Does anyone have any tips or advice on EATING CLEAN???

holothuroidea

My staple foods, the foods I rely on every day, are whole foods. Rice, beans, fruits, veggies, nuts.

I still eat processed food. Snacks maybe twice a day or so, but they're not my main source of nutrition.

Unless you have or are at risk for medical conditions or nutrient deficiencies, there's really no legitimate health reason to eat "clean." And even then, you'd be avoiding specific things like sodium not something as vague as "dirty food."

I see a lot of healthy people here that have ready-made foods for breakfast, lunch and dinner. They still loose weight, they're still fit.

There are some pretty convincing ethical reasons to avoid foods that are the product of the agriculture industry, but this isn't the forum for those issues.

dym123

Actually I don't eat "clean" to lose weight, I was losing weight doing the whole calorie deficit thing before I decided to clean up my eating. Reading about all the chemicals and artificial things that are put into foods had me a little concerned and though I am not 100%, I can tell there is a definite change in my well-being, I have more energy, my skin cleared up and my pre-menopausal symptoms have subsided. I don't judge people who chose to eat whatever they want, so please don't feel you have the right to tell me what I am doing is "silly". I believe that the quality of calories are just as important, if not more important than quantity.

There may not be science behind it, but I know for ME, I am better for it.

alexveksler

I have been on a clean food diet for several week and found that best to do what others already said: bulk prepare your foods.

I pre-wash and dry my base foods. I use deep part of my kitchen sink to mix all of my foods. You are welcome to see the list in my food diary, but most of them are high-density phytochemicals. I store it in large container and when ready to eat, only add "wet" foods (cucumbers, mushrooms, tomatoes, avocados, cilantro, parsley, and fruits)

It takes me an hour to prepare my foods and I don't have to do anything for the next 5 days, but eat them.

katy_trail

wash your produce and it will be clean.

JeneticTraining

Well, I assume you mean eating whole foods. Invest in vegetables - frozen and fresh. Carrots, spinach, kale, broccoli, etc. Avoid highly processed foods - read the ingredients and nutrition facts. Take your time shopping - I tend to spend an hour comparing products. Do a lot of research. Prep your foods on Sundays or whichever day you have free. I love chocolate, I buy 80%+ cacao. I eat 1-2 pieces every other day - it satisfies me. I have more tips/advice if you'd like.

WendyTerry420

If it spoils, put it in. If it has a shelf life of anything more than a week, pass.

So true!!!!

Not true. That would mean that you can't eat anything that's been canned or frozen. You would be pretty nutrient-deprived in the winter doing that. Also, many people grow their own food and preserve them. There's absulutely nothing unhealthy about it. And what about buying meat in bulk and freezing it?

CoachReddy

If it spoils, put it in. If it has a shelf life of anything more than a week, pass.

So true!!!!

Not true. That would mean that you can't eat anything that's been canned or frozen. You would be pretty nutrient-deprived in the winter doing that. Also, many people grow their own food and preserve them. There's absulutely nothing unhealthy about it. And what about buying meat in bulk and freezing it?

If you put frozen veggies on the shelf they will spoil.

jimmmer

The whole idea of a "clean" food makes no sense. Only calories and macros make any difference for weight loss/gain.

The whole idea of clean eating is a fitness industry exercise in make-believe.

Hopefully it'll go the way of other gems such as "fat makes you fat" and die a quick painless death.....

nope. and nope.

and if it makes no sense, you might wanna rethink your reasoning skills.

eat nutritious whole foods instead of processed pre-packaged foods. yeah man that's crazy.

Alright tighten up the categories of 'clean' and 'unclean' for me. Show the properties of an item that it must/must not possess to be included in these categories. Then show me how these properties are intrinsically bad/good for me.

Then you will have shown your reasoning to me. Perhaps you will help me to 'make sense' of it....

As others have pointed out, humans have been making preserves, pickles, Chutneys, smoked meats, cured meats, cheeses, curds, etc, etc...... these are all processes carried out on raw materials. These foods are all 'processed' in some manner to allow them to be stored for lean times and cold seasons.

If your food colourant or preservative in a pre-packaged item is derrived from a beetle's shell or rainforrest plant is it more 'natural' and acceptable than then same substance made in a lab which has the same chemical composition?

I think you'll find my reasoning skills capable of picking apart nebulous and foggy concepts, thank you very much.......

RunHardBeStrong

Thanks for all the great advice!!! A couple more questions...
What do you think about red meats?
Frozen Veggies?

I use them all the time. Most frozen veggies actually have more nutrients than fresh. I don't get too hung up on it. Just try to keep boxed/processed items to a minimum.

estrong84

I'm hoping the notion that "only carlories and macros matter" dies a quick and painless death.

I certainly agree that for most Americans, weight loss should be their number one priority in terms of improving their health. To do that, calories and macros are key.

For people whose dietary amibitions have graduated from weight loss to overall health, there's certainly a lot more to it than calories and macros. You can hit your calorie / macro goals by eating turkey and cheese sandwiches all day every day, but vital nutrients required to fight infection, improve immune function, sustain brain function, improve bone density, fight chronic illness, improve digestion, and much more would be seriously lacking.

It's analogous to learning to play a sport. Start with the basics: passing, catching, blocking, basic play mechanics. Once you've reached a certain level of comfort and competence, if you want to be great, you add-in some of the advanced skills (without forgetting the basics).

zillah73

bump

AnJulNZ

I avoid overly processed food where possible. The purpose of food is to fuel my body, not to fill it up with chemicals and additives and who knows what else. I don't look at it as eating clean, I look at it as eating healthy. I don't want my kids filling up on artificial crap.

I'm really lucky because we have a huge vege garden, and the long hot summer we have just had made it go crazy - our freezer is packed chockablock of veges. We also have our own chooks, so a ready supply of delicious 100% free range eggs. It also saves a lot of money at the supermarket. We try to shop at the local farmers market for meat, and we find it tastes so much better than what you get at the supermarket (seems to be less fatty as well). I also cook all of our meals at home. We go out for dinner or lunch once in a while, but not often.

I tend to not buy biscuits/cake/etc, because I love to bake so there is always a ready supply of goodies in the pantry (I think this is my biggest downfall because I love to eat it too).

In saying all of this, I do still buy stuff from the middle of the supermarket which has been processed but I try to be careful with reading the label.

CoachReddy

I'm hoping the notion that "only carlories and macros matter" dies a quick and painless death.

I certainly agree that for most Americans, weight loss should be their number one priority in terms of improving their health. To do that, calories and macros are key.

For people whose dietary amibitions have graduated from weight loss to overall health, there's certainly a lot more to it than calories and macros. You can hit your calorie / macro goals by eating turkey and cheese sandwiches all day every day, but vital nutrients required to fight infection, improve immune function, sustain brain function, improve bone density, fight chronic illness, improve digestion, and much more would be seriously lacking.

It's analogous to learning to play a sport. Start with the basics: passing, catching, blocking, basic play mechanics. Once you've reached a certain level of comfort and competence, if you want to be great, you add-in some of the advanced skills (without forgetting the basics).

:drinker: this. So much.

endoftheside

I try to build my meals around protein and low-carb veggies. When I do this, the quality of my meals increases dramatically. Instead of making nachos based around massive quantities of chips, I would make spicy grass-fed ground beef with a large salad and guacamole, and maybe crunch a few chips on top. Instead of mounds of spaghetti, mounds of spaghetti squash. It's letting the nutritious stuff in, so it naturally crowds out the junk to a certain extent (not completely, I decided when I started this that nothing is absolutely off limits because that just makes me crave-zy ). For ease, batch cooking and the crock pot are the most-used tools I have, that and easy meaty salads.

jimmmer

I'm hoping the notion that "only carlories and macros matter" dies a quick and painless death.

I certainly agree that for most Americans, weight loss should be their number one priority in terms of improving their health. To do that, calories and macros are key.

For people whose dietary amibitions have graduated from weight loss to overall health, there's certainly a lot more to it than calories and macros. You can hit your calorie / macro goals by eating turkey and cheese sandwiches all day every day, but vital nutrients required to fight infection, improve immune function, sustain brain function, improve bone density, fight chronic illness, improve digestion, and much more would be seriously lacking.

It's analogous to learning to play a sport. Start with the basics: passing, catching, blocking, basic play mechanics. Once you've reached a certain level of comfort and competence, if you want to be great, you add-in some of the advanced skills (without forgetting the basics).

:drinker: this. So much.

But the micros you are talking about can be had from processed foods too. I'm not saying don't get your daily allowance of vitamins and minerals, just that if you got them all from processed foods your body wouldn't know the difference. You're imbibing chemicals with good or bad properties based on what foodstuff they came out of. Calcium from ice cream is the same as calcium from a vitamin tablet or a slice of Cheddar. Your body can't tell the difference because every calcium atom is identical on a sub-atomic level regardless of it's source.

Plus, still waiting for a response about my reasoning skills......

CoachReddy

I'm hoping the notion that "only carlories and macros matter" dies a quick and painless death.

I certainly agree that for most Americans, weight loss should be their number one priority in terms of improving their health. To do that, calories and macros are key.

For people whose dietary amibitions have graduated from weight loss to overall health, there's certainly a lot more to it than calories and macros. You can hit your calorie / macro goals by eating turkey and cheese sandwiches all day every day, but vital nutrients required to fight infection, improve immune function, sustain brain function, improve bone density, fight chronic illness, improve digestion, and much more would be seriously lacking.

It's analogous to learning to play a sport. Start with the basics: passing, catching, blocking, basic play mechanics. Once you've reached a certain level of comfort and competence, if you want to be great, you add-in some of the advanced skills (without forgetting the basics).

:drinker: this. So much.

But the micros you are talking about can be had from processed foods too. I'm not saying don't get your daily allowance of vitamins and minerals, just that if you got them all from processed foods your body wouldn't know the difference. You're imbibing chemicals with good or bad properties based on what foodstuff they came out of. Calcium from ice cream is the same as calcium from a vitamin tablet or a slice of Cheddar. Your body can't tell the difference because every calcium atom is identical on a sub-atomic level regardless of it's source.

Plus, still waiting for a response about my reasoning skills......

I know, and ill oblige when im no longer on a tablet. Hard to type longwinded explanations.

Feisty_Red

I always shower while eating..

Jxnsmma

Alright tighten up the categories of 'clean' and 'unclean' for me. Show the properties of an item that it must/must not possess to be included in these categories. Then show me how these properties are intrinsically bad/good for me.

Then you will have shown your reasoning to me. Perhaps you will help me to 'make sense' of it....

As others have pointed out, humans have been making preserves, pickles, Chutneys, smoked meats, cured meats, cheeses, curds, etc, etc...... these are all processes carried out on raw materials. These foods are all 'processed' in some manner to allow them to be stored for lean times and cold seasons.

If your food colourant or preservative in a pre-packaged item is derrived from a beetle's shell or rainforrest plant is it more 'natural' and acceptable than then same substance made in a lab which has the same chemical composition?

I think you'll find my reasoning skills capable of picking apart nebulous and foggy concepts, thank you very much.......

If you and I ever end up trapped together on a desert island with 100 cases of kraft dinner and an unlimited supply of fresh meats, fruits and vegetables, you can have my share of the kraft dinner and we'll see in a year who has what vitamin and mineral deficiencies and who still has all their teeth.....
:flowerforyou:

holothuroidea

Alright tighten up the categories of 'clean' and 'unclean' for me. Show the properties of an item that it must/must not possess to be included in these categories. Then show me how these properties are intrinsically bad/good for me.

Then you will have shown your reasoning to me. Perhaps you will help me to 'make sense' of it....

As others have pointed out, humans have been making preserves, pickles, Chutneys, smoked meats, cured meats, cheeses, curds, etc, etc...... these are all processes carried out on raw materials. These foods are all 'processed' in some manner to allow them to be stored for lean times and cold seasons.

If your food colourant or preservative in a pre-packaged item is derrived from a beetle's shell or rainforrest plant is it more 'natural' and acceptable than then same substance made in a lab which has the same chemical composition?

I think you'll find my reasoning skills capable of picking apart nebulous and foggy concepts, thank you very much.......

If you and I ever end up trapped together on a desert island with 100 cases of kraft dinner and an unlimited supply of fresh meats, fruits and vegetables, you can have my share of the kraft dinner and we'll see in a year who has what vitamin and mineral deficiencies and who still has all their teeth.....
:flowerforyou:

Nope. You gave the choice of one food versus a variety of food. Your analogy doesn't work.

If you gave me the option of only lean meat vs. only mac and cheese, I'd choose the mac and cheese and live longer than you.

jimmmer

Alright tighten up the categories of 'clean' and 'unclean' for me. Show the properties of an item that it must/must not possess to be included in these categories. Then show me how these properties are intrinsically bad/good for me.

Then you will have shown your reasoning to me. Perhaps you will help me to 'make sense' of it....

As others have pointed out, humans have been making preserves, pickles, Chutneys, smoked meats, cured meats, cheeses, curds, etc, etc...... these are all processes carried out on raw materials. These foods are all 'processed' in some manner to allow them to be stored for lean times and cold seasons.

If your food colourant or preservative in a pre-packaged item is derrived from a beetle's shell or rainforrest plant is it more 'natural' and acceptable than then same substance made in a lab which has the same chemical composition?

I think you'll find my reasoning skills capable of picking apart nebulous and foggy concepts, thank you very much.......

If you and I ever end up trapped together on a desert island with 100 cases of kraft dinner and an unlimited supply of fresh meats, fruits and vegetables, you can have my share of the kraft dinner and we'll see in a year who has what vitamin and mineral deficiencies and who still has all their teeth.....
:flowerforyou:

Does the Kraft dinner selection have the same amounts of macros/micros/calories as the food supply you're eating? If it does, then you will/will not suffer the same deficiencies as me. If not then it's not really a comparison.....