Clean eating consequences???

soccerdog693

So I started putting serious effort into losing weight (again!) and have developed a sort of clean eating approach. I now eat a LOT of fuits and veggies, lean meat, a few carbs, and mostly cook everything myself. I don't add extra salt ever. For the most part I really like this way of eating - I consider it sustainable, healthy, and conducive to long term weight loss and maintenance. But I don't want to NEVER eat normal food again! Yet less than a month of eating like this and the 2 times I have I have partaken in "non-diet food" (ie, corn dog, taco salad with fried tortilla bowl) I have spent the entire next day feeling like I want to puke my guts out. I have indigestion and "sour stomach." I used to be able to eat this stuff all day long without having to worry about getting sick but now that I have changed my diet my body doesn't seem to be able to handle "treats" or "cheat meals" any more. Has anyone experienced this? Is there a way to eat super healthy food 99% of the time while maintaining the ability to cheat without feeling like you want to barf everywhere?

ottermotorcycle

When you indulge in your "unclean" foods, are you eating them all at once? Maybe it would be easier on your body to have a corn dog one day and a taco salad whatever a few days later? I feel like this is a "cheat day" problem where you're loading yourself up with unhealthy food all at once and it's hurting you...

Maybe it would be better to go 90/10 than 99/1 with your clean eating.

soccerdog693

Last night I had one taco salad and some chips and salsa at a Mexican restaurant - a cheat meal for sure but the rest of the day I ate clean.

Chief_Rocka

When you eat the taco salad you're "un-cleansing"

soccerdog693

Ah. Well... that sucks.

asdelmonte

Do you eat corn on your clean eating diet? I noted that both times you ate "off-diet" you ate corn. Maybe you have an intolerance. Try "cheating" with something else and see if it still bothers you.

pennyllayne

First of all, we need salt in our diets. It's an essential electrolyte and if you've cut out processed foods you want to actually be adding some salt to your foods. Unrefined rock or sea salt would likely be the best.

You don't make any mention of fats either. Fats are very important in the diet and help you absorb certain vitamins and you don't need to eat lean cuts of meat unless it's conventionally raised. High quality grass fed meat has naturally less fat anyway and a better omega 6 to omega 3 ratio. You also need to be getting enough omega 3s in there from oily fish.

As for the clean eating, it seems to be a common problem that when you cut out junk and processed foods, having them again causes digestive problems. It is likely to be because your body is no longer overloaded with toxins and hard to digest foods and is used to this healthier way of eating, so when you suddenly put those foods back in your body can't deal with them very well anymore. Our bodies adapt to what we give them, so if we overload them with toxins it gets used to dealing with them. It's the same thing with anything you remove from your diet. If you removed meat and then started eating it again you'd have problems digesting it until your body gets used to it again. It's also what happens when you removed carbs - your body gets used to not having to process them and you develop a physiological form of insulin resistance so when you eat them again your body has trouble and you experience hypoglycemia and digestive problems.

SezxyStef

this used to happen to me too...I ate enough "unclean" food now that I am back to normal...it's great.

Tedebearduff

So I started putting serious effort into losing weight (again!) and have developed a sort of clean eating approach. I now eat a LOT of fuits and veggies, lean meat, a few carbs, and mostly cook everything myself. I don't add extra salt ever. For the most part I really like this way of eating - I consider it sustainable, healthy, and conducive to long term weight loss and maintenance. But I don't want to NEVER eat normal food again! Yet less than a month of eating like this and the 2 times I have I have partaken in "non-diet food" (ie, corn dog, taco salad with fried tortilla bowl) I have spent the entire next day feeling like I want to puke my guts out. I have indigestion and "sour stomach." I used to be able to eat this stuff all day long without having to worry about getting sick but now that I have changed my diet my body doesn't seem to be able to handle "treats" or "cheat meals" any more. Has anyone experienced this? Is there a way to eat super healthy food 99% of the time while maintaining the ability to cheat without feeling like you want to barf everywhere?

Sounds like food intolerance's to me ... might give you the poopies too? and heart burn? , you don't have to answer but if that is the case could be a gluten intolerance !!! Depending on what your meals consisted of ... think of what is common in all meals if it is some form of wheat or gluten odds are that is what it is.

I'm not a doctor, should probably ask him that is just my opinion. Always seek doctors advice and not the internets!

257_Lag

A lot of people say that it's all in your head andf maybe it is but having eaten about 95% clean for a year a Big Mac has me running for the toilet in about 4 hours. I used to eat crap all the time.

Of the flip side, since cleaning up my diet and I have gotten much more comfortable and consistent in the bathroom compared to my junk days

Iknowsaur

Personally, I try to make sure I wash all my foods.

rybo

My digestive health is a million times better now that I eat mostly real foods. When I do stray off at picnics or whatever, I feel the effects, but not too horribly depending on how much and how badly I eat.

I am perfectly fine feeling energetic & healthy with no digestive problems, and it makes it far easier to not eat junk food regularly.

ElliottTN

My stomach is the same way. After not eating fast food if I try to eat it again I just plain out feel bad. Feel heavy, feel held down. It's like I am putting bad gas in my fuel tank and it has to run through. Even my performance in the gym or on a run is completely different.

I don't hold back on any food though but if I do something I would consider a cheat meal then I usually indulge at a nice place and I feel fine. I don't think it's so much the specific food as much as it is the quality of the ingredients that bring me down.

Just my 2 cents out there.

Branstin

Yep, it happened to me, too. Although I eat in moderation, there is something about the foods at joints like McDonalds that make me want to barf. I left that stuff alone years ago. Now, I make my own "unhealthy" foods most of the time.

SKME2013

A lot of people say that it's all in your head andf maybe it is but having eaten about 95% clean for a year a Big Mac has me running for the toilet in about 4 hours. I used to eat crap all the time.

Of the flip side, since cleaning up my diet and I have gotten much more comfortable and consistent in the bathroom compared to my junk days

+1
While I believe that you really have those symptoms, I think they are coming from having a bad conscience. I had the same thing. I ate the other day a Subway sandwich and frankly I regretted it. It made me feel bloated, but I believe this was more coming from my mind than from the sandwich itself.
Stef.