Confessions of a recovering clean eater

eric_sg61
eric_sg61 Posts: 2,925 Member
Sorry if repost
http://networkedblogs.com/TholQ

Cliffs:
Former clean eater discovers IIFYM, Flexible Dieting
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Replies

  • kdiamond
    kdiamond Posts: 3,329 Member
    I like this quote from the article - Obviously “clean eating” wasn’t killing me, but it was killing my relationships with people and my passion for life.

    ITA with this. I aim to eat healthy most of the time, but I have something processed or unnatural every single day, and I have been the same weight give or take a few pounds I purposely put on, for 9+ years now. In fact, my fitness level is higher today in my 30's than in my 20's when I was the same weight, and I eat IIFYM now. Back then I believed the craze that is clean eating. I still have friends like that now, and while I know why they are doing it (they don't know better), it definitely hinders our fun.

    They can't seem to figure out how I maintain my fitness level/weight when I go out drinking beer every weekend. :)
  • IIFYM is awesome! May not be everyone's cup of tea but I like it. One can only eat so many meals of chicken, broccoli and brown rice lol
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 9,808 Member
    I consider IIFYM to be a clean diet. And based on her physic it's pretty easy to agree that she isn't clean.:smile:
  • neanderthin I am wondering what you meant by {she isn't clean :)" ?
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 9,808 Member
    Sarcasm....lol. Your looking awesome .
  • murphy612
    murphy612 Posts: 734 Member
    If your goal is weight loss then IIFYM is just as good as eating clean. If your goal is health and nutrition then it's completely different.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 9,808 Member
    If your goal is weight loss then IIFYM is just as good as eating clean. If your goal is health and nutrition then it's completely different.
    It's possible your not quite familiar with IIFYM?
  • twixlepennie
    twixlepennie Posts: 1,074 Member
    If your goal is weight loss then IIFYM is just as good as eating clean. If your goal is health and nutrition then it's completely different.

    No, not really.
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
    Sorry if repost
    http://networkedblogs.com/TholQ

    Cliffs:
    Former clean eater discovers IIFYM, Flexible Dieting

    Someone who has seen the light! :drinker:
  • murphy612
    murphy612 Posts: 734 Member
    If your goal is weight loss then IIFYM is just as good as eating clean. If your goal is health and nutrition then it's completely different.
    It's possible your not quite familiar with IIFYM?

    Educate me then? Everything I've seen and read on here is eat anything you want if it fits in your Protein, Carb, Fat macros or some people think it means just as long as you don't go over your calories. Or I hear a calorie is a calorie is a calorie, it doesn't matter what it is.

    How can eating clean and IIFYM be the same nutritionally? A Big Mac from McDonalds might fit your macros but nutritionally it's no where near the same nutritional value of the same amount of calories of vegetables, fruits and whole foods. Am I thinking too simple?

    ***no hostility going on here, I'm just learning***
  • msf74
    msf74 Posts: 3,498 Member
    I liked that article.

    Open minded, accepting of other views but putting forward the polite suggestion there may be other ways that can work just as well if not better.

    Bravo.
  • twixlepennie
    twixlepennie Posts: 1,074 Member
    If your goal is weight loss then IIFYM is just as good as eating clean. If your goal is health and nutrition then it's completely different.
    It's possible your not quite familiar with IIFYM?

    Educate me then? Everything I've seen and read on here is eat anything you want if it fits in your Protein, Carb, Fat macros or some people think it means just as long as you don't go over your calories. Or I hear a calorie is a calorie is a calorie, it doesn't matter what it is.

    How can eating clean and IIFYM be the same nutritionally? A Big Mac from McDonalds might fit your macros but nutritionally it's no where near the same nutritional value of the same amount of calories of vegetables, fruits and whole foods. Am I thinking too simple?

    ***no hostility going on here, I'm just learning***

    Here's a great place to start, for more info-
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/822501-halp-my-sandwich-isn-t-clean

    and-

    http://evidencemag.com/clean-eating-iifym/

    and

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/research-review/hormonal-responses-to-a-fast-food-meal-compared-with-nutritionally-comparable-meals-of-different-composition-research-review.html
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 9,808 Member
    If your goal is weight loss then IIFYM is just as good as eating clean. If your goal is health and nutrition then it's completely different.
    It's possible your not quite familiar with IIFYM?

    Educate me then? Everything I've seen and read on here is eat anything you want if it fits in your Protein, Carb, Fat macros or some people think it means just as long as you don't go over your calories. Or I hear a calorie is a calorie is a calorie, it doesn't matter what it is.

    How can eating clean and IIFYM be the same nutritionally? A Big Mac from McDonalds might fit your macros but nutritionally it's no where near the same nutritional value of the same amount of calories of vegetables, fruits and whole foods. Am I thinking too simple?

    ***no hostility going on here, I'm just learning***
    Fair enough. IIFYM is basically a philosophy that says you don't have to 100% clean all the time and some discretionary calories can be consumed. If a person hits their macro and micro goals it would dictate that most of the foods they choose where whole and minimally processed from the get go. But eating clean 100% of the time is extremely difficult especially considering there is no clear definition of the word, and having ice cream or Mc Donalds in an otherwise clean diet is not going to slow down someones progress or limit their nutrients....all food has nutrients. We could say that grain is a wastew of calories considering vegetables and fruit on a calorie for calorie basis are up to 100 times more nutrient dense.......shouild we not eat grains? Also don't confuse IIFYM with the website IIFYM.......it's not the same thing.
  • murphy612
    murphy612 Posts: 734 Member
    If your goal is weight loss then IIFYM is just as good as eating clean. If your goal is health and nutrition then it's completely different.
    It's possible your not quite familiar with IIFYM?

