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

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.

Processed food was my food for 35+ years. I am curious what my body would look like now if I had been eating more clean food instead. I wonder if I wouldn't have problems with blood sugar and vision, muscle fatigue and sloth, TV addiction, wine use, procrastination. All of those years wasted because I was too lazy to cook for myself!

The whole term "clean eating" confuses me, and scares the hell out of me. A friend of mine "eats clean" and has had awesome sucess..in a very short amount of time..not good. Not for me..If I want a candy bar...I'm gonna eat one...If I'm on vacation with my family and we eat out, I'm not gonna worry about how "clean" the food is. I'm going to eat what I want to eat..not gonna have food rule my life, and worry about whether something is "clean" or not. Pffft.

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.

THIS^^ i wasnt eating a bad diet, just too much. had no concept of portion sizes, or how much i was truly eating, and since i never learned that, i never lost the baby weight, or really did much in the way of exercising. now i'm learning that, and losing, without changing my entire diet. i had already cut out a lot of junk foods and dirty foods from my diet already, ages ago, but still ate too much. it hasnt been that hard to eat the correct portion of chicken breast or to limit myself to one serving of ice cream or just two oreos etc, although i do have trigger foods.

(my definition of clean: if my great grandmother could make it in her kitchen, then its clean. so corn syrup is ok, but high fructose corn syrup is not, or, eat food that remembers where it came from.)

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...

The difference is the calorie deficit is a result of eating clean. If you're eating to satiety and eating 'dirty' you'll eat a lot more than if you eat clean.

In the end, there is a caloric deficiency and that's why the weight is lost but it's not a forced deficiency and that makes a huge difference.

People only have so much willpower. If you're only staying under your calories because you stop yourself from eating (even when you're hungry), then you're going to go right back up once you stop counting calories.

People always say 'oh you'd gain weight if you ate 4000 calories/day of clean foods". Yes, that might be right, but good luck trying to reach that eating meat and vegetables. I could probably eat that in one meal going to McDonald's.

This also doesn't take into consideration the effect on BMR (and there's some good evidence that if you're hungry, your body is telling you you should eat, and if you don't eat, it negatively affects your BMR)

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.

I'm one of the so called clean eaters or should I say what many would consider clean eating. Two points. First, we have eaten this way for over 30 years. The only difference now is there are more food additives to avoid. Second, I have never been outside of what is considered the healthy weight range for my age and height. I joined MFP as part of my goal to get healthier. Clean eating does not mean you can't get 'fat' as you put it. It simply means you avoid certain food additives, pesticide residues and that type of thing. The focus in on the quality of food. Quantity of food is an entirely different thing. You can eat the healthiest food possible and still be overweight because you don't limit the quantity you eat.

Losing the weight has been easy for me likely because I do have a healthy relationship with food and understood that my main problem was not food but rather inactivity. I have gone from the high end of my healthy weight range to the low end without much effort other than increasing my activity level and being conscious of what I'm eating. I really haven't changed much with respect to what I eat other than boosting my protein. Unlike many, I don't have cravings for sweets because refined sugars have never played a huge role in our diet. I don't miss fast food because at best we may have it a couple of times a year when traveling. I don't have a lot of water retention problems because both my sugar and sodium intake is low. The thing is, I'm not trying to change the way I eat other that minor tweaking. Another thing that helps is my husband eats the same way I do so there is no problem with him enjoying a particular food that could be problematic during weight loss.

In my opinion, many start trying to lose weight without considering a long term fitness plan and they make drastic changes so both their bodies and minds rebel. A person who is used to eating 3,000 calories a day and who is getting a good portion of those calories from fast food or processed foods is going to have adjustments to make. The body is going to buck back with strong cravings, possible withdrawl symptoms like headaches and mood swings (aka hangry), and they are going to struggle to keep on track. That worsens if the losing weight is seen just as a diet and not a lifestyle change.

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...

The difference is the calorie deficit is a result of eating clean. If you're eating to satiety and eating 'dirty' you'll eat a lot more than if you eat clean.


In the end, there is a caloric deficiency and that's why the weight is lost but it's not a forced deficiency and that makes a huge difference.

People only have so much willpower. If you're only staying under your calories because you stop yourself from eating (even when you're hungry), then you're going to go right back up once you stop counting calories.

People always say 'oh you'd gain weight if you ate 4000 calories/day of clean foods". Yes, that might be right, but good luck trying to reach that eating meat and vegetables. I could probably eat that in one meal going to McDonald's.

This also doesn't take into consideration the effect on BMR (and there's some good evidence that if you're hungry, your body is telling you you should eat, and if you don't eat, it negatively affects your BMR)

You can eat "dirty" and still have the deficet...esp based on my understanding of clean eating.

I can eat 6oz of chicken fingers and a salad from Dairy queen and be just as full from that as I can be from eating 6oz of chicken at home...

and eating over maintenance regardless of how you do it cause weight gain..there is no might about it.

I can easily eat "dirty" food everyday and still manage to hit my macros and stay in a reasonable deficet everyday...and I am never hungry...

It's all about moderation...clean eating is a buzz word...and no amount of debate will change the fact that you can get fat eating clean just as easy as eating "dirty" and if you can eat 4000 calories in one sitting at MacDonalds and you aren't full...wow...

a quarter pounder blt has 600 calories...that is a filling burger, add a salad into that and it's at maybe 700 calories...not sure what you plan on adding to that to get to 4000 calories but it would personally make me puke.

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...

The difference is the calorie deficit is a result of eating clean. If you're eating to satiety and eating 'dirty' you'll eat a lot more than if you eat clean.

In the end, there is a caloric deficiency and that's why the weight is lost but it's not a forced deficiency and that makes a huge difference.

