Clean Eating (Experience?)

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  • knightmagic
    knightmagic Posts: 100 Member
    as I have told many people, the best diet is one you can stick to for the long haul (10+ years).

    I stick to a modified paleo diet. I eat as whole food as I can however i do still have some processed stuff sometimes. I still enjoy pasta and cheese. I track all my food.

    You have to slowly make changes (1 at a time) and build them into habits. Every little victory counts :smile:
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 8,356 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »

    Yup, in general, the less hyper-palatable food I eat, the better I feel.

    Hmmm. Semantics here, but if food isn’t hyper palatable, I’m not interested. Life is too short not to enjoy nomnoms.

    However, what’s changed, is that new foods have become hyper palatable as my taste buds have changed and replaced what you’d call the the old-line hyper palatable.

    My day is not complete without a bowl of cottage cheese, infused vinegar and fruits. I crave it like I used to crave M&Ms. First thing every morning, I bank 300 calories’ish for that day to cover it.

    (I’m (almost) kicking myself over the giant mexican lunch I had today that cancelled out my usual bowl of fruity cottagey happiness.)

    Anyway, semantics semantics semantics. Don’t know why your comment pulled me up like that. 😘


  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    I always clean apples on some kind of cloth before eating them!
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,148 Member
    springlering62 wrote: »
    kshama2001 wrote: »

    Yup, in general, the less hyper-palatable food I eat, the better I feel.

    Hmmm. Semantics here, but if food isn’t hyper palatable, I’m not interested. Life is too short not to enjoy nomnoms.

    However, what’s changed, is that new foods have become hyper palatable as my taste buds have changed and replaced what you’d call the the old-line hyper palatable.

    My day is not complete without a bowl of cottage cheese, infused vinegar and fruits. I crave it like I used to crave M&Ms. First thing every morning, I bank 300 calories’ish for that day to cover it.

    (I’m (almost) kicking myself over the giant mexican lunch I had today that cancelled out my usual bowl of fruity cottagey happiness.)

    Anyway, semantics semantics semantics. Don’t know why your comment pulled me up like that. 😘


    Yeah, the "hyper-palatable" term is weird to me, too. Most of the things commonly described as "hyper-palatable" are IMO hyper-simple, mostly fat-sweet-salt (+ sometimes umami) combinations without much subtlety or nuance to them. I get how they push buttons, but they mostly aren't very interesting or satisfying to me. (As an aside, I pretty much felt the same way about them while gaining: I wasn't one of the people who underwent a major dietary revolution; I just mostly right-sized.)

    It seems weird to say "hyper-palatable foods don't taste good", but using the common definitions, that's what I think (maybe I'm broken - wouldn't be the first time).

    At the same time, like you, I don't want to waste time or calories on foods that don't taste good to me, preferably really, really good, though I'll back off to just "good" sometimes in the interests of well-rounded nutrition. I feel about my daily oatmeal concotion about the way you do about your fruit/cottage cheese/vinegar. The bowl is empty so quickly (it's a big bowl, objectively ;) ).

    Subjective perceptions of food, and the subjective descriptions that go with them, are confusing. "Clean" is pretty subjective, along with what's actually (not conventionally) "hyper-palatable".
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    springlering62 wrote: »
    kshama2001 wrote: »

    Yup, in general, the less hyper-palatable food I eat, the better I feel.

    Hmmm. Semantics here, but if food isn’t hyper palatable, I’m not interested. Life is too short not to enjoy nomnoms.

    However, what’s changed, is that new foods have become hyper palatable as my taste buds have changed and replaced what you’d call the the old-line hyper palatable.

    My day is not complete without a bowl of cottage cheese, infused vinegar and fruits. I crave it like I used to crave M&Ms. First thing every morning, I bank 300 calories’ish for that day to cover it.

    (I’m (almost) kicking myself over the giant mexican lunch I had today that cancelled out my usual bowl of fruity cottagey happiness.)

    Anyway, semantics semantics semantics. Don’t know why your comment pulled me up like that. 😘


    Yeah, the "hyper-palatable" term is weird to me, too. Most of the things commonly described as "hyper-palatable" are IMO hyper-simple, mostly fat-sweet-salt (+ sometimes umami) combinations without much subtlety or nuance to them. I get how they push buttons, but they mostly aren't very interesting or satisfying to me. (As an aside, I pretty much felt the same way about them while gaining: I wasn't one of the people who underwent a major dietary revolution; I just mostly right-sized.)

    It seems weird to say "hyper-palatable foods don't taste good", but using the common definitions, that's what I think (maybe I'm broken - wouldn't be the first time).

    At the same time, like you, I don't want to waste time or calories on foods that don't taste good to me, preferably really, really good, though I'll back off to just "good" sometimes in the interests of well-rounded nutrition. I feel about my daily oatmeal concotion about the way you do about your fruit/cottage cheese/vinegar. The bowl is empty so quickly (it's a big bowl, objectively ;) ).

    Subjective perceptions of food, and the subjective descriptions that go with them, are confusing. "Clean" is pretty subjective, along with what's actually (not conventionally) "hyper-palatable".

    Couldn't agree more.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    GingerPwr wrote: »
    For me, clean eating means lots of fruits and veggies, and as little processed food as possible.

    For instance, I make soup and sauces from scratch instead of buying them canned, because canned foods are higher in sodium.

    I try to use mostly fresh or frozen veggies for the same reason.

    I DON'T do a lot of wheat pasta or quinoa instead of rice and stuff like that because I cook for my family, and I don't want to push a bunch of stuff on them they might not like. But when I do have starchy carbs, I have them in moderation.

    I have found that when I eat clean, I can eat a lot MORE food and feel fuller longer.

    Don't know if it would help, but here's an example of my type of "clean" eating:

    Breakfast:
    2 eggs and 2 egg whites, scrambled with onion, pepper, tomato, spinach & zucchini, goat cheese crumbles on top, and half an apple - 300ish calories

    Lunch:
    Homemade chicken soup & a slice of sourdough bread with hummus & cucumber slices - 380 calories

    Snack:
    Smoothie - Frozen mixed berries, 1/2 cup Greek yogurt, 1/2 cup almond milk 115 calories
    (If this is a post workout snack, I might add a little protein powder)

    Dinner:
    BLT salad with shredded cheddar cheese & avocado ranch dressing - 303 calories

    This actually leaves 100 calories "out there" to play with. I didn't include a dessert. Plus, if you're active, you can eat back some of the calories you burn. Some people would exclude the bread and the cheese to be even "cleaner," but I like those small indulgences.

    I think the definition is very personal and different for everyone. I went through a phase where I was overly anxious about everything I ate and I didn't like the stress I was putting myself under. The example above is full of foods I like and enjoy, and I feel like I'm not missing out on anything in my day.

    I eat basically like you, based on a quick skim. I also went through a phase (when I was eating ALL natural IMO, although even then it wasn't totally unprocessed and I still think cucumbers and tomatoes, etc., in Chicago in Jan are never natural), and also for me it created unnecessary anxiety.

    So I ditched the whole "natural" or "clean" thing. I still eat tons of veg, mostly home cooked, and focus on nutrition, but I eschew the "clean" label as it seems dishonest based on what people claim (usually dishonestly) clean to be. Yet it is shocking how many people assume if you don't claim to eat clean you eat a highly processed diet or don't care about nutrition -- especially since most focused on "clean" rather than actual nutrition are rather ignorant about nutrition and often eat few veg and fruits. It's annoying.
  • ReenieHJ
    ReenieHJ Posts: 9,724 Member
    MikePfirrman wrote: »
    I lost all my weight nearly 10 years ago just eating less. I was not a "clean eating" guy at all. However, that all changed when my wife developed Fibromyalgia, which led us on an unexpected path of what most would consider "clean eating", around six years ago.

    Most Holistic docs will recommend that someone who has Fibro go gluten free. There are three studies that back up that going gluten free helps dramatically with Fibro pain. They also tested my wife and found out she was very allergic to cow dairy. So she had to stop gluten and dairy (cow dairy) cold. Since I do the cooking, and also knew that would very difficult for her to do, I stopped eating dairy and gluten along with her.

    As things turn out, I turned out to be Celiac in denial. If I get a hint of gluten, I break out in an autoimmune rash nearly immediately. So "supporting" her might have saved my life. 10 to 15% of Celiacs that go undiagnosed end up dying. She still can't have Cow Dairy but can eat goat and sheep cheese on occasion. If she accidentally gets gluten, she might swell a bit, but she doesn't personally doesn't feel that bad.

    When you eliminate cow dairy and gluten, it's amazing how "clean" your diet becomes really quick. When we go out, we mostly have to eat lean meats and veggies (because starches are all loaded with butter and cream sauces). You eat broiled or grilled seafood, not cheese and sauce covered stuff. Go to a store and try to buy processed food that doesn't have gluten or cow dairy. There's not a lot, trust me! And we don't eat the "replacement" junk like deserts or breads very often, if at all. We eat fruit or raw nuts for snacks.

    I look 100% better in terms of my skin and I used to have nasty rashes on my back. Had lots of eczema. All gone. The wife deals still with some RA (arthritis) issues, but she's going on 60 and takes no prescriptions (neither do I and I'm going on 56). We also both workout a lot -- her four times a week and me six.

    If we go back to eating even remotely bad things for a few days -- sugar or oil would be the worst we do since we just don't do the gluten or cow dairy, we feel a dramatic difference. We have also moved more (gradually) to plant based eating from a meat heavy diet. We also feel better from that as well.

    We're not so strict we don't indulge, but we definitely moderate those times and never eat the gluten or cow dairy. But we have found replacements that I can make at home that made life enjoyable. Maca, for instance, tastes a lot like malt powder. I use that when I'm craving malt taste. I make her pizzas with a gluten free crust and goat mozzarella every other month or so. I found a gluten free flour from Italy you would never know is gluten free. No Udi's for us. Udi's is garbage. We had Chicken Parm last night -- all with sheep, goat and GF bread crumbs and pasta. Better than anything you could get in most restaurants.

    Her recovery from Fibro was nothing short of remarkable. From nearly bed bound to better than her "old self" in two years. She gets guessed at mid to late 40s all the time. She looks a good 8 to 10 years younger than her actual age. For us, our cleaner eating has been fantastic in terms of quality of life as we age.

    We get the people Poo Poing all the time at our lifestyle now. I simply don't care. My wife said she wanted to die years ago if she had to live in all that pain. The doc at that time recommended opioids or gabapentin, both horrid for you. Not sure she'd even be alive today if we didn't change. And she's enjoying her life and healthier than most her age now. So people can react however they want. I think it's because most of the time they don't think they could do what we do. You can do incredible things out of desperation, truth be told.

    Thank you so much for sharing that!!! I truly believe we are what we eat, and everybody has their own genetic make-up that can be shifted by what they feed it or not feed it.

    I was just looking up a little bit last night, about clean eating and eating well. I take it to mean, more whole foods, less processing. Just easy, simple, basic.....like me. :)

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