Be Smart... don't fall for Fads and scams :)

....Idahoan Baby Reds Flavored mashed potatoes in a bag... It says underneath: Homestyle Red and Russet Potatoes with Skins perfectly blended with creamy butter, natural, and artificial flavorings.

Have you tried the Idahoan Applewood Bacon instant mashed potatoes? They are to die for! I LOVe them!

It's just that there's a big difference between "I simply prefer to go for (general term of clean) foods..." and "you have to push yourself to eat clean". Mainly the "I prefer to" and the "You have to".

Yes. Well put.

For the most part, I prefer peeling my own potatoes, boiling them, and adding my own seasonings. I love making my own bread in my handy dandy bread maker. I love Red Mill organic oats where the only ingredients is oats. However, those things are my preference only and I would never think of telling someone those types of foods are necessary to health or weight loss. Why? Because they are not.

I love my lactose free ice cream, my Idahoan Applewood Bacon potatoes, and many other things that are processed. It's my preference to eat more of the stuff I make at home rather than the stuff I can find processed at the store because, well, it's a bit cheaper for me. I can make a loaf of bread with plenty of different grains in it for about $1.00 a loaf and it lasts me over a week. Potatoes are fairly cheap, add some bacon, and I'm happy. The oatmeal? Well, I just plain like it.

OP, you indeed are throwing in a bunch of "clean eating" statements that lead some of us to believe that you are pushing that agenda along.

Never thought mentioning the word "clean" would cause such an uproar lol. :ohwell: This isn't even what the post was about haha.

But anyway...

To me: Clean eating means that if you look on a nutrition label on a particular food... that there are minimal ingredients listed and most (if not all) are recognizable, and natural. Processed foods in my mind don't necessarily mean the way the food is handled/packaged. It means food that has not been added tons of extra ingredients to increase sugar and sodium content, as well as preservatives, colors, dyes etc.

So for those of you who were arguing about making homemade ice cream... I would NOT consider that processed or "dirty" as some of you referred, as long as you are using natural products to make it.

Example: I just went and grabbed something random in my kitchen cabinet (No clue how long it has been there... ick :sick: ) It is Idahoan Baby Reds Flavored mashed potatoes in a bag... It says underneath: Homestyle Red and Russet Potatoes with Skins perfectly blended with creamy butter, natural, and artificial flavorings.

Okay... so now I look at the ingredient list which I counted is... 41 INGREDIENTS!!!! :frown: Hmm... for simple mashed potatoes and butter that seems pretty crazy to me! (AND YES I do eat foods like this, just not all the time! Moderation people). Some of these ingredients to pick a few are: Sodium Caseinate, disodium phosphate, mono and diglycerides, stearoyl, bisulfite, artificial color, artificial flavor, dipotassium phosphate, anti-caking agent, corn syrup solids. etc.

Would I personally call that a "clean" food? No... but that doesnt mean you have to NOT eat it. What you eat is totally up to you.

Like people have mentioned... MODERATION is KEY. We all have different opinions about what the word "clean" means, and its silly to get all in an uproar about it since no one is forcing you to follow their version of the word. I stand by my version of the word, so I will follow it. But trust me when I say that I have cheat meals and enjoy every second of it, but I just try to be strict and not do it all the time.

Cheers! Xo

:happy: :happy: :happy:

For me, and some other people, I agreed with most of your OP, but right at the end you said:

You gotta push yourself to eat clean and exercise.

Why do I need to push myself to "eat clean"? What do you think removing all of the "dirty"/"unclean" foods would do for me?

Thanks for your reply. You ask me why you need to "Push yourself to eat clean." This is an example of how I think many of you took what I said out of context. This was meant as a mere "Cmon Guys, try and eat clean, exercise... You can do it!" type of ending to my original post content. :embarassed:

But you do ask a valid question. The answer is you do NOT have to eat clean. What you do is completely up to you. It is something that I tell my clients (I give a much deeper explanation and education since I'm face to face with them etc) and have had amazing results with them so far. But basically, eating healthy will simply get you better results than eating unhealthy. Yes that is BROAD... but the gist of it is true. And unfortunately, Grocers/Products can fool you. They will say the product is something simple (Such as my potato example I gave above)... and yet the product has 41 ingredients. Those ingredients aren't there to just look pretty... they are preservatives, dyes, additives etc that make the food not as healthy as if you were to make your own mashed potatoes with real butter. (Just check the sodium to see the difference).

