My Clean Eating Dilemma

Your username... WHY ?

While making my account I kept punching in different usernames and they were all taken. Even "Therearenomoreusernames" was taken. I was getting irritated lol

:laugh:

I know the feeling. I once made my username when I was first trying to get a yahoo email account slimeylizardthing because everything else was taken. It's weird but it works.

I would add that I too have a hard time eating enough cals most days. I eat a low-carb diet which is mostly meat, a little veggies, and fat. That stuff is very filling, my stomach has shrunk, and I have no cravings (unless my husband and kids eat sweets and such in my face. Carb addiction was ugly but I'm good now). Some days I can hit 1500, sometimes it's more like 1350. (They do make things like chips, and other processed foods to make you crave more, btw. They actually do. It's called formulating the food to hit the "bliss point.") So once you've weaned yourself off and don't crave it any more, food just becomes fuel to you. And some days I just don't feel hungry or feel like eating.

Nuts, nut butters, meat, avocados...and add a glass of juice or two if they don't cause you to crave more sweets (it does that to some people), or maybe even try making a healthy smoothie. I think you said dairy was an issue, you can use coconut or almond milk instead of milk for smoothies. And try to eat a little more fat. Fat is not the enemy. The studies based on that turned out to be falsely reported.

Kudos to you on managing to eat 'clean' in a processed world. Some people can lose weight and thrive while still eating the occasional junk food. Chips and sweets just make me crave and binge those foods and many other people have that problem as well. Eating clean can really help you get to back to what the majority of your diet should be. And as you've learned, those basic foods can satisfy you better than you would have thought.

Could you post a typical day for us if you don't want to open your diary? That might help us make better tailored suggestions.

I am a bit confused as to your definition of 'clean' and non-processed - everyone has different definitions - but most of the things you have said you are eating are actually processed. So I am assuming you mean 'nutrient dense foods' for your staple foods.

It depends on whether you are looking for higher protein, fats and/or carbs - it sounds like you are low on them all based on your posts however.

You mention dairy free, so I would look to cooking fattier fish, such as salmon and tuna. Don't be afraid to use oils. Also, have some bacon! Nuts and seeds, and nut and seed butters are good. Also, hemp, flax and chia seeds are a good addition. Depending on your fiber, you can chose less fibrous (and therefore less satiating generally) fruits and veggies.

I can really only second what others have already said.

You NEED to eat more food.

I don't understand your definition of eating "clean". There are about a billion different definitions, but I've never heard one that included "fresh bread".

It would be better for you to eat a serving of some kind of "not-clean" food every day rather than eat so little food. The point of clean eating is more nutrition on less calories for sure, but based on your sample day, you are NOT getting enough nutrition.

I don't mean this as an insult, but sometimes the brain is more powerful than the stomach. After going through such an ordeal, maybe you are so afraid of gaining the weight back that you are convincing yourself you aren't hungry because you don't WANT to eat anymore?

Regardless, if you are truly not hungry after 500 calories, you need to go to the doctor. You are not eating enough food and it will start to damage your body. Good luck to you and please take care of yourself..

Full on 500cals? :laugh:

You say you're eating rice and nuts, those are calories dense...50g of cashew nuts is 300 cals, 100g of rice just over 350cals

You're kidding yourself.