Whole Food Diet

sarbwah
sarbwah Posts: 7
in Food and Nutrition
Hi folks,

First time posting here for me, I've been using the app for ages and it has worked great for my hubby and I!

We haven't actually been tracking for a few months now, we hit our weight loss goals and then a friend - nutritionist, competitive marathon runner - started up a business offering nutrition/running coaching and offered me free service as a trial client, which I was obviously very happy to take her up on! She prescribes a whole food diet, so moving away from processed foods and eating foods in as close to their natural state as possible, while also combining foods to help get max benefit from what we eat. Her reasoning (based on her education/experience as a nutritionist) is that when a food is whole, our body will know what it is and how best to utilize it, but processed foods often don't even register as a food item in the same way, and therefore parts of the processed products will be stored because the body doesn't know what to do with it. Not to mention the inflammatory and other adverse responses triggered by these products.

Prior to her coaching, we had counted calories and worked hard to keep sugars etc down but we did eat a fair amount of processed foods, i.e. fat free yogurts and whatnot. It clearly worked for us because we lost 120 lbs between the two of us, but when I switched to the whole food diet, I felt great in new ways.

I am now back to tracking my foods in the app, but I am trying to keep my diet as clean and whole as I can.I looked through some of the recipes today on here and on spark people and there are a lot of processed products being used to keep calories/fat down. Not that I judge, to each their own and it did work for me, but I'm just wondering if anyone else on here is following a whole food diet while losing weight? Experiences/thoughts?

Replies

  • Cheri1218
    Cheri1218 Posts: 268 Member
    I'm interested in people's thoughts too because this is something I'd like to start.
  • SuffolkSally
    SuffolkSally Posts: 964 Member
    I'm not a 100% - but I agree with it in principle. Although my principles are more about liking good food and needing to get enough fibre from dietary sources! But I think it tends to come to the same thing really. I certainly steer away from processed products marketed at dieters. I do have chocolate and salty processed snacks and I think if I had to give them up I wouldn't be able to still with the programme. And I have 2% fat milk and use reduced fat creme fraiche.

    Interesting to read your story. How strict were you? What was hardest to give up?
  • amanda_ataraxia
    amanda_ataraxia Posts: 400 Member
    A sure fire way to keep things,"whole," and low calorie is to eliminate animal products. There are some awesome vegan cookbooks out there that follow a,"whole foods," concept but keep the dishes low calorie and low fat.
    My two favorite are Appetite For Reduction and Happy Herbivore.
    Another very popular option is The Engine 2 Diet.
  • tebcolorado
    tebcolorado Posts: 50
    I'm a clean eater. I eat mostly a Paleo type diet and all my fruits/veggies are organic. I do eat some carbs but they have to be good sources and I limit them...no whites or processed carbs at all. I have been under the nutrition guidance of my all natural chiropractor and he says the same things that the more pure the food is the easier your body can digest it. It really does make me feel better and less toxic when I eat clean...so it's motivating for me to make those choices at meal time.
  • ceannesjourney
    ceannesjourney Posts: 250
    I have been mostly following what I call a "clean" diet...the same thing you describe as whole foods. I think it's great and agree with you 100%. The body just feels better and works better with real food.
  • wheezybreezy
    wheezybreezy Posts: 313 Member
    The Eat Clean Diet by Tosca Reno (sp?) is a pretty popular resource. She has several cookbooks and a Clean Eating Magazine.
  • TubbsMcGee
    TubbsMcGee Posts: 1,058 Member
    Me :)

    I'm a clean-eating freak/ whole foods enthusiast.

    I'm gradually getting my boyfriend to switch out his processed frozen pizzas for full-fat Greek yogurt parfaits and sandwiches prepared with all natural ingredients.

    If you need some motivation, check out the movies Food Inc., Fast Food Nation, Forks Over Knives, and Fat Sick & Nearly Dead.

    I also like to follow the Dirty Dozen rules and stick to mainly organic fruits/veggies.

    Once you get the hang of it, it's pretty simple to follow -- and once you're totally sucked into that mentality, you'll find you don't really have to track everything as much. Now if I eat processed crap foods, I feel incredibly sick.
  • TubbsMcGee
    TubbsMcGee Posts: 1,058 Member
    The Eat Clean Diet by Tosca Reno (sp?) is a pretty popular resource. She has several cookbooks and a Clean Eating Magazine.

