Clean eating help, success stories

Desifreckle
Desifreckle Posts: 110 Member
edited November 21 in Health and Weight Loss
Give me your tips, links, groups, recipes...

Going clean to see if it helps my digestive issues and anxiety. Tell me your success stories!!

Replies

  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    How do you define "clean"?
  • ruqayyahsmum
    ruqayyahsmum Posts: 1,513 Member
    Google fodmap if you think you have food intolerances or better yet seek assistance from a registered dietitian to explore elimination diets and or allergy testing to get to the bottom of your digestive issues
  • singingflutelady
    singingflutelady Posts: 8,736 Member
    another_chelle wrote: »
    You can't ask that type of question here :smile: It's all about calorie counting and meeting you specific calorie goal to lose weight. From my reading here on the forums this type of post results in unhelpful comments that lean toward sarcasm.

    I will share that I feel better overall when incorporating more fruits and veggies in my diet. Besides being able to eat more because of the low calorie nature of fruits and veggies I also get less heartburn, migraines and overall feel better.

    @another_chelle it's because there are a million different definitions of "clean eating" and nobody knows what the people using it actually mean.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,458 Member
    tips links groups recipes.

    Uh.

    Need more info.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    singingflutelady wrote: »
    another_chelle wrote: »
    You can't ask that type of question here :smile: It's all about calorie counting and meeting you specific calorie goal to lose weight. From my reading here on the forums this type of post results in unhelpful comments that lean toward sarcasm.

    I will share that I feel better overall when incorporating more fruits and veggies in my diet. Besides being able to eat more because of the low calorie nature of fruits and veggies I also get less heartburn, migraines and overall feel better.

    @another_chelle it's because there are a million different definitions of "clean eating" and nobody knows what the people using it actually mean.

    Hence my first answer asking the OP how she defines "clean". There is no one answer, it is all going to depend on the person's preferences.
  • another_chelle
    another_chelle Posts: 42 Member
    singingflutelady wrote: »
    another_chelle wrote: »
    You can't ask that type of question here :smile: It's all about calorie counting and meeting you specific calorie goal to lose weight. From my reading here on the forums this type of post results in unhelpful comments that lean toward sarcasm.

    I will share that I feel better overall when incorporating more fruits and veggies in my diet. Besides being able to eat more because of the low calorie nature of fruits and veggies I also get less heartburn, migraines and overall feel better.

    @another_chelle it's because there are a million different definitions of "clean eating" and nobody knows what the people using it actually mean.

    @singingfluetlady yes there are many definitions of "clean eating", but I was pointing out how threads like this often dissolve into sarcasm and are ultimately unhelpful. Do you disagree??
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    They tend to do that if the OP doesn't come back and give their definition. Granted, that doesn't happen very often so yes, they devolve quickly.
  • singingflutelady
    singingflutelady Posts: 8,736 Member
    another_chelle wrote: »
    singingflutelady wrote: »
    another_chelle wrote: »
    You can't ask that type of question here :smile: It's all about calorie counting and meeting you specific calorie goal to lose weight. From my reading here on the forums this type of post results in unhelpful comments that lean toward sarcasm.

    I will share that I feel better overall when incorporating more fruits and veggies in my diet. Besides being able to eat more because of the low calorie nature of fruits and veggies I also get less heartburn, migraines and overall feel better.

    @another_chelle it's because there are a million different definitions of "clean eating" and nobody knows what the people using it actually mean.

    @singingfluetlady yes there are many definitions of "clean eating", but I was pointing out how threads like this often dissolve into sarcasm and are ultimately unhelpful. Do you disagree??

    If the OP doesn't come back and clarify the thread can not go forward in a productive manner.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    Desifreckle wrote: »
    Give me your tips, links, groups, recipes...

    Going clean to see if it helps my digestive issues and anxiety. Tell me your success stories!!

    I don't eat clean, so I can't really help you there. But I'm not sure eating whole foods will help either of those issues. There are plenty of whole foods that can cause digestive issues. Have you discussed either issue with your doctor?

    And just a heads up, "clean eating" can be a bit of a trigger word here :)
  • scarlett_k
    scarlett_k Posts: 812 Member
    I make sure I wash my hands and clean the counter before preparing food :D
  • another_chelle
    another_chelle Posts: 42 Member
    @lemurcat12 I'm not sure how to respond to your post as I'm not sure what response your looking for.