But again, you don't have to eat clean since we all have different meanings of the word. I do wish you the best of luck in your fitness journey though and I'm guessing you probably eat better and cleaner than you realize if you are having success.

Did actually bother to look up any of those ingredients before declaring that they make your food less healthy? Let's take disodium phosphate for example. Would it surprise you to learn that phosphates are not only necessary for good health, but that chemists have actually created some to treat medical conditions?

lol here we go again....

Okay... you can easily pick an ingredient listed and find various reasons why it is good. If you read what I wrote... I was giving an EXAMPLE of how simple foods you buy in stores are not always just what you think they are. For example: Potatoes that you make at home vs those that come in a bag and have many more ingredients that most people have never heard of. Will Phosphates kill you? NO. Phosphates (the same one listed in the ingredients) are also used in cleaning products and pesticides.

As I've said for what feels like 100 times now. You can eat what you want, I simply prefer to go for (general term of clean) foods... with mostly natural ingredients that are not made in a chem lab. What I eat shouldn't bother you. I wish you success. xo

What you eat doesn't bother me. Did I make a thread telling people what to eat or referring to certain foods as being bad for you? No, I did not. I'm not sure why what other people eat bothers you that you need to attribute any success they have had to "eating cleaner and better than they think."

I don't think anyone is surprised that food that comes in a box on a shelf is going to have additives and preservatives to keep it from spoiling. That doesn't make it detrimental to your health. It may not be the way you choose to eat, but that does not mean that people who choose to eat that way are doing themselves a disservice or damaging their health. You also have to take a person's overall lifestyle into account when discussing health and well-being.

I don't see what phosphates being used in cleaning products and pesticides has to do with anything. Water is used is in cleaning products and pesticides, that doesn't make water bad for us. Things like multivitamins and vaccines are also made in labs, and that doesn't make them bad for us.

The problem isn't the way you eat, it's that the reasoning you are using to support your argument of why you think people should eat your way isn't holding up.

I'm not arguing anything? That part at the very end of my post was simply saying that to get good results you need to work for them by eating clean (SORRRYYYY should have said Healthy) and Exercise. (Aka... there is no magic pill that gets results, gotta work at it). I still stand by that point only I had no idea how sensitive people were about the word "clean." My bad lol. However, the rest of my post was valid and if it even helps one person... then I'm satisfied with it.

You don't even have to eat healthy to lose weight, you just have to eat at a calorie deficit. Besides, healthy is in the perception.

I'm curious, not bashing just genuinely curious. You have stated over and over that people keep bringing up that you used "clean" when that wasn't even what your post was about. You said it though and it was part of your post. Why wouldn't people harp on that if it is something that they find offense with? Also I'm curious why you felt the need to come on here and post your public service announcement? Do you honestly think that people don't know about these scams already? The people that would buy into them aren't people that would listen to your warning anyways. It looks like this was one of your first post's ever on this forum what prompted you to do this today? I'm honestly just wondering your thought process. Not in a bad way just wanting to find out where you are coming from on this.

(As in saying I said they MUST ONLY eat clean foods... and never eat unhealthy foods. Which I clearly CLEARLY stated that I eat them too).

You did it again. You're killing me, Smalls.

Did what? Read carefully what I wrote... that was about what others said, not myself.

Man, harsh group towards someone just trying to warn people about health/fitness scams that I see daily. Isn't this a Heath and fitness forum to share tips, advice, etc? I'll say it again... MYYYYY BADDDD for using a common word. My Baddd that it got taken in the wrong context. MY BAD for wishing you all a healthy journey. I mean clearly I don't know what I'm talking about :huh:
To those who sent me private messages supporting my post. Thank you Glad I could help. I have no regrets about what I said other than using a word that basically took all meaning away from what I was actually getting at. :laugh:

I have read what you have wrote numerous times throughout this thread. You have constantly implied that unless something is "clean", it is unhealthy. It has nothing to do with whether or not you eat "unhealthy" as well. It is about what you are stating. Let me put it like this and see if you still don't understand.

