Confessions of a recovering clean eater

The blog is blocked at work so all I could read was the cliff notes. I went through a clean eating phase - the Macrobiotic diet, to be exact. I actually found it really easy at first, and always easy when I was at home, since I was living alone at the time. But it was too hard to maintain when eating away from home.

But, I am very glad I did it. I learned a lot about food during that time. And I made some healthy diet changes that have stuck with me through the decades since I did it.

I would encourage anyone to give sensible clean eating a try. If they stick with it, then that's great. If they find it too restrictive and relax a bit, that great too. And hopefully they will learn from it and develop new healthy habits, as I did.

Ah, there you are. Really? Wonderful. new healthy habits like what?

More whole grains, more vegetables, more olive oil, less animal fats. I tried many new foods and food combinations. I (eventually) learned to roll sushi without having sicky rice all over me and the kitchen. A more plant based diet.

that has nothing to do with this point of this thread. The point of this thread is that as long as you meet your macro needs, you can still eat other foods that fit into your calorie goals and lose weight. Please read the blog post that audii was so kind as to copy and paste in for you. 'Clean eating' isn't necessary. IIFYM is the point.

Because treats,

It had to do with the question I was asked.

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?

Definitely not the same. Processed foods have lots of chemicals and they're made to slide right down with minimal chewing (or many are), so your body barely notices them and you want more. Clean eating has made me like the processed stuff less; I swear I can taste some of the chemicals, particularly in the aftertaste. I do eat some stuff that's not healthy- mainly on the sweet side because I really like desserts. All in moderation and carefully chosen, though.

wth. I'm pretty sure my body knows when I eat something, whether its "processed" and fully of "disgusting chemicals" or not.

I'll have to read the full article later as I have to go to meeting in just a few min. But this ^^ is very different from how I would describe clean eating. What does meal timing have to do with whether a food is clean or not?? Also, how does fat or carb affect whether a food is clean? Is an avocado not clean? If this is the common definition of clean eating then it has changed greatly over the years.

I define clean food as whole unprocessed food. The more processing, the less clean. Whole grains are minimally processed so pretty clean, though not as clean as say a vegetable picked fresh from the garden. Homemade whole grain bread is less clean than whole grains. Store bought whole grain bread that has man-made food additives would be even less clean. Etc.

One of the problem with the term "clean eating" is that it has no definition,
The OP of that article had her definition, which is similar to yours, however, hers was also stricter.
While you two may not agree on what was clean, you both have the bottom line that "processed" or "packaged" food is not clean. She addresses that as well in the article. To me, that is a big part of her point.
Whether you both agree an avocado or white rice is clean or dirty doesn't really matter. For her I believe it was more in the context of bodybuilding that was fueling the "good" carb and "bad" carb thing.
The fact that she has learned that she has nothing to fear from eating a pop tart - which you both would agree wasn't classified as clean - is the bigger point.

Eating according to IIFYM does not automatically mean that one eats only " dirty " ( no matter if it's just a bit dirty or really dirty all the way ) and that it is necessary to live a happy and fulfilled life..
I understand that IIFYM means " eat whatever you want once your macros are covered ".

I LOVE the idea of IIFYM and I do eat ice cream and high calorie foods sometimes. But I probably shouldn't. I hear all the time that if you do not allow yourself to eat junk food once in a while, you will binge (or other statements to that effect). But this is me and why clean eating works for me better than IIFYM:

I'm a junk food junkie. I admit it. I can never eat just one of anything when it comes to junk food, donuts, cookies, candy, chocolate, etc. In the checkout line, I picked up a candy bar. Then I thought about all the sugar in the candy bar. I thought about all the health problems that come with being insulin resistant. I thought about how lousy being unfit feels. I thought about the probability of never seeing my daughter walk down the aisle (in about 40 years!) if I eat a little junk food. I put the candy bar back. For me, eating clean works better because for some reason, I just can't stop eating junk food once I start. :frown:

I read the whole article and I would have to say that Cliff should be fired because his notes suck.

This sounds more like a descriptions of an eating disorder than clean eating. I still say that trying sensible clean eating (eliminating most processed foods/meals) is not a bad thing. If you become obsessive about it, then it is not sensible.

I guess it's just my age but clean eating used to have a more consistent definition in my day. Whole foods. Packaging, carb or fat content, weight loss, macros, had nothing to do with it. It was about eating natural foods. The closer the food was to it's natural state the cleaner it was. Period. It was a health thing, not a weight loss thing.

Anyway, I think it sounds like that blogger had and still has food issues.

Everything in moderation eh!

Totes agree with you here - the packaging thing is a ridiculous argument but eating whole foods is definitely good. When you take it to the extreme it can cause issues, though.

I read the whole article and I would have to say that Cliff should be fired because his notes suck.

This sounds more like a descriptions of an eating disorder than clean eating. I still say that trying sensible clean eating (eliminating most processed foods/meals) is not a bad thing. If you become obsessive about it, then it is not sensible.

I guess it's just my age but clean eating used to have a more consistent definition in my day. Whole foods. Packaging, carb or fat content, weight loss, macros, had nothing to do with it. It was about eating natural foods. The closer the food was to it's natural state the cleaner it was. Period. It was a health thing, not a weight loss thing.

Anyway, I think it sounds like that blogger had and still has food issues.

Everything in moderation eh!

Totes agree with you here - the packaging thing is a ridiculous argument but eating whole foods is definitely good. When you take it to the extreme it can cause issues, though.

I didn't really mean everything in moderation by the bolded segment. I meant all that nonsense in the article about eating the same things every day and needing to eat at certain intervals and avoiding family meals.

Personally, I don't care for the phrase 'everything in moderation' because it has no real definition. But that's for another thread, I suppose.

Again, I agree with you. The "everything in moderation" comment was intended as a tongue in cheek over-simplification of a very good point I think I knew what you meant.

I'm a junk food junkie. I admit it. I can never eat just one of anything when it comes to junk food, donuts, cookies, candy, chocolate, etc. In the checkout line, I picked up a candy bar. Then I thought about all the sugar in the candy bar. I thought about all the health problems that come with being insulin resistant. I thought about how lousy being unfit feels. I thought about the probability of never seeing my daughter walk down the aisle (in about 40 years!) if I eat a little junk food. I put the candy bar back. For me, eating clean works better because for some reason, I just can't stop eating junk food once I start. :frown:

I'm the same way. The idea of "everything in moderation" only works if you have the willpower to eat very tempting foods in moderation. It's like telling a gambling addict it's OK to just play one game of slots. Easier to stay out of the casino.

Steve

Exactly! Eating clean works better for me for that reason. It doesn't bother me to skip the junk food completely, ONCE I GET OUT OF THAT HABIT. There are enough tasty clean foods that it does not have to be a boring menu that is the same every day. It is exactly like a gambling addict who is in recovery, if you want to call it that -- it is best to just not go down that path and open the door to that old habit that is hard to moderate.

Anyway, that is my situation. Of course mileage will vary from one person to another. What is working for me will not necessarily also be true for others. IIFYM may be just fine for some, but not for me. :ohwell: