"Help! I'm eating HEALTHY but not losing weight!"

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Replies

  • bambusa
    bambusa Posts: 6 Member
    Can someone reply with their definition of clean eating?

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  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    bambusa wrote: »
    Can someone reply with their definition of clean eating?

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    As has been stated, there isn't a universally accepted one. Thus rendering it a meaningless term. It means whatever the person using it thinks it means.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    Sounds like the original post, at least the title may have been edited because I'm not seeing the hot button word "clean" in either the infographic or the OP's post/title. I also think, and I'm assuming here, that OP knows that "clean" is a subjective, mostly meaningless term and that's why the post was changed.

    At any rate - I got the point and I think it's a helpful one to share - even if it is nothing new. People may believe that the type of foods they are eating guarantees weight loss - but at the end of the day - if too many calories are consumed, they will not lose.

    Looking forward to seeing where this thread goes - it is a Friday after all!
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    toxikon wrote: »
    toxikon wrote: »
    toxikon wrote: »
    Bread is clean?

    Or flavoured Chobani? Or light Italian dressing? :D

    You don't think a person new to weight loss would look at the above food items and consider them fairly healthy? Especially if they're coming from a formerly junk food predominant diet?

    You said clean.

    Clean, healthy, tomato, tomato (pronounce them differently in your head...)

    I apologize for not using the proper nomenclature. :D I hope the message and intent of the image is clear enough for newbies to understand!

    Tough crowd today.

    Eating clean is not the same as eating healthy. They are completely different!

    Anywho...if that was a regular diet, I wouldn't consider it particularly healthy or clean.

    I think the image is fairly tongue-in-cheek. I've seen it on the forum a million times. Tons of new people think flavored yogurt is healthy, whole wheat is inherently healthier than white, sugary protein/granola bars are healthy, etc. All those dieting myths. The image is meant to portray a new person who has fallen for the myths of what is considered "clean/healthy" eating and is baffled by their lack of weight loss. Hope that clears it up.

    I don't see anything in the list that is not healthy. But as noted above clean and healthy aren't the same things.

    That actually is why I think focusing on overall diet is more significant than individual food items. I'm sure people might think they were eating well because each food item was "healthy" in their minds, but really there's not very many vegetables, it probably doesn't even meet the low US recommendation. So to me that wouldn't be a particularly healthful diet if that day reflected most days.

    (If it was just one day of a week and the others had more veg, of course, fine.)

    I do agree that the post usefully makes the point that you can pick only things you consider healthy and still exceed calories and even gain.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    bambusa wrote: »
    Can someone reply with their definition of clean eating?

    7567305.png

    It means something different to almost everyone who tries to practice it which is why it is an unhelpful term to describe the way one eats - and why it gets so much discussion on these boards.

    @diannethegeek had a great list of all the different ways to define it - oh, here it is.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10337480/what-is-clean-eating/p1

    As you can see, that's hardly a helpful way to talk about one's diet (noun).

  • French_Peasant
    French_Peasant Posts: 1,639 Member
    Great post Toxicon!

    I am going through the same thing with my father in law. I am not sure what all foods he has even cut out, but it includes filthy dirty bread and grains, dairy, sugar, and now filthy dirty beans, peanuts, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, squashes, and whatever other evil "lectin" foods are out there (per flavor-of-the-month guru Gundry), and is frustrated because he can't lose. He was on estrogen therapy a few months ago, and that is really having an impact on his weight; it is surely very difficult for a former Marine and athletic star who has always been fit and muscular to deal with.

    He was talking about how he was always having peanut butter every day and how the lectins were causing him not to lose weight through inflammation or some such. I asked him how much peanut butter he was eating: "just a little with my apple." I held up a tiny 2-ounce container (we were at Red Robin...not sure how that fits into the diet, but he gets the lettuce buns) and said, "this is 400 calories." You could see the surprise and the lightbulb going on, but he just dismissed it because he had thrown all his peanut butter away the previous day anyway.