    Educate me then? Everything I've seen and read on here is eat anything you want if it fits in your Protein, Carb, Fat macros or some people think it means just as long as you don't go over your calories. Or I hear a calorie is a calorie is a calorie, it doesn't matter what it is.

    How can eating clean and IIFYM be the same nutritionally? A Big Mac from McDonalds might fit your macros but nutritionally it's no where near the same nutritional value of the same amount of calories of vegetables, fruits and whole foods. Am I thinking too simple?

    ***no hostility going on here, I'm just learning***
    Fair enough. IIFYM is basically a philosophy that says you don't have to 100% clean all the time and some discretionary calories can be consumed. If a person hits their macro and micro goals it would dictate that most of the foods they choose where whole and minimally processed from the get go. But eating clean 100% of the time is extremely difficult especially considering there is no clear definition of the word, and having ice cream or Mc Donalds in an otherwise clean diet is not going to slow down someones progress or limit their nutrients....all food has nutrients. We could say that grain is a wastew of calories considering vegetables and fruit on a calorie for calorie basis are up to 100 times more nutrient dense.......shouild we not eat grains? Also don't confuse IIFYM with the website IIFYM.......it's not the same thing.

    Excellent, thank you. We are both really on the same page you know? It's just both the 'clean eaters' and 'IIFYM' can take it to an extreme that isn't really necessary. Just like religion I guess :wink: Your definition sounds like a very healthy way to eat/live, but some of the other definitions I've seen have not sounded healthy at all.

    Thanks!
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
    This was a great read, and I love that it's not condescending like some people can be when talking about IIFYM. I think something written like this is far more likely to reach people because it's not aggressive.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 9,808 Member
    If your goal is weight loss then IIFYM is just as good as eating clean. If your goal is health and nutrition then it's completely different.
    It's possible your not quite familiar with IIFYM?

    Educate me then? Everything I've seen and read on here is eat anything you want if it fits in your Protein, Carb, Fat macros or some people think it means just as long as you don't go over your calories. Or I hear a calorie is a calorie is a calorie, it doesn't matter what it is.

    How can eating clean and IIFYM be the same nutritionally? A Big Mac from McDonalds might fit your macros but nutritionally it's no where near the same nutritional value of the same amount of calories of vegetables, fruits and whole foods. Am I thinking too simple?

    ***no hostility going on here, I'm just learning***
    Fair enough. IIFYM is basically a philosophy that says you don't have to 100% clean all the time and some discretionary calories can be consumed. If a person hits their macro and micro goals it would dictate that most of the foods they choose where whole and minimally processed from the get go. But eating clean 100% of the time is extremely difficult especially considering there is no clear definition of the word, and having ice cream or Mc Donalds in an otherwise clean diet is not going to slow down someones progress or limit their nutrients....all food has nutrients. We could say that grain is a wastew of calories considering vegetables and fruit on a calorie for calorie basis are up to 100 times more nutrient dense.......shouild we not eat grains? Also don't confuse IIFYM with the website IIFYM.......it's not the same thing.

    Excellent, thank you. We are both really on the same page you know? It's just both the 'clean eaters' and 'IIFYM' can take it to an extreme that isn't really necessary. Just like religion I guess :wink: Your definition sounds like a very healthy way to eat/live, but some of the other definitions I've seen have not sounded healthy at all.

    Thanks!
    Well there certainly are some people that believe IIFYM means you can eat "junk" food all the time, anytime, but I believe the majority here understand what it means and are mostly trying to put emphasis on it to make a point.....that happens a lot and can lead to some confusion.
  • vjohn04
    vjohn04 Posts: 2,276 Member
    Good blog. Nice read.

    Thanks for posting.
  • .
  • JakeMcl2013
    JakeMcl2013 Posts: 19 Member
    I do think that people don't have to eat "clean" all the time, I eat only an abundance of fruits and veggies, and sometimes I can have something other than that on reward day. IIFYM is a great thing for some people, only if they do it right. People have been using IIFYM as an excuse to eat tons of nutritionally deficient foods, and thus, most people are doing IIFYM "wrong", in my opinion, IIFYM is only a stable diet for bodybuilders. Also clean eating doesn't have to be boring, and that's why most people switch to IIFYM. If somebody wants to partake in IIFYM, the right way to do it is by eating a paleolithic diet, not the modern american diet. Don't hate on me, this is just my opinion, and if anyone doesn't accept it, just move on.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 9,808 Member
    I do think that people don't have to eat "clean" all the time, I eat only an abundance of fruits and veggies, and sometimes I can have something other than that on reward day. IIFYM is a great thing for some people, only if they do it right. People have been using IIFYM as an excuse to eat tons of nutritionally deficient foods, and thus, most people are doing IIFYM "wrong", in my opinion, IIFYM is only a stable diet for bodybuilders. Also clean eating doesn't have to be boring, and that's why most people switch to IIFYM. If somebody wants to partake in IIFYM, the right way to do it is by eating a paleolithic diet, not the modern american diet. Don't hate on me, this is just my opinion, and if anyone doesn't accept it, just move on.
    Well, your opinion is wrong and just accept it. :wink: