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

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Replies

  • spamantha57
    spamantha57 Posts: 674 Member
    I was more or less stuck in bed for about 2&1/2 years. That's how I got fat. :p Continuing to eat better for my body is what got me out, & being able to exercise again is what is making me lose weight.
    Everyone is different.
  • angel5561
    angel5561 Posts: 142 Member
    It wasn't easy at first but for some people it gets easier as it becomes a part of your new lifestyle . Thats not to say there won't be days or times where you want to eat something not so good for you. I don't eat clean per say just try and make healthier choices eat more fruits n veggies get more protein and keep my sodium low. Also I think you adjust to eating less calories . When I eat healthier filling foods like protein healthy fats and loads of veggies I do feel fuller then when I was shoving my face full of cake that made my blood sugar go crazy and caused me to probably crave more junk. Processed foods are full of crap that make you want to eat more crap. When you give your body the right nutrition you start to feel more balanced and have less cravings after a while at least I do anyway.
  • Gwennie9476
    Gwennie9476 Posts: 45 Member
    Great post, not that I am the first to say that, but it is! I got fat because I was a gold member of the clean plate club from the time I could remember. When I was little, you didn't leave food on your plate and my mom was a very very good southern cook who loved to fry things and make biscuits and loads of rice and gravy and oh my! on and on and on.

    I was never told I couldn't have anything. My mom wanted me and my 3 siblings well fed and she did it wonderfully...maybe a bit too much so. When I grew up things didn't change much until I hit 365 on my 5'4" frame after my first child. I lost 150 pounds in one year and I have done this twice more since then and am doing it again as well. I guess I love losing that weight over and over again.

    However, it is the taste of it and sometimes the nostalgia from it. Some things remind me of my mom and I love her and miss her. I still and ALWAYS will incorporate one day a week where I can have anything I want for one meal. I will never cut that out because if I do then this will NEVER work for me. Eating clean and healthy is find and dandy and I am totally happy with my food and the choices I make. Food made me fat because I tend to overeat and food will make me thin again...it is all in the relationship you choose to have with it in the end.
  • ccam99
    ccam99 Posts: 119 Member
    I read your question differently than most. You ask. "If your relationship with food is so healthy, how did you get fat in the first place?"

    I would answer that most people who are over weight did not have a healthy relationship with food at the time (i.e. they ate too much processed food, high fat, high sugar, etc.). They have a healthy relationship with food now because they learned how to eat "clean" as it's called. In my mind, eating clean means eating as close to nature as possible. Fruits, vegetables, protein from meats, etc. Try to stay away from excess sugars, processed foods, etc. I lived for my southern sweet tea and still have quite the sweet tooth but I gave up my tea last year for plain tea or water with lemon. I do on rare occasions have something sweet to drink. I have slowly changed to eating more fruit and vegetables in lieu of junk food. You can't live life by depriving yourself but you learn to eat these treats much, much less. Try switching a few items for healthier choices, maybe starting with your lunch and after a while it becomes what you prefer to eat over any junk food. So, people started out overweight due to their bad choices and ended up enjoying eating more nutritious food and in the process lost weight. Good luck on any changes you decide to make.
  • agymah
    agymah Posts: 2
    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
  • 6ftamazon
    6ftamazon Posts: 340 Member
    Well I think most people they didn't know what healthy eating means in the first place. Or a lot of people just didn't care. And then there's the people who think they're eating healthy and they're not. Not to mention you can eat healthy foods and still get fat...there's a plethora of reasons why someone can get fat and it's not always because they ate too much mcdonalds.

    Now as for how I gained the weight, I was in an abusive relationship where the guy actually held me down and shoved food down my throat. I'm sure that could even be the case for others too.
  • eric_sg61
    eric_sg61 Posts: 2,925 Member
    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
    I eat starches with fat all the time. Research more and post less.
  • 6ftamazon
    6ftamazon Posts: 340 Member
    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

    As a diabetic I find this completely ignorant, wrong, and biologically inaccurate. Please do some research before you sprout these claims.
  • brittaney0625
    brittaney0625 Posts: 268 Member
    i'm sure what they mean to say is "since i've decided to commit to being healthy, it has been easy"

    before, they ate what they wanted and didn't care, now that they made the commitment to being healthy, they realized how easy it is for them.... i am NOT one of those people, it is a struggle for me, but that's just my two cents.



    Amen!! I am one of those people.

    Becoming healthy and fit is a mind set.. If you can get the right mind set you can do anything.
  • FoxyLifter
    FoxyLifter Posts: 965 Member
    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.
  • brittaney0625
    brittaney0625 Posts: 268 Member
    I read your question differently than most. You ask. "If your relationship with food is so healthy, how did you get fat in the first place?"

    I would answer that most people who are over weight did not have a healthy relationship with food at the time (i.e. they ate too much processed food, high fat, high sugar, etc.). They have a healthy relationship with food now because they learned how to eat "clean" as it's called. In my mind, eating clean means eating as close to nature as possible. Fruits, vegetables, protein from meats, etc. Try to stay away from excess sugars, processed foods, etc. I lived for my southern sweet tea and still have quite the sweet tooth but I gave up my tea last year for plain tea or water with lemon. I do on rare occasions have something sweet to drink. I have slowly changed to eating more fruit and vegetables in lieu of junk food. You can't live life by depriving yourself but you learn to eat these treats much, much less. Try switching a few items for healthier choices, maybe starting with your lunch and after a while it becomes what you prefer to eat over any junk food. So, people started out overweight due to their bad choices and ended up enjoying eating more nutritious food and in the process lost weight. Good luck on any changes you decide to make.