    Definitely agree with this!!

    Clean Eating magazine is also amazing for monthly tips and motivation.
  • teelynn35
    teelynn35 Posts: 239 Member
    The Eat Clean Diet by Tosca Reno (sp?) is a pretty popular resource. She has several cookbooks and a Clean Eating Magazine.

    I have several of her books. I'm just having no luck at all with my willpower. I LOVE junk food, and I'm a pasta and bread *kitten*. Although I am eating way more veggies than I ever have
  • cmeade20
    cmeade20 Posts: 1,238 Member
    I also don't follow it 100 percent but try to am for 80-90 percent of the time. Some recipe sites I use are Thegraciouspantry.com, cleaneatingmag.com, familyfreshcooking.com and outoftheboxfood.com.
  • payupalice
    payupalice Posts: 126 Member
    Check out the Eat to Live folks: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/2061-eating-to-live
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    I must say I don't buy the idea that our bodies can't or don't recognized processed food as food. But I do believe that eating whole foods is a good idea. But probably only about 1/2 of my diet is "clean" by the strictest meaning.

    But, I eat a healthy diet.
  • SuffolkSally
    SuffolkSally Posts: 964 Member
    OP - I'm interested in waht your regime consists of? As in - what's meant by whole foods?

    I might have to revise my first post in the light of later comments!

    I certainly eat pasta, bread, etc. Which might make me a LOT less than 100%!
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
    Her reasoning (based on her education/experience as a nutritionist) is that when a food is whole, our body will know what it is and how best to utilize it, but processed foods often don't even register as a food item in the same way, and therefore parts of the processed products will be stored because the body doesn't know what to do with it. Not to mention the inflammatory and other adverse responses triggered by these products.

    Too bad her reasoning is not based in this reality. While I agree eating mostly whole, nutrient dense foods is the way to go, processed foods =/= "unhealthy" nor are they uniquely lipogenic
  • drmerc
    drmerc Posts: 2,603 Member
    The idea that your body does not know what to do with foods that are not "whole" is laughable at best. This does not even pass the most basic sniff test.
    Also why would your body store items it does not know what to do with?
  • Reinventing_Me
    Reinventing_Me Posts: 1,053 Member
    I try to eat as clean as I possible can on most days. I slacked off for awhile and immediately felt the difference - sluggish, tired, constipated, just plain ol' blah. I even started noticing a slight acne flare-up. I use a lot of the recipes from SkinnyTaste.com. They are family friendly and the blogger limits processed/artifical foods, sweeteners, etc. My family rarely asks for junk anymore and when they do have something they tend to suffer the gastro-intestinal consequences.
  • ErinRibbens
    ErinRibbens Posts: 370 Member
    I absolutely agree with eating whole foods, I feel so much better when I do. I'm definitely not 100% though. I love the book "Nourishing Traditions" and by the same authors, "Eat Fat to Lose Fat", and also have got many good recipes from the blog, 100daysofrealfood.com
  • sarbwah
    sarbwah Posts: 7
    OP - I'm interested in waht your regime consists of? As in - what's meant by whole foods?

    I might have to revise my first post in the light of later comments!

    I certainly eat pasta, bread, etc. Which might make me a LOT less than 100%!

    When I am really sticking to it, I try hard to make everything from scratch, using no processed products. There are exceptions: when I make bread I use whole grain flours and I add vital wheat gluten to help lighten it so my uber picky toddler will eat it, and I do eat yogurt but I go for as natural and minimally processed as I can get. And we try to make sure that each meal is complete, i.e. if we're having veggies for a snack, we'll have them with some homemade hummus so that the fats in the hummus can help absorb the goodness of the veggies, etc. Does that make sense?

    It's nice to connect with like minded folks.
  • SuffolkSally
    SuffolkSally Posts: 964 Member
    Thanks for that! I'll do some googling. Otherwise you'll spend time explaining unnecessarily.... I think I eat pretty well overall, but it's always interesting to read about something you haven't come across before :)
  • annew1952
    annew1952 Posts: 77 Member
    Hi sarbwah: I have just started the whole foods thing myself. for the past few weeks. I don't
    know a lot about it because i was almost forced into due to intestinal issues. But I do feel better
    and I am currently waiting for results on possible celiacs disease. I want to learn more about
    it and get myself a gluten free cookbook. I dropped weight a lot faster eating clean.

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