    I'm a long time lurker on mfp and time after time I've seen this type of thread go south. I think someone else in the thread also mentioned this topic is a trigger. I was just sharing that view with OP and then shared MY ideas of how I work to eat clean.

    As mentioned else where in this post there are many definitions of clean eating. No where did I say I'm against processed food; they are incorporated into my daily diet. Are you implying I said otherwise? I have no judgements against how others eat and how they fill their calorie limits. I took the opportunity to share my experience with another user.

    I feel like this is the perfect example of what I've mentioned. You seem to have taken my words and thrown them back at me making assumptions I'm judging other people's decisions. That the only conclusion I can come to based on your "surely you aren't suggesting otherwise" comment.
  • Desifreckle
    Desifreckle Posts: 110 Member
    edited September 2017
    Dang. Didn't expect people to get upset over a simple thing, honestly. I can find helpful people elsewher if itd going to be that way. Clean to me is more fruits and veggies, less junk food, which we all know what that is. Candy, chips, etc...a lot less sugar and no more artificial sugar. I used to use sweet and low daily, and ive had a friend who has similar issues after we using it for a long time.Cooking more and less eating out, I'm going to use less dairy, and try to avoid heavily processed foods. Maybe a loose version of paleo.

    I'm trying this to see if it helps ME. I could care less if others don't like it...or want to do it. Not my problem.

    Anyway, I'll just delete because I don't need the sarcasm or hate to causw a freaking anciert attack. I didn't ask anyone else to do this i simply asked for others who may have tried this and found it helped their stomach issues and anxiety.

    I've already been to a doctor. Don't need to get into all those details, but diet was part of it.
  • Desifreckle
    Desifreckle Posts: 110 Member
    Thank you to those that were helpful or at least tried though.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited September 2017
    another_chelle wrote: »
    @lemurcat12 I'm not sure how to respond to your post as I'm not sure what response your looking for.

    I'm a long time lurker on mfp and time after time I've seen this type of thread go south. I think someone else in the thread also mentioned this topic is a trigger. I was just sharing that view with OP and then shared MY ideas of how I work to eat clean.

    I am often genuinely curious if people are interested in sharing ideas with me when they ask for clean eaters. That's because although I don't self-define as a clean eater, I am definitely nutrition conscious, try to eat vegetables and protein at all meals, ideally eat 10+ servings of vegetables and fruit (mostly veg) per day, all the rest of the stuff I said before, no need to repeat. My understanding from reading about the concept and asking people here is that the most common definition of "clean eating" is NOT about any of that, but about processed foods, specifically not eating any, or, second most common, cutting out specific ingredients like flour and sugar. I eat some processed foods (mostly not ultra processed, but I would not agree that ultra processed = bad for you), and I do eat some flour and sugar, so under those definitions I am not a clean eater.

    However, in discussing the concept here, I've noticed some interesting things. First, lots of people who ask about clean eating/eaters are really interested in people who eat like I do, and are just starting out adding in more vegetables, cooking for themselves, learning about nutrition. For them, exchanging recipes and meal ideas and how tos with me might be what they are looking for, and I can talk about how I first started doing lots of cooking for myself some years ago, and what helps me with healthy eating. So even though I don't self-define as a clean eater, I usually ask what is meant, as they might mean people like me (many of whom don't use the term clean eater).

    Second, a confusing number of people who answer "NO processed food" to the question "what is clean eating to you," which for me cuts me out, because I'd have to lie to claim I did not eat processed food, and I don't aspire to cut out plain greek yogurt, etc, actually DO eat processed food, at least as much as me, often highly processed things like protein power. Which I find puzzling, and again is a reason to ask what is really meant.

    As for it going south, my read is that usually it goes south because someone proclaims that anyone who doesn't clean eat (and know exactly what it means, duh) must not care about healthful eating at all, but want to eat fast food and donuts 24/7, which is obviously silly. You seemed to me to be saying that most people here weren't interested in healthful eating, which I think is clearly a misunderstanding (maybe because you think clean eating just means healthful eating as most people understand it?).
    As mentioned else where in this post there are many definitions of clean eating. No where did I say I'm against processed food; they are incorporated into my daily diet. Are you implying I said otherwise?

    Clean eating usually means no processed foods, IME (and again from asking people what they mean). But no, I didn't think you were saying you did not. I was a little offended that you seemed to think that disliking the term "clean eating" or even simply not using it and finding it confusing means that one is not interested in nutrition, does not have interesting things to say about how to eat more healthfully, does not value eating vegetables, etc. THAT's what you seemed to me to be saying.

