CICO vs. "clean eating"

Options
124

Replies

  • cross2bear
    cross2bear Posts: 1,106 Member
    Options
    [Out of curiosity what you would consider to be CE? For me, it would be basically raw fruit and vegetables, nuts. Nothing processed. But in the real world, for me, I wouldn't not be able to live like that for the rest of my life. lol [/quote]

    I think the term "clean eating" is such a vague and ambiguous term as to render it meaningless except to the individual who professes to do it.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    Options
    IMO, I think a more important question is, why aren't more people using CICO and CE together? CICO is necessary to lose weight but I think quality of food is equally important. I would think that using them together would compound success. Again, just my opinion.


    As for long term, I feel that after you have done CICO for so long you start to know what is the right amount to maintain your weight. Listen to your body, and adjust portions accordingly whether you be CE or not.

    "Clean eating" is counter-productive for me because it results in me eliminating foods that make it easier for me to stay at my goal. Foods that either are convenient or promote my health or make it easier for me to meet fitness goals or just make me happy. And for what? I have yet to see anything that demonstrates clear benefits from eliminating these foods.

    That's why I don't practice "clean eating." If people find it makes it easier for them to meet their goals and it makes them happy, that's great. But should it be a goal for everyone? No.

    I didn't say you had to follow CE, since all of us have a different view of what CE is.

    I was answering the question that you asked ("IMO, I think a more important question is, why aren't more people using CICO and CE together?") by providing my perspective on why I don't use them together.

    Out of curiosity what you would consider to be CE? For me, it would be basically raw fruit and vegetables, nuts. Nothing processed. But in the real world, for me, I wouldn't not be able to live like that for the rest of my life. lol

    I've never heard a consistent definition -- every person seems to have a different one. Some common things I hear: Nothing from a box or can, nothing with more than five ingredients, nothing with "chemicals," nothing from the center aisles of the grocery store, nothing "processed," nothing frozen, only eat things you can create in your own home, don't eat anything with an ingredient you can't pronounce, don't eat anything with a nutrition label/ingredients list, no dairy, no meat, only whole foods, etc.

    I would say that if your definition of "clean eating" is one that would be impossible for you to follow, then it isn't a very useful category. A useful set of food guidelines would be one that promoted happiness and health and was actually possible to follow consistently, IMO.
  • BrunetteRunner87
    BrunetteRunner87 Posts: 591 Member
    Options
    They aren't really the same thing, but I do think clean eating is important. A lot of people on here are only interested in CICO and say it doesn't really matter as long as it fits your calories or macros. That's true for weight loss, but there are so many other aspects to health other than weight. I think it's a lot easy to stay under your calorie goal when you eat mostly clean, and also it's better to eat foods that provide you nutrients, vitamins, etc. than something calorie dense but providing nothing to benefit you other than energy.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,395 MFP Moderator
    Options
    They aren't really the same thing, but I do think clean eating is important. A lot of people on here are only interested in CICO and say it doesn't really matter as long as it fits your calories or macros. That's true for weight loss, but there are so many other aspects to health other than weight. I think it's a lot easy to stay under your calorie goal when you eat mostly clean, and also it's better to eat foods that provide you nutrients, vitamins, etc. than something calorie dense but providing nothing to benefit you other than energy.

    There are many things that would be considered clean and are very calorie dense.... nuts, red meat (to some people this is clean), avocados, cheese....


    Heck, if I ate equivalent calories from a big mac vs nuts, the former would fill me up more and allow me to stay within a deficit.
  • StealthHealth
    StealthHealth Posts: 2,417 Member
    Options
    ^^ Facinating! Thanks
  • skeo
    skeo Posts: 471 Member
    Options
    Calories in Calories out is the way of life for me, it's all about sustainability for me, and realistically, I don't think I could avoid sugar, soda, or candy foreverrrrrr..I just eat moderately and train and eat happily.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
    Options
    Even eating "clean" whatever that means since different people define it differently, often in radical ways, a person can eat more calories than their body burns and put on weight. I have a friend here who was Vegan and put on her weight as a Vegan. That is about as "clean" whatever that means, as it can get, yet eat too many calories and your body will store them as fat.

    I disagree wholeheartedly that Vegan is "about as 'clean'.....as it can get". There are plenty of foods that are junk and are terrible for you that are free of animal products. I also don't think that eating clean is very hard to define. You shop around the perimeter of the grocery store. Don't eat foods that come in a bag or bag or that contain ingredients that you can't pronounce. Choose sustainable fish. Choose chickens that are pastured and fed a natural NON-vegetarian diet, no antibiotics, no GMO in the feed, same goes with eggs. Look for grassfed cows. Basically, avoid buying meats from CAFO's.