    Yep.
  • cuckoo_jenibeth
    cuckoo_jenibeth Posts: 1,434 Member
    On the same note, I also don't understand the "I struggle so hard to reach 1200 calories!" people.

    Really?
    ^^^^This!!
  • SquishyLaughter
    SquishyLaughter Posts: 124 Member
    Right now, I am struggling to reach 1200 calories.

    The only things I changed is that I no longer drink soda, and I don't snack as much.

    I've realized that ALL my calories came from sodas and snacking. I only ate ~800 calories a day of what I now consider "real" food.

    It is rather horrifying thinking back that I ate at LEAST 1200 calories a day of sodas and cookies and candy before I started really keeping track.
  • Meerataila
    Meerataila Posts: 1,885 Member
    The exact mechanisms of satiety are way beyond me, but there are foods that make me less hungry after I eat them and foods that make me more hungry, and I'm determined to stay away from the latter. It's working so far.

    Also, I just started eating vegan, fairly minimally processed (just some raisins, extra virgin olive oil, sesame seeds toasted in oil, and sun dried tomatoes). Then some germy human gave me a cold. My appetite has been gone for several days. But I guarantee if I were eating ice cream and cookies, I'd have no problem putting 3000 calories a day of them down, snotty nose or no snotty nose.

    Meanwhile, I'd be pretty scared to put 3000 calories of roughage down my gullet on any day. Because the next day, all that fiber is going to have to find the exit, isn't it?
  • AgentOrangeJuice
    AgentOrangeJuice Posts: 1,069 Member
    i didn't know how to eat for the longest time, but now that I've taken the time to learn how to eat nutritious whole foods, it is easy.

    The fats you eat are the fats you show. I would put cheese on everything, dip my fries in mayo. I was eating poly-saturated fats in abundance. And I wasn't active, I would sit around watching TV or playing video games.

    American restaurant marketing has us eating 16 oz of protein on a plate and only 4 oz of veggies, which should be reversed.
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member

    How did I get overweight to begin with? Bad choices. Too much unhealthy restaurant food, too much processed food, simply too much food. In the beginning of our marriage, when we were broke and just getting started, it was things like hamburger helper and cheap beef. As our income increased, it became more and more restaurant food.

    ^ I completely relate to this. Very similar situation for me, too. Grew up eating lots of restaurant food, convenience meals, etc. That was the norm to me and I didn't go to great lengths to change that. When my ex husband and I saw our incomes grow, our waistlines did too...more dinners out, more alcohol, more of everything. It just seemed "normal" to do that, at the time.

    There was a thread last week about "what did you eat before changing" and it kind of opened my eyes to the reasons and ways I became morbidly obese. Little things truly do make a difference. The amount of cheese and mayo you put on your sandwich. What is a "normal" amount of baking in your household (for me it was 3-4 times a week baking scones and cookies and other treats). I didn't eat huge portions. I didn't eat all junk. I liked and regularly ate veggies with hummus and fresh fruit for lunch. I just did not realize how many calories I was eating and until joining this website, by which time I'd lost 45 lb stabbing in the dark at "healthier eating", I had no clue if I needed to eat 500 or 3,500 cal per day...truly.

    I do not eat "clean" - I guess compared to some people I do, about 80% of the time - but not by my definition. I also do not follow Paleo or any other specific dietary philosophy.

    I am "addicted" (NOT SERIOUSLY ADDICTED) to sugar...meaning, I take huge pleasure in my square of dark chocolate every 2nd day, or scoop of ice cream once or twice a week, or banana-Nutkao homemade crepes for dinner once a month. But the majority of the time I really do think of food more as fuel, and I'd just as much like to have broccoli and tilapia for dinner tonight as a burger and fries.
  • Beer
  • joepage612
    joepage612 Posts: 179 Member
    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.
  • TerraJanuary
    TerraJanuary Posts: 5 Member
    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.
  • pinkraynedropjacki
    pinkraynedropjacki Posts: 3,027 Member
    I started eating clean recently. I got fat after eating boxes of brownies, bags of cookies, 3 sandwiches in a day, anything and everything from the frozen section, pasta (mac and cheese and those sidekick type of things), chicken fingers, cheese and crackers (not in moderation), and eating fast food almost every day.

    So eating clean made me lose weight because I'm not eating so much cr@p. 57lbs lost in 5.5 months. Yea I'll stick to eating clean.

    actually it was a calorie deficet that made you lose weight....

    sorry eating "clean" is a buzz word and will have no impact on weight loss if you don't do it in moderation too...


    :flowerforyou: Thank you for that :flowerforyou: someone was bound to say the truth sooner or later.
  • joepage612
    joepage612 Posts: 179 Member
    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
    Mykaelous Posts: 231 Member
    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
    hearthwood Posts: 794 Member
    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
    Mykaelous Posts: 231 Member
    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
    Mykaelous Posts: 231 Member
    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
    bubbly_charm2k9 Posts: 43 Member
    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 :)
    65725604.png
    Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Weight Loss Tools
  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member
    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
    supersparklies Posts: 40 Member
    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
    Meerataila Posts: 1,885 Member
    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
    mg1123 Posts: 69 Member
    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.