    I wanted to see if we could come to an agreement that "clean eating" is often used confusingly and that one need not "clean eat" (i.e., think processed foods are bad) to value healthful eating and improving one's diet.

    As I said, if healthful eating is what OP was after, many, many people who don't self-define as clean eaters might be as helpful as those who do (who I tend to find on MFP are often those newest to trying to eat healthfully, etc.).
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Desifreckle wrote: »
    Dang. Didn't expect people to get upset over a simple thing, honestly. I can find helpful people elsewher if itd going to be that way. Clean to me is more fruits and veggies, less junk food, which we all know what that is.

    That's cool. I don't think anyone is getting upset, but asking you to clarify to know if they fall within your definition or not. As I mentioned above, I eat a lot of fruits and veg (more veg) -- there was a good challenge about eating 10+ servings a day, and that might be a good place for you to check out, I keep forgetting to keep up since it's in the challenge section, but that is something I do (usually just by trying to make sure vegetables are at least half of the volume of all meals, or more, and because I get a farm box, so using it up is my goal).

    I also just naturally don't eat a lot of junk food (although this is not a new diet change for me), but I'm not interested in cutting it all out 100% or the like. I've gone through periods where I cut out all added sugar and while that was for me worth doing I didn't find it beneficial as a permanent thing, although I'm not going to discourage others who are interested.

    What I think you are missing is that "clean" means lots of different things, so when someone asks for information on "clean eating" we don't know what is meant without asking. It sounds to me like you are more asking just about healthy eating or maybe cooking more from whole foods or stuff like that, not what I normally think of as "clean eating" (striving to eat absolutely NO processed foods), and if that's so a lot of people who DON'T self define as clean eaters might have a lot in common.

    Or maybe not, maybe the label is really important to you for a reason I do not understand.
  • Desifreckle
    Desifreckle Posts: 110 Member
    edited September 2017
    My goal is to avoid processed food for at least a little bit, just to see if it could be part of the problem. Someone suggested an elimination diet to try and pinpoint exactly what causes the problems, so I may try that. Mainly I want to get more of my nutrients from food and less from having to take vitamins.

    I know part of it was my nutrients because after taking some supplements I feel a ton better anxiety wise, but not stomach wise.

    I didn't used to eat junk, but I got back in the habit unfortunately. I've lost 100lbs on just counting calories before. I'm not judging anyone who does that.
  • another_chelle
    another_chelle Posts: 42 Member
    @lemurcat12 Like many people her I'm on a mission to lose weight and try and live a healthier lifestyle. I come to the community boards to gain motivation for my journey and ideas on how to make my overall plan better.

    I understand you may want to have a conversation and understand where others are coming from however when you use phrases like "are you suggesting otherwise" and " I was offended" it becomes an inflammatory conversation. My initial response to the OP was four sentences and you were offended by some thing you think I implied in those four sentences. I felt immediately attacked for trying to share my experience on this post. .

    You've obviously been a long time member of mfp based on your number of post and I'm sure you've got great insight and have tons of advice on how to help people. Maybe a less accusatory approach would help create a successful conversation. I have a lot of thoughts on what clean eating means to me that I would have been happy to share in a less confrontational situation.

    At this point I'm going to conclude this conversation with you. I don't think it's going to be productive and as I said above I need to be focused on my own weight loss journey.

    Have a great evening!

  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited September 2017
    Edit: this was to the OP:

    I moved over to the other thread already. ;-)

    Processed food is a really huge category. It can mean "junk food," but it also can mean quite nutritious items like plain greek yogurt (although you may want to try cutting out dairy if digestive issues are a concern) and smoked salmon and foods that can be a good base for a healthy meal like rice and pasta and canned beans. (Not saying you should or shouldn't eat these, I don't care, but that you should not assume that anyone who eats processed food is eating junk* or cares nothing about nutrition.)

    In other words, I think you are misunderstanding if you think "I don't eat clean" or "I don't find it valuable to cut out all processed foods 100% of the time" to mean "I only care about counting calories" or "I eat a lot of junk" or even to be inconsistent with "I mostly eat nutrient-dense foods cooked at home."

