Who has lost weight NOT eating clean?

megganxrose

The foods you eat just determine how healthy you are, not your weight loss. You could live on McDonald's fries and lose weight as long as there was a deficit.

Weight loss isn't a trick, it's calories in vs. calories out. Whether those calories come from asparagus and salmon or from a double quarter pounder with extra cheese doesn't have an affect on weight loss. Obviously common sense will tell you which will result in better health, though.

JDBLY11

I have. In the last few months I have lost quite a bit of weight (38 lbs) not eating clean. I try to be as balanced as possible with nutrients but I am not always great about that.

MartinGibbs

Is KFC "dirty"? Then I'm guilty... for me it is all about the tracking. So I do KFC. That means a light supper and a little more work on the elliptical, or a longer walk...

suzanneism

I am not at all a clean eater. With that said, I am constantly evolving the way that I eat. When I first started, calories were all I was concerned about, and I think that is a good thing because it helps you learn portion control without being overwhelmed. As time has gone on and I have learned more, I am making better food choices because I want to. I still eat whatever I want, but I do find my wants changing.

Me, three!

dunnodunno

I eat whatever I want in moderation and have lost over a hundred pounds.

I do need to work on eating more fruits & vegetables.

BluejayNY

I went from 167 to 120ish not eating clean. I try to eat some healthy stuff and some stuff that I enjoy. Its not worth giving up the stuff that makes me happy. I can eat "bad" foods and maintain a healthy weight just fine.

thestrawberrysays

What's the point if you aren't going to change your lifestyle? The majority of people will simply gain the weight back. And what about health? I'd rather be healthy, not just skinny.
I'm not saying we should never treat ourselves or have processed food, but none of us would be on this site to begin with if eating **** in moderation worked out, and none of us certainly are going to be healthy regardless.

NatureChik1985

I don't even know what "eating clean" means.

This^^^^ but I am pretty sure my dinner of pizza and beer would not meet the criteria. I eat mostly healthy ( fresh fruits, vegetables, lean meats ) but here and there I do enjoy a little "junk". I don't see any thing wrong with moderation.

DekkaTwoOneWizzy

I been drug free for life and I'll tell you point blank that peaking in sub 10% bodyfat levels in 12 weeks is not happening with huge dietary latitudes. Not even on cyclic keto. Its way to hard to quantify the tangibles when somebody else is baking your pop tarts. If your goals are purely health and you dont care what your husband or wife think of you naked body with the lights on, then cancel christmas and eat 500 calories of nachos rather than kale. Can you lose weight?! Yes! Create a caloric deficit. Unless your on gear or a genetic freak, you WILL NOT LOOK GOOD naked and you will not get into the single digit bodyfat and thats absolutely fine if thats that on your to do list.

stumblinthrulife

What's the point if you aren't going to change your lifestyle? The majority of people will simply gain the weight back. And what about health? I'd rather be healthy, not just skinny.
I'm not saying we should never treat ourselves or have processed food, but none of us would be on this site to begin with if eating **** in moderation worked out, and none of us certainly are going to be healthy regardless.

Actually, I got fat on good, wholesome, home cooked food. I just ate too much of it. And plenty of people on MFP have lost weight or maintained on fast food in moderation.

What's the point? They lost weight, improved all their health indicators, and damned if some of them don't look damn good to go along with it. That and they find it super easy to stick to because they just eat the foods they love. With results like that, why would they risk failure by cutting out the foods they love to pursue some lofty ideal of 'clean' eating?

PepperWorm

*raises a hand*

SideSteel

<----

Sarauk2sf

I lost weight eating some 'clean' food, some grubby food and some positively filthy food!

LaurenAOK

I lost just over a pound a week, steadily for all of my weight loss (and I was only expecting to lose a pound a week, so it was even faster than it should have been). I tried eating clean for a few days. Never worked out for me. I eat fast food all the time and generally eat ice cream at least once a day.

I successfully reached my goal weight. According to my doctor all my health stats are also great.

PikaKnight

What's the point if you aren't going to change your lifestyle? The majority of people will simply gain the weight back. And what about health? I'd rather be healthy, not just skinny.
I'm not saying we should never treat ourselves or have processed food, but none of us would be on this site to begin with if eating **** in moderation worked out, and none of us certainly are going to be healthy regardless.

I disagree with this. I wasn't taught moderation so I have a tendency to overeat, just as I tend to eat when bored, stressed, and emotional.

But learning moderation hasn't just helped me control my eating without cutting things out...but it is teaching me about self-control/willpower and applying them to other parts of my life.

ninerbuff

What's the point if you aren't going to change your lifestyle? The majority of people will simply gain the weight back. And what about health? I'd rather be healthy, not just skinny.
I'm not saying we should never treat ourselves or have processed food, but none of us would be on this site to begin with if eating **** in moderation worked out, and none of us certainly are going to be healthy regardless.

Disagree. I eat **** 20% of the time and it's McDonald's, Taco Bell, pizza, candy bars, ice cream etc. for the last 25 years. I'd bet my health is quite good (especially since my last check up).

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

ninerbuff

I been drug free for life and I'll tell you point blank that peaking in sub 10% bodyfat levels in 12 weeks is not happening with huge dietary latitudes. Not even on cyclic keto. Its way to hard to quantify the tangibles when somebody else is baking your pop tarts. If your goals are purely health and you dont care what your husband or wife think of you naked body with the lights on, then cancel christmas and eat 500 calories of nachos rather than kale. Can you lose weight?! Yes! Create a caloric deficit. Unless your on gear or a genetic freak, you WILL NOT LOOK GOOD naked and you will not get into the single digit bodyfat and thats absolutely fine if thats that on your to do list.

I must be a genetic freak then.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

ErinEaton

I dont eat all clean foods but i do eat a lot of them and regular foods that said i don't eat cookies, ice cream, chips, or soda.

RobinsEgg

I lost all my weight eating whatever....just less of it and exercising. Now that I've lost the weight I have certainly picked up better habits when choosing my food and fitting into my diet. Eating fruits and vegetables vs. chips and burgers doesnt make you lose weight, but I sure feel better when I do. I very rarely get ill, and I have a lot more energy than I did with a diet of fast food and microwave meals. The eating "clean" movement is more about overall health than losing weight IMO. Not saying its the gospel tho. I still eat what I want, I just want different things more now.

There's a lot of truth here. I eat a lot of microwave meals (the :healthy ones, low sodium) and don't get a lot of fruits or veggies in. Losing weight is a matter of less calories in, everyone gets that. Eating clean is really eating cleaner for each individual - clean up your act - get away from some of your pitfalls don't go down those old roads - the binges - the food fests, the taking of "extra portions"

RunFarLiveHappy

Had ice cream twice today (2 cups total) and an entire pizza yesterday... ????????????

Sarauk2sf

I been drug free for life and I'll tell you point blank that peaking in sub 10% bodyfat levels in 12 weeks is not happening with huge dietary latitudes. Not even on cyclic keto. Its way to hard to quantify the tangibles when somebody else is baking your pop tarts. If your goals are purely health and you dont care what your husband or wife think of you naked body with the lights on, then cancel christmas and eat 500 calories of nachos rather than kale. Can you lose weight?! Yes! Create a caloric deficit. Unless your on gear or a genetic freak, you WILL NOT LOOK GOOD naked and you will not get into the single digit bodyfat and thats absolutely fine if thats that on your to do list.

There are quite a few people on my FL with sub 10% body fat that look damn good naked and who do not eat totally clean, whatever that means (and are not on gear). They eat a diet that has a lot of whole and nutrient dense foods, but they also have things like ice cream regularly.

toddlikesdesign

IIFIYM

shadow2soul

I been drug free for life and I'll tell you point blank that peaking in sub 10% bodyfat levels in 12 weeks is not happening with huge dietary latitudes. Not even on cyclic keto. Its way to hard to quantify the tangibles when somebody else is baking your pop tarts. If your goals are purely health and you dont care what your husband or wife think of you naked body with the lights on, then cancel christmas and eat 500 calories of nachos rather than kale. Can you lose weight?! Yes! Create a caloric deficit. Unless your on gear or a genetic freak, you WILL NOT LOOK GOOD naked and you will not get into the single digit bodyfat and thats absolutely fine if thats that on your to do list.

Is that so. I thought I looked pretty good back in 2009, but I guess not since I wasn't a "clean eater."


I'm losing weight eating what I want, but in moderation. I hope to be able to get back to what I looked like in 2009 and once there I'll aim for closer to 20% BF. :drinker:

mrloserpunk

I had this discussion with a co-worker when I was starting a diet a few years ago... I ate nothing but fast food and lost 60+ lbs in 3 months. It's very simple: Calories in vs Calories out. If you bother to read the nutritional info and calculate it's no harder to lose weight on fast food than it is on healthy food.

My cholesterol and bp got better while eating fast food too (the bp getting better was a bit shocking due to the sodium intake, but apparently in my body 60lbs trumps sodium for bp)

Edit:
As long as you get a bit of each carb, protein, and fat every day... you're likely going to be ok unless you have some other underlying problem. What matters is the calorie deficit, from your TDEE every 500 calories per day is 1lb per week. It's that simple.

Let me add that it's easier to figure out calorie information from a fast food place, than it is from other mom and pop places. its a pita that not every place has to go thru the procee of getting caloric testing done.

Warchortle

I always find these threads attract the "lazies"... the people who look for tips, tricks, and shortcuts instead of just doing the work and finding out themselves.

JesterMFP

What's the point if you aren't going to change your lifestyle? The majority of people will simply gain the weight back.

Do you really thing that the people who manage to fit in x amount of "dirty" food into their daily goals are the ones who are more likely to gain the weight back? More so than the people who make radical changes and cut out all their favourite foods and start labelling foods as "clean" and "dirty"? Based on my observations of people in the real world, I think far more people gain the weight back when they try and be too restrictive and cut things out of their diet that they enjoy eating. People learn that certain foods are "bad" or "fattening" or "dirty", and that others are "slimming" or "healthy", and get into a complete black-and-white mindset, where they're either on the wagon, or off it, on a diet, or planning their next one. Often they call it a "lifestyle change", but the still slip back to their old ways because they've cut out all the food they really enjoy eating.

Obviously, there are people who prefer not to eat any processed foods, who enjoy eating only clean foods, and so don't feel the slightest bit restricted by cutting out all processed foods. I don't really think that these debates are about those people though. They're pretty sorted with what they're doing.

And what about health? I'd rather be healthy, not just skinny.

Yep, me too, and I am much healthier now than I was 18 months ago. I've lost the weight, become much more active and my diet has improved. I have good health, even without having attained perfection. Again, it's about absolutes. You're looking at either being "healthy" or "unhealthy" with nothing in between. Someone who is slim, active and eats nothing but deep fried fast food could obviously make some improvements, but they're going to be in a much better position than if they were morbidly obese, sedentary and eating nothing but fast food.

In an ideal world (perhaps) no one would want to eat anything but the most wholesome, nutritious food. No one would want to overeat, no one would be an emotional eater or have eating disorders. No one would want to smoke, drink alcohol, do drugs, drive too fast, or do anything remotely risky to health. That's not going to happen though, and sometimes it's about people making improvements in their lives, not aiming for a state of perfection that they will always fail to reach.

I'm not saying we should never treat ourselves or have processed food

There's the confusion. The "eat clean" label tends to mean eat only clean foods. You'll find that a lot (if not most) of the people advocating eating the foods you like to eat, and practising moderation, actually eat a lot of whole, "clean" foods. I personally eat a lot of fresh fruit & vegetables, lean meats etc, a lot of home cooked food, very little fast food or ready meals, yet I wouldn't call myself a "clean eater" because I'm more than happy to have some processed food in my diet. Who knows, maybe you and I eat very similar things.

but none of us would be on this site to begin with if eating **** in moderation worked out, and none of us certainly are going to be healthy regardless.

I became overweight (and therefore on this site) because I wasn't practising moderation. Using calorie counting, I have learned to eat in moderation, and am now no longer overweight. If you're practising moderation and gaining weight, you're doing it wrong.

pinkraynedropjacki

Me. I've lost all my weight & hardly eaten clean at all.

mcibty

Me.

I prefer when I do eat healthier, but I also don't restrict my social life, so I try and fit everything in moderation.

CrankMeUp

I heard there was cake here.

be_patient

I am not a completely clean eater, but yes I do find my wants changing.

However, I try to eat clean as well, because it's kinder to my skin.