “dirty" food.

You can eat processed foods. You can eat chocolate, poptarts, hotdogs, drink soda. Go ahead and even have a nice big juicey burger from McDonalds if you wish!

The key is to fit it in to your macronutrients. Make food work for you instead of cowering in fear like the mass majority. You can still enjoy the foods you love. Yes it’s in moderation. You can still even lose fat, eat at a caloric deficit, gain muscle mass and eat poptarts. I promise.

I wish everyone would stop the fear mongering with carbs, processed foods and paleo bullcrap.

FOODS LIKE THESE DO NOT MAKE YOU FAT. OVER EATING THEM DOES.

Thank you.

I forsee this piece being the definitive work on the subject. CoachReddy will return and a 100 year treaty will be signed where only mutual agreement will reign. MFP will create a forum Nobel Peace Prize and OP will win it. Hear ye Hear ye

Ajloves2run

I suggest researching the chemical effects on the body when consuming refined sugars and high fructose corn syrup. One certainly can have a pop tart now and again but I challenge people to study how sugar is processed in the body. Not slow burning natural sugars such as those found in fruit but rather the processed sugar in things such as pop tarts. The problem is that these foods have an addictive effect which makes you feel like you want more...and more...

Indeed there should be balance but I think if you want to be stronger and faster naturally then one should feed the machine, your body, proper fuel. Your body will thank you for it when you are older. Food should be viewed as fuel. Proper nutrition for healthy happy body.

alikonda

I see we've never met. I was an overweight teen eating home cooked more or less clean foods. My mom made all of her good from scratch, starting with the most basic of ingredients.

And then I ate it all. And then I was 15 and 200+ pounds and had no idea how I got there, because I wasn't even really allowed to eat processed stuff, which is what I'd always heard made people get fat. Surly I didn't get fat eating carrot sticks and homemade chicken stew! ...except that is exactly what happened.

And then I started eating less, my mom loosened up and let me become a brownie a day eater, and I lost all kinds of weight. Then I got married and started eating like a man and put a bit back on, and now I'm losing again (While still being a brownie and ice cream everyday eater.)

^^I think I love you a little bit, especially about the "eating like a man" -- I have that problem, living with my marathoner husband. =P

dnunny70

What exactly is clean?
Grinding the wheat berries yourself? Nothing with additives? No sugar? No cheese?

Curious. I keep hearing this and I hear different things.

What are some "cleaner" choices for those a strict food budget?

AJ_G

I suggest researching the chemical effects on the body when consuming refined sugars and high fructose corn syrup. One certainly can have a pop tart now and again but I challenge people to study how sugar is processed in the body. Not slow burning natural sugars such as those found in fruit but rather the processed sugar in things such as pop tarts. The problem is that these foods have an addictive effect which makes you feel like you want more...and more...

Indeed there should be balance but I think if you want to be stronger and faster naturally then one should feed the machine, your body, proper fuel. Your body will thank you for it when you are older. Food should be viewed as fuel. Proper nutrition for healthy happy body.

It's not the sugar that has an addictive affect, it's eating simple sugars by themselves outside the context of a meal. Any simple sugars eaten without protein or fiber will cause an increase in blood glucose and a correlating increase in insulin. When this insulin spike inevitably turns into what is known as a "sugar crash" your body craves more sugar. "Natural Sugars" in fruit and vegetables are consumed with fiber which prevents this. None of this has an affect on your body composition in the slightest if you stick to your macros and your calories. Of course if you just have a candy bar outside of a meal it will cause a sugar crash and you will crave more, but the same thing goes for drinking fruit juice, which contains "natural sugars". It's not whether the sugar is refined or natural, it is the context of the meal. Also, when the sugar crash comes around, just expect it and have a little will power, or eat sugar within the context of a meal, it's not that hard.

playgun

So I'm leaving McD's with a Big Mac in my hand, a pretty lady distracts me, I drop my burger in the parking lot, pick it up, bring it back into the restroom, wash it and eat it. Have I eaten a clean or dirty meal?



Sorry, couldn't resist!

KeiraLani

It is all personal preference.


Carry on.

AJ_G

So I'm leaving McD's with a Big Mac in my hand, a pretty lady distracts me, I drop my burger in the parking lot, pick it up, bring it back into the restroom, wash it and eat it. Have I eaten a clean or dirty meal?



Sorry, couldn't resist!

That's a clean meal fo sho

LaurenAOK

What exactly is clean?
Grinding the wheat berries yourself? Nothing with additives? No sugar? No cheese?

Curious. I keep hearing this and I hear different things.

What are some "cleaner" choices for those a strict food budget?

This is one of the main problems with "clean eating" in my opinion. There's no clear definition of it. Most "clean eaters" I know will eat whole-grain bread, dairy, and protein shakes. Even though those things are very nutritious, they're definitely processed. So where is the line drawn? Why are those processed foods okay but other processed foods are the devil?

Then you'll have people who say that even those foods AREN'T okay, that anything truly "clean" can't be processed AT ALL. But then what about cooking your food? That's changing it's chemical structure. If you cook your food, it is becoming processed.

Don't get me wrong - I ate "clean" for a while and still do the majority of the time. To me, it means eating foods as close to their natural state as possible, with nutrition being a big factor - dairy might be processed, but it's a great source of protein as an alternative to meat. But if I want to get a big mac on the way home, the notion that I need to "eat clean" certainly isn't going to stop me from doing so!

cwolfman13

when was the last anyone saw an obese person who eats clean?

I know one.

One of my best bros is a paleo eating lard *kitten*...he can eat his weight in nuts and avocados. He probably eats 4000 calories per day just in nuts.

magerum

when was the last anyone saw an obese person who eats clean?

Vegan doesn't necessarily = clean

I'll just pretend you have a sense of humor.

Seefylol

when was the last anyone saw an obese person who eats clean?

Obese people are obese because they are eating above their daily calorie intake. Not because of what they eat. Seriously..... I give up.

i know this. its harder to go over ur cals when eating clean foods. u dont need so much self control. but when eating bonbons and poptarts its hard to stop.

I see we've never met. I was an overweight teen eating home cooked more or less clean foods. My mom made all of her good from scratch, starting with the most basic of ingredients.

And then I ate it all. And then I was 15 and 200+ pounds and had no idea how I got there, because I wasn't even really allowed to eat processed stuff, which is what I'd always heard made people get fat. Surly I didn't get fat eating carrot sticks and homemade chicken stew! ...except that is exactly what happened.

And then I started eating less, my mom loosened up and let me become a brownie a day eater, and I lost all kinds of weight. Then I got married and started eating like a man and put a bit back on, and now I'm losing again (While still being a brownie and ice cream everyday eater.)

BostonStrong617

I really don't care if you eat clean or "dirty' personally I have at least two donuts a week, normally have some sort of fast food lunch once a week & eat chocolate like a 7 year old locked in Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. I also turn to frozen meals and drink Diet Coke like it's life sustaining.
The issue I have is that some clean eaters have this holier than thou attitude and think the way they eat makes them better than others. Honestly I think life would be pretty damn miserable without my "non clean" foods. I don't have the luxury of having extra time or money to prepare foods with organic ingredients and high quality fresh ingredients. I'd much rather spend the free time I have at the gym or on a long run.
I eat pretty much whatever I want, but I also wake up every morning before work a 5 AM (except for Friday) to run 5-8 miles and I do a long run of 10 to 13 miles every Saturday. I have low body fat, perfect blood pressure, perfect chorestoral (but horrible spelling lol) and am in great health. It only takes a couple glances are my diary to see I don't eat clean and yet I am probably in better shape than some people who DO eat clean and still over eat.
I agree it's not about clean eating or cutting out carbs or cutting out fat its always eating a balanced, portioned diet and exercising. But if you wanna eat clean, and that's important to you then go ahead. Just don't go around ac6ing like you're so much better than everyone else because you won't touch a Big Mac with a 10 Foot Pole.

Seefylol

I really don't care if you eat clean or "dirty' personally I have at least two donuts a week, normally have some sort of fast food lunch once a week & eat chocolate like a 7 year old locked in Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. I also turn to frozen meals and drink Diet Coke like it's life sustaining.
The issue I have is that some clean eaters have this holier than thou attitude and think the way they eat makes them better than others. Honestly I think life would be pretty damn miserable without my "non clean" foods. I don't have the luxury of having extra time or money to prepare foods with organic ingredients and high quality fresh ingredients. I'd much rather spend the free time I have at the gym or on a long run.
I eat pretty much whatever I want, but I also wake up every morning before work a 5 AM (except for Friday) to run 5-8 miles and I do a long run of 10 to 13 miles every Saturday. I have low body fat, perfect blood pressure, perfect chorestoral (but horrible spelling lol) and am in great health. It only takes a couple glances are my diary to see I don't eat clean and yet I am probably in better shape than some people who DO eat clean and still over eat.
I agree it's not about clean eating or cutting out carbs or cutting out fat its always eating a balanced, portioned diet and exercising. But if you wanna eat clean, and that's important to you then go ahead. Just don't go around ac6ing like you're so much better than everyone else because you won't touch a Big Mac with a 10 Foot Pole.

I'm in love.

hookilau

I wish people would stop caring who calls what clean or unclean. Everyone has an opinion (yours is one as well) and it doesn't change anything.

exactly.

What they said...

Agreed.
Gifs please.
Edited for derrr

bspikes86

I am learning exactly what you said and in fact I lose more weight having ice cream once a day because I don't feel deprived and binge later on. but I make sure I eat on my fruits and veggies and protein and I do feel better and less tired. if i ate to my calorie goal by eating junk with no nutritional value I would feel tired and lethargic. Weight loss is a balancing act

Hexahedra

Eating 'clean' makes no difference when you want to lose weight, but it does when you're trying to gain without adding too much fat. Few people on MFP are looking to gain weight.

No it doesn't. I didn't eat 'clean' during my bulk. I didn't gain very much fat.

Personally I don't care about eating clean (and probably never will), but my wife normally does. I can tell the difference the few times she stopped eating clean. She's at competition-level bodybuilding though, her fat level is low enough that a little too much carb shows up pretty quick.

myofibril

Thanks.

I had no idea.

My0WNinspiration

There are different routes to the same destination.

DavidHusky

I really don't care if you eat clean or "dirty' personally I have at least two donuts a week, normally have some sort of fast food lunch once a week & eat chocolate like a 7 year old locked in Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. I also turn to frozen meals and drink Diet Coke like it's life sustaining.
The issue I have is that some clean eaters have this holier than thou attitude and think the way they eat makes them better than others. Honestly I think life would be pretty damn miserable without my "non clean" foods. I don't have the luxury of having extra time or money to prepare foods with organic ingredients and high quality fresh ingredients. I'd much rather spend the free time I have at the gym or on a long run.
I eat pretty much whatever I want, but I also wake up every morning before work a 5 AM (except for Friday) to run 5-8 miles and I do a long run of 10 to 13 miles every Saturday. I have low body fat, perfect blood pressure, perfect chorestoral (but horrible spelling lol) and am in great health. It only takes a couple glances are my diary to see I don't eat clean and yet I am probably in better shape than some people who DO eat clean and still over eat.
I agree it's not about clean eating or cutting out carbs or cutting out fat its always eating a balanced, portioned diet and exercising. But if you wanna eat clean, and that's important to you then go ahead. Just don't go around ac6ing like you're so much better than everyone else because you won't touch a Big Mac with a 10 Foot Pole.

Do you have a fan club I can join? Well put...