Take 1 diet that is 100% clean food (by whatever your definition is) and hits perfect macros/micros for that persons goals (your choice). Think to yourself for second on how healthy you consider that diet.

Now, take diet #2. This diet consists of 80% clean food (by whatever your definition is), but the other 20% consists of all the remaining foods that don't fall into the clean category. It still hits perfect macros/micros for the individual.

Which of those diets are healthier in your opinion? By your constant remarks to clean/healthy, I am guessing I know the answer.

If your answer is #1, you really don't get it. If the answer is #2, I stand corrected. I have just been taking your words out of context.

I'm curious, not bashing just genuinely curious. You have stated over and over that people keep bringing up that you used "clean" when that wasn't even what your post was about. You said it though and it was part of your post. Why wouldn't people harp on that if it is something that they find offense with? Also I'm curious why you felt the need to come on here and post your public service announcement? Do you honestly think that people don't know about these scams already? The people that would buy into them aren't people that would listen to your warning anyways. It looks like this was one of your first post's ever on this forum what prompted you to do this today? I'm honestly just wondering your thought process. Not in a bad way just wanting to find out where you are coming from on this.

(As in saying I said they MUST ONLY eat clean foods... and never eat unhealthy foods. Which I clearly CLEARLY stated that I eat them too).

You did it again. You're killing me, Smalls.

Did what? Read carefully what I wrote... that was about what others said, not myself.

Man, harsh group towards someone just trying to warn people about health/fitness scams that I see daily. Isn't this a Heath and fitness forum to share tips, advice, etc? I'll say it again... MYYYYY BADDDD for using a common word. My Baddd that it got taken in the wrong context. MY BAD for wishing you all a healthy journey. I mean clearly I don't know what I'm talking about :huh:
To those who sent me private messages supporting my post. Thank you Glad I could help. I have no regrets about what I said other than using a word that basically took all meaning away from what I was actually getting at. :laugh:

Re "did what?" -- I assume used "clean" as if it were a synonym for healthy.

Just now I was low on protein when I finished dinner, so grabbed a yogurt. Not the plain Fage (although that's also processed), but the 365 nonfat Greek vanilla, because I kind of wanted dessert and it works for that. Under the usual definition of clean, I guess it's not--obviously processed (comes packaged from the grocery store), plus has some ingredients that I'd have to look up, and sugar. Yet I don't see this as an unhealthy food I'm making room for in my diet or even a neutral food or one that I should eat sparingly at the risk of my health. I chose it because it met my nutrition goals. And sure, because it tastes good.

So if someone were to tell me (as I guess you did in the original post) that I should eliminate unclean, processed foods like my yogurt--I'd ask why that would be beneficial. I don't agree I'd be healthier without processed foods or any number of other items (flour, sugar, meat, dairy, potatoes) that some clean eater or another considers unclean.

On the whole I liked your post and agreed with it, and I'm sorry you feel like you are being given a hard time, but the essence of the "clean" term is that certain rather unclearly defined foods, usually explained as "processed" are unclean. And "eating clean" is typically explained as trying to eliminate those foods, which linguistically is the only usage that makes sense to me. How could one eat "clean" while eating dirty foods, after all.

Since there are plenty of processed foods that I consider actively healthy, and others that are harmless, I don't know why they should be eliminated, and that doesn't follow from the statement (that most of us probably agree with) that for health one should try to make nutrient dense foods the center of one's diet. I'd even say that for most that focusing on nutrient dense foods would likely be good for weight loss for reasons of satiety and energy. I don't see much need to focus on eliminating things as with clean eating, although probably focusing on nutrient dense foods means by necessity that you eat others in moderation or even sparingly, if at all.

I dunno?