People only have so much willpower. If you're only staying under your calories because you stop yourself from eating (even when you're hungry), then you're going to go right back up once you stop counting calories.

People always say 'oh you'd gain weight if you ate 4000 calories/day of clean foods". Yes, that might be right, but good luck trying to reach that eating meat and vegetables. I could probably eat that in one meal going to McDonald's.

This also doesn't take into consideration the effect on BMR (and there's some good evidence that if you're hungry, your body is telling you you should eat, and if you don't eat, it negatively affects your BMR)

Agreed. People on MFP love to chime in "Oh but caloric deficit!", while ignoring how said deficit was achieved and ignoring how certain ways of eating can make achieving such a deficit easier.

For example, if you take two people and tell them to eat until they're satiated, where one person can only eat Taco Bell crunchwraps and the other person can only eat home-cooked meats and fresh vegetables, odds are the first person will consume way more calories per day because he's eating incredibly caloricly dense foods that are not particularly satiating (at least not relative to their calorie count). Did "eating clean" help the second person lose more/gain less weight? In part, because it helped him achieve a lower average caloric intake by eating more satiating foods. Even if you put them on the same caloric intake, who's likely to be happier/more satiated? I'd have to say the second person in the vast majority of cases (I'm sure there's someone out there who bucks the trend and whose life revolves around Taco Bell).

That's not to say you can't get fat eating "clean" foods; of course you can. I'd wager that you're better off the "cleaner" you eat, though.

i know me personally when i say its easy .. i mean once i learned how you can still eat tasty food and it can still be healthy it became easy when i first started a year ago before i even joined up here it was hard at first but the more results i saw the easier it became the more ideas i came up with for food the easier it became. I feel like once you get an understanding for food and what is more important it starts to become easier ... but i will never forget how hard it was at first

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...

The difference is the calorie deficit is a result of eating clean. If you're eating to satiety and eating 'dirty' you'll eat a lot more than if you eat clean.


In the end, there is a caloric deficiency and that's why the weight is lost but it's not a forced deficiency and that makes a huge difference.

People only have so much willpower. If you're only staying under your calories because you stop yourself from eating (even when you're hungry), then you're going to go right back up once you stop counting calories.

People always say 'oh you'd gain weight if you ate 4000 calories/day of clean foods". Yes, that might be right, but good luck trying to reach that eating meat and vegetables. I could probably eat that in one meal going to McDonald's.

This also doesn't take into consideration the effect on BMR (and there's some good evidence that if you're hungry, your body is telling you you should eat, and if you don't eat, it negatively affects your BMR)

You can eat "dirty" and still have the deficet...esp based on my understanding of clean eating.

I can eat 6oz of chicken fingers and a salad from Dairy queen and be just as full from that as I can be from eating 6oz of chicken at home...

and eating over maintenance regardless of how you do it cause weight gain..there is no might about it.

I can easily eat "dirty" food everyday and still manage to hit my macros and stay in a reasonable deficet everyday...and I am never hungry...

It's all about moderation...clean eating is a buzz word...and no amount of debate will change the fact that you can get fat eating clean just as easy as eating "dirty" and if you can eat 4000 calories in one sitting at MacDonalds and you aren't full...wow...

a quarter pounder blt has 600 calories...that is a filling burger, add a salad into that and it's at maybe 700 calories...not sure what you plan on adding to that to get to 4000 calories but it would personally make me puke.

I did a calculation on McDonald's site.
An angus burger, a large fry, a milkshake, and a turnover are 2730 calories (more than I generally net in a day). I could eat that. I'm not saying I wouldn't be full. I would be, but I could eat it without much of a problem.

I'm also not saying you must 'eat clean' to eat at a deficit and lose weight or that it's not possible to gain weight and eat clean. What I'm saying it makes it easier for many people (me included) because of how much more filling quality food is.

I remember buying lean cuisines and low-fat crackers trying to lose weight and always being hungry. I'd 'crack' all the time and would end up bingeing on entire frozen pizzas. "I'll make it and eat just two slices to stay under my calories" I would say and before I knew it, I'd devoured an entire pizza which was 2000 calories.

Beyond weight loss as well there are huge benefits to getting plenty of vegetables and proteins into your system.

Why do you have to get a large fry? A small is perfectly satisfying. I on occasion get a 6 piece nugget and a small fry and easily fit it into my day. It's moderation.

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.

Great post, but the "clean police" are dragging it into the toilet.

My personal story-I got squishy when I stopped exercising but didn't stop eating as if I still was. I spent many years eating everything and anything in sight. From clean/healthy foods to the nastiest processed garbage, and everything in between. I had little to no issues remaining lean and healthy. An entire pizza, no problem. All you can eat buffets..gladly!

Fast forward to a few years after stopping almost all designated exercise (although I did lead an active life) and gaining about 15 pounds and making a decision to "eat better". Slowly over months, if not a year or more, I chose to make better decisions with what I ate and keep my portions in check. A gradual replacement to eating more and more whole/real foods and less processed items & less junk. As I did so I noticed I had more energy thru out the day and my digestive system was no longer a complete wreck. I didn't go to extremes or arbitrarily exclude specific foods. But as I went along I also stopped wanting to put garbage into my body anymore. I've always liked cooking so creating delicious meals from scratch was fun, I've never ever felt deprived or that I had to eat bland food to be healthy. I still have a giant sweet tooth, but I reign it in. And when I do eat some homemade cookies or ice cream, I don't care because the vast majority of the rest of my diet & exercise allows for wiggle room.

In short making a shift towards "clean eating" or more accurately described as predominantly eating whole, real foods has not been as much about weight as it has been about health & energy. And now I can't even imagine wanting to fuel my body on garbage processed foods.