If 'eating clean' is so easy for you, how did you get fat?

joepage612

This whole "dieting" thing is getting very heavy for me. I never thought I was actually a food "addict" but it's clear that I am, on some level. Since starting MFP and counting calories, my relationship with food has really been put under the microscope.

Just yesterday, I took my kids to the amusement park. They begged for Dippin Dots and other crap and the whole time, every cell in my body was screaming for sugar and junk food... funnel cakes, ice cream, fries. It felt exactly like a giant nicotine fit, but for junk food.

I have an alcoholic friend who told me that she never understands how people have 1 glass of wine or 1 cocktail. What's the point if you can't have, like 10 drinks and get all messed up?

That's how I am with food. What's even the point of eating if all I can have is this salad and small scoop of brown rice?

But, just like an alcoholic, I guess you have to "fake it until you make it," because after a while the cravings for junk go down, you start eating to live instead of living to eat and develop a taste for food that is actually nourishing. It's happened to me in the past, I just hope I can get to that place again soon.

its not your fault. if you google the word "hyperpalatability" it will tell you how modern food is designed to be sooooo goood that it boarders on drug like reward system in the brain.

Mykaelous

Apologies for using 'fat', but overweight was too long to fit in the title.

I keep seeing so many threads about people who eat 'clean', avoid processed sugar, follow their hunger signs etc, and it seems so easy for them.

My question to those people is... if your relationship with food is so healthy... how did you get overweight in the first place?

I mean, I got fat because I love food, I'm obsessed with food (notice I didn't use 'addicted'), and it's just a huge part of my life. All my life I've just eaten what I wanted when I wanted it... I don't remember my parents ever telling me I couldn't have something. I just helped myself. I don't think I'll ever be able to just see food as sustenance... it's a pleasure. I've got much better at moderation and trying to make the most of my calories (taste-wise... I don't exactly meet my macros every day, lol), but I don't think the desire to eat more tasty food will ever go away. I'm aware it's going to be a life-long struggle.

Just really curious about this (and probably a bit jealous, lol. I wish I was one of those people for whom losing weight was easy).

Edited for bad, bad grammar.

For me it had to do with internal emotional issues. My father was in the military so I didn't get to see him much. When I did see him he would always take me out to eat as a "reward." It was something we could bond over since we didn't relate to much else except for video games, another vice of mine. I internalized this relationship with food and treated food like a reward. It was when I understood my relationship with food that I was able to overcome this habit.

hearthwood

I agree, we have vegetarians on this board that are overweight and trying to lose weight. The reason people get fat is because they eat too much.

It's calories in versus calories out.

And many seem to forget that a calorie is a calorie whether it comes from carrots or cookies, protein, fat or carbs.

Mykaelous

I agree, we have vegetarians on this board that are overweight and trying to lose weight. The reason people get fat is because they eat too much.

It's calories in versus calories out.

And many seem to forget that a calorie is a calorie whether it comes from carrots or cookies, protein, fat or carbs.

Yep one of my good friends is vegan and is severely overweight. I can't tell you the number of times I have argued with him over how healthy(unhealthy from my perspective) grapeseed/canola/olive oil is. He literally drizzles that stuff all over his food. He use s the whole "it's natural" logical fallacy argument.

Mykaelous

Did you guys ever see that controversial movie Supersize Me? That's where a guy ate nothing but McDonald's for 30 days straight. He gained 24.5 pounds, his body fat shot up 63% and his cholesterol skyrocketed by 65 points.

Well, recently a physician in North Carolina ALSO ate all of his meals at McDonald's for 30 days. But he LOST 9 pounds, shed 20% of his body fat, his high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol went up and his blood sugar and triglycerides went down!

How the heck did he do that?

By making two changes, both of which hold the secret to creating unstoppable fat loss for anybody, even if you're stuffing your face with fast food.

Unlike the guy in “Supersize Me” who ate all the meals as they came, this physician NEVER ate starch with fat. That's a deadly combo that creates a belly-fat bulging calorie bomb. Starch is processed to produce many of the sugars in processed foods.

The starch spikes your #1 fat-making hormone insulin. And the fat delivers a megaton of calories for that insulin to convert into fat. For example, he took off the bread from his burger and he didn't eat fries. Everything else was fair game though.

So if you want to block the fat-making capacity of your meals, never eat starch and fat together. http://www.whyicantloseweight.com

Wrong. He lost weight because he ate below his TDEE.

There's a great movie call "Fat head" that I watched on netflix and got me on this calorie counting diet. 60 lb's lost later and I am a true believer.

bubbly_charm2k9

I don't usually eat clean lol my daily calorie intake is about 1200 calories
...and for me 1200 calories is too little.. if only I could eat anything without gaining..

Before I started here in mfp..I was 156 lbs ..for almost 3 month's
Dieting I lost 33 lbs

Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Weight Loss Tools

jofjltncb6

How did I miss this thread a few months ago?

Why did none of my so-called "friends" tell me about it?!?



Worst. FL. Ever.



I should just drop them all and start over.

:grumble:

supersparklies

I think I gained extra weight because after I stopped nursing my baby, I kept eating that "2nd dinner" I always needed when nursing!

Meerataila

calories are what make you fat. it is the whole premise of how MFP works.
I was vegan and semi-raw vegan at my fattest.
you might not get colon cancer but you can get fat on any type of calories.
there were obese people before refined sugar was ever invented. before ovens were invented too probably.

Oh I'm absolutely certain I could get fat again on a raw food vegan diet. That is what the nut aisle is for. Also a likely place for me to pick up men, since the crazy ones always like me!

Anyway, it seems to help with appetite control. But I still count my calories.

mg1123

I gained weight back after a series of health and other issues. I was exercising and trying to eat healthy, but I was also struggling with knowing that I had food sensitivities (allergist said NOT allergies) and not able to figure out what was going on. When I learned about elimination diets, I decided to commit to going through one in order to get my food issues sorted out. For the past 6 weeks, I have followed guidelines carefully, and discovered that I have allergic symptoms to all dairy, and sensitivity to other foods.

One of the things about the diet is that you are eliminating basically all processed foods. Essentially eating "clean" without that title. That means fruits, vegetables, and protein sources like chicken, been, pork, and fish (the protein differs based on the diet you choose. Most days, I've had to really try to load up on food like meat and fruit to try to hit my minimum calories - except on days that I test the foods, like today when I was testing yellow dye by eating yellow rice throughout the day.

Next week, I'll be able to start adding back in things like eggs, but eliminating dairy from my diet will still mean eliminating most processed foods. I don't feel deprived, because I have gotten a better feel of food. I'm eating much healthier. I already know my cholesterol is in better shape from the last time I donated platelets.

Another thing that helps me stay on track is the importance of learning that dairy causes allergic symptoms. Prior to the past 6 weeks, I was having to use flonaise most every day, if not twice a day. I had pneumonia twice in the past year. Since the beginning of this diet, cutting out dairy, the only time I had to use flonaise was the day that I tested dairy itself. Since dairy causes massive amounts of phlegm, which can lead to a sinus infection, which can lead to pneumonia, I'm really hoping that I have found the cause of so much of my serious illnesses. Those illnesses led to me taking a long time to get back to being able to exercise normally, which led to serious frustration with my weight.

People have suggested eating various junk food to up the calories, but even if I discount the processed foods, I know my body enough to know that eating sugary foods tends to make me crave more sugary foods. The cravings just haven't been there the past 6 weeks, so I have no desire to make them come back.

PhiloPray

I gained weight on medication. Went from 105 to 138 in 6 months.