    Personally, I find that "eating clean" is more sustainable. Who wants to spend the rest of their lives counting calories? I sure don't. I do it now because I have to. Eating has not yet become intuitive for me, but I know if time, that it will.

    I'm going to re-post this...this was compiled by @diannethegeek on a clean eating thread some time back...all of these things were mentioned by various "clean" eaters in the thread..."clean" isn't particularly easy to define because everyone has a different definition....
    Nothing but minimally processed foods.
    Absolutely no processed foods.
    Shop only the outside of the grocery store.
    Nothing out of a box, jar, or can.
    Only food that's not in a box or hermetically sealed bag, or from e.g. McDonald's.
    No take-out or junk food at all.
    Nothing at all with a barcode.
    Nothing with more than 5 ingredients.
    Nothing with more than 4 ingredients.
    Nothing with more than 3 ingredients.
    Nothing with more than 1 ingredient.
    No added preservatives.
    No added chemicals.
    No chemicals, preservatives, etc. at all.
    No ingredients that you can't pronounce.
    No ingredients that sound like they came out of a chemistry book.
    Nothing that is processed and comes in a package or wrapper, or has any ingredient that sounds scientific.
    Don't eat products that have a TV commercial.
    Don't eat foods that have a mascot.
    If it grows or had a mother, it is ok to eat it.
    Don't eat products that have a longer shelf life than you do.
    Eat "food" and not "food-like substances."
    No added sugar.
    No added refined sugar.
    Swap white sugar for brown.
    No "white" foods.
    Nothing but lean meats, fruits, and vegetables.
    Nothing but lean meats, fruits, vegetables, and beans.
    A plant-based whole food diet.
    Eat foods as close to their natural state as POSSIBLE, and little to no processed food.
    Only meat from grass-fed animals and free-range chickens.
    Only pesticide-free foods.
    Nothing that causes your body bloat or inflammation.
    No trigger foods, nothing from fast food chains, nothing in the junk food aisles, and no high gmo foods.
    No red meat, no sweets, no pasta, no alcohol, no bread, no soda, nothing but fresh fruits and vegetables, complex carbohydrates and lean proteins.
    Eat a plant based diet consisting of whole plant foods.
    No bad carbs and processed foods.
    Anything that makes a better choice.
    Not cheating on whatever diet you are on.
    Any food that doesn't make it difficult to hit your macro/micro targets.
    Clean eating means eating optimally.

  • mph323
    mph323 Posts: 3,565 Member
    Options
    I'd like to take issue with the idea that only "clean" foods (whatever that means at this point) provide nutrients and other essential components necessary for a healthy life. Some foods are more nutrient-dense than others, making it easier to meet your micros with fewer calories, but to imply hamburgers, pizza and frozen dinners have no nutritional value is pure hogwash. The only thing I can think of at the moment that provides energy with no other nutritional value is sugar by the spoonful. Everything else has at least a minimal number of nutrients, and those count toward your goals the same as apples or broccoli (if those fit in your definition of clean food).
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,344 Member
    edited February 2017
    Options
    skeo wrote: »
    Calories in Calories out is the way of life for me, it's all about sustainability for me, and realistically, I don't think I could avoid sugar, soda, or candy foreverrrrrr..I just eat moderately and train and eat happily.

    Nor is there any reason to. Many people completely fail to comprehend the concepts of context and dosage. It could be argued that water is the "cleanest" thing we could put in our bodies, but even too much (or too little) water will kill you.

    A diet consisting entirely (or even mostly) of sugar, soda and candy wouldn't be a good thing. I doubt many people would argue that point. But an occasional indulgence in sugar, soda and/or candy, within the scope of an overall well-balanced diet, is going to have exactly zero negative effects. You'd have more negative effects from the stress and psychological trauma of ingesting such horrible things, if you're brainwashed to think that way.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    Options
    mph323 wrote: »
    I'd like to take issue with the idea that only "clean" foods (whatever that means at this point) provide nutrients and other essential components necessary for a healthy life. Some foods are more nutrient-dense than others, making it easier to meet your micros with fewer calories, but to imply hamburgers, pizza and frozen dinners have no nutritional value is pure hogwash. The only thing I can think of at the moment that provides energy with no other nutritional value is sugar by the spoonful. Everything else has at least a minimal number of nutrients, and those count toward your goals the same as apples or broccoli (if those fit in your definition of clean food).