    I try to get him to calculate his calories (it would not be hard for him with his limited foods) but no, that is too hard, he could never do that. Better/easier to cut out entire families of foods including really important prebiotics like whole grains and legumes.

    I don't argue with his too much about it, but it just makes me sad to see him cutting out things he enjoys and should have no issue eating. I told him once the weather got better and he was back out on the golf course, things would be getting better. He plays golf almost every day and walks the course.
  • toxikon
    toxikon Posts: 2,383 Member
    Great post Toxicon!

    I am going through the same thing with my father in law. I am not sure what all foods he has even cut out, but it includes filthy dirty bread and grains, dairy, sugar, and now filthy dirty beans, peanuts, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, squashes, and whatever other evil "lectin" foods are out there (per flavor-of-the-month guru Gundry), and is frustrated because he can't lose. He was on estrogen therapy a few months ago, and that is really having an impact on his weight; it is surely very difficult for a former Marine and athletic star who has always been fit and muscular to deal with.

    He was talking about how he was always having peanut butter every day and how the lectins were causing him not to lose weight through inflammation or some such. I asked him how much peanut butter he was eating: "just a little with my apple." I held up a tiny 2-ounce container (we were at Red Robin...not sure how that fits into the diet, but he gets the lettuce buns) and said, "this is 400 calories." You could see the surprise and the lightbulb going on, but he just dismissed it because he had thrown all his peanut butter away the previous day anyway.

    I try to get him to calculate his calories (it would not be hard for him with his limited foods) but no, that is too hard, he could never do that. Better/easier to cut out entire families of foods including really important prebiotics like whole grains and legumes.

    I don't argue with his too much about it, but it just makes me sad to see him cutting out things he enjoys and should have no issue eating. I told him once the weather got better and he was back out on the golf course, things would be getting better. He plays golf almost every day and walks the course.

    Yeah, a lot of my friends have fallen into this trap. It can be very hard to convince them to just count their damn calories. It's funny how our brains work like that. Restricting foods (or entire food groups) = perfectly reasonable! Counting calories = worst thing ever.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    I think people think that if they hit on the right way of eating (or eliminate problem foods) that they will magically just only think about and want to eat the right amount of foods and not gain, or at least this will eventually happen, if they just do it right. There's this idea that it's not natural or normal to have to think about it, so they shouldn't have to.

    And so, so many people say that if you just eat healthy the calories will be fine or that it's not possible to overeat "eating healthy" (or clean, but I won't go there, or WFPB or LCHF or paleo, so on). Personally, I'm confident I could manage to overeat without too much trouble on any diet. ;-)

    I kind of have a love/hate thing with logging -- sometimes I really enjoy it, sometimes I hate it -- so I get it, but if I'm honest with myself being mindful about food isn't any more natural or "not having to think about it," but I think for many of us it is necessary in this food environment.

    Hmm, I also think some find it more fun to be mindful about being on a special diet vs. mindful about portions or calories. I get that, I experience it to some extent, especially when there's novelty. But I suppose I'm digressing, since the first post isn't really about any special diet.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    bambusa wrote: »
    Can someone reply with their definition of clean eating?

    7567305.png

    It means something different to almost everyone who tries to practice it which is why it is an unhelpful term to describe the way one eats - and why it gets so much discussion on these boards.

    @diannethegeek had a great list of all the different ways to define it - oh, here it is.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10337480/what-is-clean-eating/p1

    As you can see, that's hardly a helpful way to talk about one's diet (noun).

    The OP even counts by some of these definitions.
  • JoAnna4731
    JoAnna4731 Posts: 115 Member
    I have this argument with DH all the time - "I don't eat any bad stuff - I don't need to count calories."

    I grew up with a mom who is a registered dietitian, and I learned a lot of strategies for maintaining my weight by incorporating certain foods that would make me feel more full, but that did not necessarily cut calories (example, whole wheat bread is not less caloric, but it sure feels more substantial in my stomach!) People over the past three decades have mistaken the "healthy" alternatives as being "less caloric". I don't understand how that happened, but here we are.
  • JetJaguar
    JetJaguar Posts: 801 Member
    This reminds me of a former coworker who would occasionally lament that she always ate healthy but couldn't lose weight because she had a "naturally slow metabolism". Now I don't know what she ate away from work, but the sorts of things she brought to work looked a lot like that list.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    edited February 2018
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    I think people think that if they hit on the right way of eating (or eliminate problem foods) that they will magically just only think about and want to eat the right amount of foods and not gain, or at least this will eventually happen, if they just do it right. There's this idea that it's not natural or normal to have to think about it, so they shouldn't have to.

    And so, so many people say that if you just eat healthy the calories will be fine or that it's not possible to overeat "eating healthy" (or clean, but I won't go there, or WFPB or LCHF or paleo, so on). Personally, I'm confident I could manage to overeat without too much trouble on any diet. ;-)

    I kind of have a love/hate thing with logging -- sometimes I really enjoy it, sometimes I hate it -- so I get it, but if I'm honest with myself being mindful about food isn't any more natural or "not having to think about it," but I think for many of us it is necessary in this food environment.

    Hmm, I also think some find it more fun to be mindful about being on a special diet vs. mindful about portions or calories. I get that, I experience it to some extent, especially when there's novelty. But I suppose I'm digressing, since the first post isn't really about any special diet.

    Agreed...I eat a pretty stinkin' healthy, largely whole foods diet and I put on 10 Lbs this winter just like I do every winter...so yeah...those calories in my healthy, whole foods are still calories, and they count.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    bambusa wrote: »
    Can someone reply with their definition of clean eating?

    7567305.png

    I could. But since the OP changed the title and it has nothing to do with the meme I feel like it might be hijacking the thread at this point.

    You could but it would be just as non-sensicle as any other one that could get posted.
  • Wheelhouse15
    Wheelhouse15 Posts: 5,575 Member
    mmapags wrote: »
    bambusa wrote: »
    Can someone reply with their definition of clean eating?

    7567305.png

    I could. But since the OP changed the title and it has nothing to do with the meme I feel like it might be hijacking the thread at this point.

    You could but it would be just as non-sensicle as any other one that could get posted.

    You mean there are memes that make sense? :anguished:
  • vivmom2014
    vivmom2014 Posts: 1,649 Member
    "this year in going to lose weight by eating clean, no more junk like this!" <-- my office mate, as she throws out a box of 100 calorie Special K bars and replaces them with a big box of almonds. Now instead of the 1 Special K bat she has what I'd estimate to be 50 grams of almonds with her morning coffee, plus more nibbles of almonds during the day on top of her normal lunch.

    I would say something, but what do I know, I'm 'skinny already'

    Did you get the Special K bars out of the trash?!

  • GoalGal50
    GoalGal50 Posts: 90 Member
    toxikon wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    Posting to add: The OP is spot on, in the core message (despite our quibbles over terminology ;) ). It's the calories.

    From reading truly mind-numbing numbers of posts around here, I'd guess that most would consider that example "eating healthy" or even "eating clean".

    I'd consider it "eating healthy" (though I don't/wouldn't eat that menu, by preference). There's (IMO) a wide range of "eating healthy".

    I wouldn't consider it "eating clean", because I wouldn't consider anything "eating clean": I consider the term so poorly defined as to be meaningless, so I don't use it.

    Thanks Ann. It wouldn't be a Friday in the forums without quibbling over terminology.

    Lol, ooooohhhhhh so terminology is a ‘thing’ in here???? Now I get it, Lol, I just got my first warning because I retaliated after someone was really sarcastic regarding terminology. I don’t see a need to be so literal, but whatever, Now I know...