    *Some people hate the term "junk," but I do mostly know what you mean and the term doesn't bother me, I don't think most think of it all that literally, but just mean low nutrient/high cal.
  • Desifreckle
    Desifreckle Posts: 110 Member
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    I moved over to the other thread already. ;-)

    Processed food is a really huge category. It can mean "junk food," but it also can mean quite nutritious items like plain greek yogurt (although you may want to try cutting out dairy if digestive issues are a concern) and smoked salmon and foods that can be a good base for a healthy meal like rice and pasta and canned beans. (Not saying you should or shouldn't eat these, I don't care, but that you should not assume that anyone who eats processed food is eating junk* or cares nothing about nutrition.)

    In other words, I think you are misunderstanding if you think "I don't eat clean" or "I don't find it valuable to cut out all processed foods 100% of the time" to mean "I only care about counting calories" or "I eat a lot of junk" or even to be inconsistent with "I mostly eat nutrient-dense foods cooked at home."

    *Some people hate the term "junk," but I do mostly know what you mean and the term doesn't bother me, I don't think most think of it all that literally, but just mean low nutrient/high cal.

    I litterly said that because another poster said most people just count calories here. I don't want anyone thinking that i find an issue with that.


    Honestly, I feel like we're going way too deep in this, nit picking at words. I'm moving on now. I won't use that term so broadly again. Have a good night! (Not being sarcastic so please don't take it that way. Lol)
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited September 2017
    You don't have to respond, although I am sorry if not, because as I said before I do think it's mostly a misunderstanding.
    another_chelle wrote: »
    @lemurcat12 Like many people her I'm on a mission to lose weight and try and live a healthier lifestyle. I come to the community boards to gain motivation for my journey and ideas on how to make my overall plan better.

    I understand you may want to have a conversation and understand where others are coming from however when you use phrases like "are you suggesting otherwise" and " I was offended" it becomes an inflammatory conversation.

    I'm really not sure why, so perhaps I am communicating badly. Let me focus more specifically on your first post.

    You said:
    another_chelle wrote: »
    You can't ask that type of question here :smile: It's all about calorie counting and meeting you specific calorie goal to lose weight.

    This seems to me to be saying that people here are not open to discussions about health or nutrition, that we care ONLY about weight loss. I think you are misunderstanding.
    I will share that I feel better overall when incorporating more fruits and veggies in my diet. Besides being able to eat more because of the low calorie nature of fruits and veggies I also get less heartburn, migraines and overall feel better.

    This suggested to me that you are assuming that people who say they don't self-define as "clean eaters" don't eat vegetables and fruit, that that is something "people here" would dismiss or make fun of, vs. just focusing on calories.

    Again, I think you are misunderstanding, if so.

    When I said "are you suggesting others," I was genuinely asking if you think that everyone here who asks what "clean eating" means or does not self-identify as a "clean eater" was uninterested in healthful eating or vegetables and fruit, because I think that's pretty obviously not true, and yet so often people who say "I eat some processed foods" (again, processed foods being a huge category including many nutritious items) or "I include some sugar in my diet" get accused of not caring about health or eating only donuts. I did not think you were making that leap, but I was asking, because it appeared to me from your post that you were saying others here didn't care about healthy eating.

    I was totally open to being wrong. Sorry if that did not come across well, and I am sorry if I misunderstood your post.

    Can you understand at all that it gets tiresome to be accused of caring nothing about nutrition when many of us really do?
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
    Being a clean eater (to the point of being orthorexic) gave me health and digestive issues. It made me stressed and have anxiety.

    My tip is to not do it. Sure, avoid foods that cause you issues. Many "clean" foods may be the cause of your issues - too much broccoli, especially raw, puts me in a world of pain. If you have problems, see a health professional about them - a trip to the Dr and a dietician/similar may be helpful.

    Eating a healthy nutritious diet dies not require restriction of foods, negative food associations, labelling of foods. I feel (and know I am) physically and mentally healthier by having a more flexible approach to diet and food choices
  • Mccloud74
    Mccloud74 Posts: 788 Member
    edited September 2017
    @Desifreckle
    Hi there,

    I try to eat clean, which to me is no processed food...so single ingredients.

    For example, my food plan for today is:
    B - 50g smoked salmon, 50g avocado & fresh lemon
    L - lean mince with peppers, onions, garlic & chilli cooked in coconut oil with 50g (dry weight) basmati rice
    D - fresh cod (with paprika), boiled potatoes & green beans with pine nuts

    I stick to it as much as possible, but it can be difficult...so I don't beat myself up if I have spaghetti instead of rice :wink:
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