    Yes this is the point that I am always trying to make in these threads. There are a number of foods which would even be considered ultra processed, which provide nutrients. Even the dreaded hamburger helper, which my family eats a couple times a month, can be part of a healthy diet. I add a salad, some garlic bread, and often frozen vegetables to it. It's definitely not clean, and sure, I could make it from scratch and it might be tastier, but would it be definitively more nutritious?
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,344 Member
    Options
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    mph323 wrote: »
    I'd like to take issue with the idea that only "clean" foods (whatever that means at this point) provide nutrients and other essential components necessary for a healthy life. Some foods are more nutrient-dense than others, making it easier to meet your micros with fewer calories, but to imply hamburgers, pizza and frozen dinners have no nutritional value is pure hogwash. The only thing I can think of at the moment that provides energy with no other nutritional value is sugar by the spoonful. Everything else has at least a minimal number of nutrients, and those count toward your goals the same as apples or broccoli (if those fit in your definition of clean food).

    Yes this is the point that I am always trying to make in these threads. There are a number of foods which would even be considered ultra processed, which provide nutrients. Even the dreaded hamburger helper, which my family eats a couple times a month, can be part of a healthy diet. I add a salad, some garlic bread, and often frozen vegetables to it. It's definitely not clean, and sure, I could make it from scratch and it might be tastier, but would it be definitively more nutritious?

    Not about Hamburger Helper, but here's a great article which addresses, in quantifiable scientific terms, the difference in the body's reaction to a fast food meal and a "healthy" home-prepared meal: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/research-review/hormonal-responses-fast-food-meal.html/
  • broseidonkingofbrocean
    Options
    http://livinlavidalowcarb.com/blog/did-kansas-state-nutrition-professor-dr-mark-haub-really-go-on-a-little-debbie-snack-cake-diet/9226

    Study done with a kansas state nutrition professor who ate little debbie snack cakes as his primary source of calories. If you've seen the documentary supersize me then I suggest watching fathead. Where the guy does the same "nothing but fast food" diet in a caloric deficit and debunks supersize me. Both cases the people not only lose weight but also become healthier.

    http://jamesclear.com/junk-food-science

    Pretty good little article on junk food, how to change those eating habits, and why we do binge eat them.

    The thing with any diet is finding the diet that works for you. Diets aren't for everyone. With CICO the "standard" is eating whatever you want as long as you stay in a deficit but really any diet is CICO. This works for some people however if you don't have your eating habits under control I feel as if that diet is a mistake. You'll always get those people "its all about willpower" who make it seem like its some simple feat to achieve. There are a number of people I know who just can't do "CICO." They can't just have that 1 piece of cake without over indulging. That's when I will suggest to them clean eating. Am I saying to do this forever? No however until you have your eating habits under control it can be a huge downfall for many.


  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    Options
    psuLemon wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    IMO, I think a more important question is, why aren't more people using CICO and CE together? CICO is necessary to lose weight but I think quality of food is equally important. I would think that using them together would compound success. Again, just my opinion.


    As for long term, I feel that after you have done CICO for so long you start to know what is the right amount to maintain your weight. Listen to your body, and adjust portions accordingly whether you be CE or not.

    Most of us here would advocate a diet rich in nutrient dense foods and probably even follow an 80/20 rule, but to different people clean eating means different things. If you look at the link I posted originally, you will get the understand.

    I"m not arguing that fact. :/

    I don't like the term mainly because it has a lot of gray areas. Would it mean the same to a vegan, paleo, LCHF, etc...? And my other issue is it doesn't guarantee that it will support ones goals. I know a lot of people who complain about not losing weight be eating clean and they don't understand it. And then they look at my diet and can't figure out why I lose 1 lb a week. Essentially, the industry (and more so bloggers/youtubers who dont' have a clue) have confused people so much, that they make it hard to lose weight. And then people fail to address the most important and basic requirement of weight loss... addressing the energy balance requirement (eating less than you burn).

    When I train people, i tend to recommend small steps. And step one is always figuring out actual caloric needs.

    I agree, as I said above in a few replies my view of CE is different then what others would consider CE. My question is more based on what we as individuals view as CE. Which looking back probably should have specified. I assumed people were on the same page as CE being what we personal believe CE to be, and not a general rule with a list.

    My definition of clean eating:

    A diet predominately of whole fresh food eg meat, fish, fruit, veggies, eggs, nuts, cold pressed oils.

    No packet meals eg frozen ready meals, meals in boxes/packets/tins.

    Whole grains ( which ironically come in packets and tins), rice, pasta, beans, legumes etc

    Then there's stuff like yogurt and milk, which i consider healthy, but again comes in packages. The whole clean eating thing just gets too damn confusing :weary:

    In a nutshell, stay away from "super" processed food, and made made foods, stick to things that are found in nature..

    Please dont shoot me for this list, I'm just putting forth my definition of clean eating. And no, I am not a clean eater, one day maybe...