Adding Clean Calories

Losing weight has absolutely nothing to do with how 'clean' you eat or what types of food you eat, it's about calories and math. How many calories are you consuming? As you lose weight you need to adjust your calories down (I did this every 5lbs lost). Are you measuring out portion sizes, using a food scale etc?

Sarasmaintaining wrote: »

Losing weight has absolutely nothing to do with how 'clean' you eat or what types of food you eat, it's about calories and math. How many calories are you consuming? As you lose weight you need to adjust your calories down (I did this every 5lbs lost). Are you measuring out portion sizes, using a food scale etc?

^

From looking around its about CICO

Perhaps weigh your food on a kitchen scale to get accurate results

My scales are turning up today

JasmineRose14 wrote: »

Hi!

So, I've lost a very very slow 46lbs over the last 4 years, so this isn't a plateau- but I've been noticing that I am not loosing weight like I should, I eat clean 6 days a week (I have a cheat day, I'll probably never not have one) I do not eat anything processed, I keep the higher sugar fruits to a minimum and I never ever eat anything with white sugar (pasta, bread, donuts, ect) and I work out 3-4 days a week with minor weights after cardio... So after I've researched around online, I've seen that maybe I should up my calories for a week or so and see how that goes. The problem is, I don't know what else to add into my diet, I already eat almonds, and I feel like I take in too much protein, my macros seem good- what else can I add in that would be 'clean'???

It sounds like you're unnecessarily restricting yourself and then trying to make up for that with one day of splurging. It's not really a healthy way to go about things.

I agree with what others have said about the "clean" concept. I try to eat healthy, but of course I eat processed foods (smoked salmon, dairy, canned tomatoes, olive oil, oatmeal, rice, tofu, protein bars, etc.). I basically eat things that I think are worth putting in my diet or which I find enjoyable (in moderate amounts). Sometimes I decide I'm not being moderate enough with some things and I cut them back.

White sugar is not meaningfully different from brown sugar, or honey, or syrup or even that in fruit. The fruit has other good things that a Twinkie might not (IMO, since I don't even think it tastes good), but same with some oatmeal with a bit of sugar, if that's what you like. (Not saying you should eat added sugar if you do better not eating it--I just didn't understand that distinction.)

Also, I've never seen pasta with sugar added. If there are brands that have it they are probably terrible anyway, and you could find better ones. I tend to eat whole grain at home since I like it as well in the right (homemade) sauces.

All that aside, to answer your question about calories: there's a good list of calorie dense foods, but it should be easy if you think fat and starch. Basically, avocados, olives, full fat dairy, add olive oil or butter to fish or veggies. Also, unless you think carbs are unclean, there's potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots and parsnips and turnips (lower cal, but they can add up), rice, quinoa, grains like barley, oats, and--yes--wheat. (Even bread is possible to find without sugar, of course.) This is by no means a complete list, just ideas to spark thoughts.

Oh, I should have added that choice of meat is a way to up calories too. Chicken with the skin on, pork shoulder instead of chops, a nice steak, that sort of thing. I never understand why some will consider only lean meat "clean," as presumably eating the whole animal would be part of trying to eat more naturally/whole foods, and skinless boneless is extra processed vs. a whole chicken.

lemurcat12 wrote: »

Oh, I should have added that choice of meat is a way to up calories too. Chicken with the skin on, pork shoulder instead of chops, a nice steak, that sort of thing. I never understand why some will consider only lean meat "clean," as presumably eating the whole animal would be part of trying to eat more naturally/whole foods, and skinless boneless is extra processed vs. a whole chicken.

I agree. The extra fat in some cuts of meat add so much more flavor. If I am going to roast a chicken or bake chicken breasts, I do it with the skin on, but I don't eat the skin. Lately I have been using chicken thighs more than chicken breasts in things like curries and stews because they have so much more flavor and are cheaper.

booksandchocolate12 wrote: »

I like my calories dirrrty.

But seriously....

I can't do cheat days myself. They always turn into a cheat week, a cheat month, etc.

And I agree with those who said that it doesn't matter how "clean" you eat. If you're not eating less than you burn, your loss is going to stall.

Me too. Nothing beats a fresh picked tomato that is still hot from the sun.

Nope. It's calories in, calories out for weight loss. For health, yes, it does matter. For weight loss, no.

A calorie is a unit of measure, like a foot or a yard. To say that the calories in a Big Mac are bad for weight loss but the calories in lettuce are good for weight loss is like saying that a foot of string is longer than a foot of tape.

JasmineRose14 wrote: »

I assumed it would be obvious that I was staying at or under a calorie goal- my cheat days are not obnoxious and never turn into weeks and months- and it DOES 100% matter how clean your choices are- 1500 calories of lean mean and veggies will absolutely make you healthier and weigh less than 1500 calories in Big Macs and fries- long term. But thanks for all the advice in how to add some healthy calories to my daily routine.

Overall health, yes. Weight loss, no. To lose weight you need to eat less than you burn. Period. If you are not losing, you are eating more than you think you are. It doesn't matter how "clean" your food is (ridiculous term, BTW), if you eat too much of it, you will not lose.

JasmineRose14 wrote: »

1500 calories of lean mean and veggies will absolutely make you healthier and weigh less than 1500 calories in Big Macs and fries- long term.

Weigh less, no, not if you really stuck to 1500 of both, but you probably wouldn't. Healthier, yes.

But the point I was trying to make is that that's a false dichotomy--there's absolutely no reason one should have to pick between only lean meat and veggies (and like I said, what's unclean about eating the whole animal and not just the leanest parts?) and a Big Mac and fries, let alone a diet that consisted ONLY of a Big Mac and fries vs. an occasional meal of that if you happen to enjoy it on a day when you get plenty of other nutritious food. I never eat McD's (don't like it, or similar fast food), but I don't eat "clean." I focus on what the foods I eat contribute to my diet and not pointless things like whether they are "processed" or not -- most things are, unless you have access to a farm, process your own meat, and live somewhere where good produce is available all year round, which I do not, and are willing to give up healthy non local foods, like salmon and bananas (and coffee and chocolate), which I also am not.

Anyway, good luck! I think diet breaks can be helpful and that expanding what you think you can eat within your "clean" paradigm (much as I hate that term for food, even though I try to make eating well a priority) is a good idea. I'd recommend Marion Nestle as someone to read on nutrition, and one thing she points out is that eating a varied diet is one way we make sure our nutritional needs are covered. I'm obviously not saying that you need to eat fast food (like I said, I don't), but it's why I think it can be a bad idea to decide that some staple carbs like potatoes or grains or the like are "bad" just because they have lots of calories if you are careless about serving size, and it's also why I try to vary the fruits and veggies I eat, get a variety of greens, different kinds of meat and fish, etc.

Granted, this is also because I enjoy food and find it enjoyable. ;-)

I gained about 15 pounds eating clean. Organic meat, grass fed butter, brown rice, veggies soaked in olive oil. At he same I stopped working out and spent a lot more time eating. Doesn't matter how clean you eat if you stop moving and go over your calories, period.

JasmineRose14 wrote: »

I assumed it would be obvious that I was staying at or under a calorie goal- my cheat days are not obnoxious and never turn into weeks and months- and it DOES 100% matter how clean your choices are- 1500 calories of lean mean and veggies will absolutely make you healthier and weigh less than 1500 calories in Big Macs and fries- long term. But thanks for all the advice in how to add some healthy calories to my daily routine.

You said you eat clean 6 days a week in your OP. So, one day a week you eat "dirty"?

Calories are what matter, but if you really want to assert that the cleanliness of your food is what matters, then why don't you put your words into action and eat "clean" 7 days a week?

I am getting from your posts that you might be of the belief that so long as you eat "clean" (whatever you believe that term entails) then you thereby are privileged to consume more calories than you would be if you ate "dirty." Like CICO doesn't really apply anymore just because you decided to shop at Wholefoods or something.

jemhh wrote: »

Whether or not your calories are "clean" doesn't affect weight loss. From an overall health perspective, yes healthy esting is good. But for weight loss, calories in vs calories out rules the day.

I''m a big proponent of diet breaks. Just eat at maintenence for a week or two and then go back to cutting calories. There are physiological benefits of this (google "body recomposition full diet break" for Lyle Mcdonald's article The Full Diet Break.)

Except it sounds like she may have been eating at maintenance for a while now....

JasmineRose14 wrote: »

I assumed it would be obvious that I was staying at or under a calorie goal- my cheat days are not obnoxious and never turn into weeks and months- and it DOES 100% matter how clean your choices are- 1500 calories of lean mean and veggies will absolutely make you healthier and weigh less than 1500 calories in Big Macs and fries- long term. But thanks for all the advice in how to add some healthy calories to my daily routine.

Lol.... It's not obvious or you wouldn't have stalled, and you wouldn't be here asking for advice. It's just that you're asking for the wrong advice. You're eating at maintenance if you're not gaining and not losing. Eat as clean as you like, but you've got to eat less or burn more in order to create a deficit. You can average your deficit over a week to give yourself a higher calorie day, but you need to lower the average by redoing your math and measuring carefully. Good luck.