Clean eating help, success stories

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singingflutelady wrote: »

another_chelle wrote: »

You can't ask that type of question here It's all about calorie counting and meeting you specific calorie goal to lose weight. From my reading here on the forums this type of post results in unhelpful comments that lean toward sarcasm.

I will share that I feel better overall when incorporating more fruits and veggies in my diet. Besides being able to eat more because of the low calorie nature of fruits and veggies I also get less heartburn, migraines and overall feel better.

@another_chelle it's because there are a million different definitions of "clean eating" and nobody knows what the people using it actually mean.

@singingfluetlady yes there are many definitions of "clean eating", but I was pointing out how threads like this often dissolve into sarcasm and are ultimately unhelpful. Do you disagree??

another_chelle wrote: »

singingflutelady wrote: »

another_chelle wrote: »

You can't ask that type of question here It's all about calorie counting and meeting you specific calorie goal to lose weight. From my reading here on the forums this type of post results in unhelpful comments that lean toward sarcasm.

I will share that I feel better overall when incorporating more fruits and veggies in my diet. Besides being able to eat more because of the low calorie nature of fruits and veggies I also get less heartburn, migraines and overall feel better.

@another_chelle it's because there are a million different definitions of "clean eating" and nobody knows what the people using it actually mean.

@singingfluetlady yes there are many definitions of "clean eating", but I was pointing out how threads like this often dissolve into sarcasm and are ultimately unhelpful. Do you disagree??

If the OP doesn't come back and clarify the thread can not go forward in a productive manner.

Desifreckle wrote: »

Give me your tips, links, groups, recipes...

Going clean to see if it helps my digestive issues and anxiety. Tell me your success stories!!

I don't eat clean, so I can't really help you there. But I'm not sure eating whole foods will help either of those issues. There are plenty of whole foods that can cause digestive issues. Have you discussed either issue with your doctor?

And just a heads up, "clean eating" can be a bit of a trigger word here

@lemurcat12 I'm not sure how to respond to your post as I'm not sure what response your looking for.

I'm a long time lurker on mfp and time after time I've seen this type of thread go south. I think someone else in the thread also mentioned this topic is a trigger. I was just sharing that view with OP and then shared MY ideas of how I work to eat clean.

As mentioned else where in this post there are many definitions of clean eating. No where did I say I'm against processed food; they are incorporated into my daily diet. Are you implying I said otherwise? I have no judgements against how others eat and how they fill their calorie limits. I took the opportunity to share my experience with another user.

I feel like this is the perfect example of what I've mentioned. You seem to have taken my words and thrown them back at me making assumptions I'm judging other people's decisions. That the only conclusion I can come to based on your "surely you aren't suggesting otherwise" comment.

another_chelle wrote: »

@lemurcat12 I'm not sure how to respond to your post as I'm not sure what response your looking for.

I'm a long time lurker on mfp and time after time I've seen this type of thread go south. I think someone else in the thread also mentioned this topic is a trigger. I was just sharing that view with OP and then shared MY ideas of how I work to eat clean.

I am often genuinely curious if people are interested in sharing ideas with me when they ask for clean eaters. That's because although I don't self-define as a clean eater, I am definitely nutrition conscious, try to eat vegetables and protein at all meals, ideally eat 10+ servings of vegetables and fruit (mostly veg) per day, all the rest of the stuff I said before, no need to repeat. My understanding from reading about the concept and asking people here is that the most common definition of "clean eating" is NOT about any of that, but about processed foods, specifically not eating any, or, second most common, cutting out specific ingredients like flour and sugar. I eat some processed foods (mostly not ultra processed, but I would not agree that ultra processed = bad for you), and I do eat some flour and sugar, so under those definitions I am not a clean eater.

However, in discussing the concept here, I've noticed some interesting things. First, lots of people who ask about clean eating/eaters are really interested in people who eat like I do, and are just starting out adding in more vegetables, cooking for themselves, learning about nutrition. For them, exchanging recipes and meal ideas and how tos with me might be what they are looking for, and I can talk about how I first started doing lots of cooking for myself some years ago, and what helps me with healthy eating. So even though I don't self-define as a clean eater, I usually ask what is meant, as they might mean people like me (many of whom don't use the term clean eater).

Second, a confusing number of people who answer "NO processed food" to the question "what is clean eating to you," which for me cuts me out, because I'd have to lie to claim I did not eat processed food, and I don't aspire to cut out plain greek yogurt, etc, actually DO eat processed food, at least as much as me, often highly processed things like protein power. Which I find puzzling, and again is a reason to ask what is really meant.

As for it going south, my read is that usually it goes south because someone proclaims that anyone who doesn't clean eat (and know exactly what it means, duh) must not care about healthful eating at all, but want to eat fast food and donuts 24/7, which is obviously silly. You seemed to me to be saying that most people here weren't interested in healthful eating, which I think is clearly a misunderstanding (maybe because you think clean eating just means healthful eating as most people understand it?).

As mentioned else where in this post there are many definitions of clean eating. No where did I say I'm against processed food; they are incorporated into my daily diet. Are you implying I said otherwise?

Clean eating usually means no processed foods, IME (and again from asking people what they mean). But no, I didn't think you were saying you did not. I was a little offended that you seemed to think that disliking the term "clean eating" or even simply not using it and finding it confusing means that one is not interested in nutrition, does not have interesting things to say about how to eat more healthfully, does not value eating vegetables, etc. THAT's what you seemed to me to be saying.

I wanted to see if we could come to an agreement that "clean eating" is often used confusingly and that one need not "clean eat" (i.e., think processed foods are bad) to value healthful eating and improving one's diet.

As I said, if healthful eating is what OP was after, many, many people who don't self-define as clean eaters might be as helpful as those who do (who I tend to find on MFP are often those newest to trying to eat healthfully, etc.).

Edit: this was to the OP:

I moved over to the other thread already. ;-)

Processed food is a really huge category. It can mean "junk food," but it also can mean quite nutritious items like plain greek yogurt (although you may want to try cutting out dairy if digestive issues are a concern) and smoked salmon and foods that can be a good base for a healthy meal like rice and pasta and canned beans. (Not saying you should or shouldn't eat these, I don't care, but that you should not assume that anyone who eats processed food is eating junk* or cares nothing about nutrition.)

In other words, I think you are misunderstanding if you think "I don't eat clean" or "I don't find it valuable to cut out all processed foods 100% of the time" to mean "I only care about counting calories" or "I eat a lot of junk" or even to be inconsistent with "I mostly eat nutrient-dense foods cooked at home."

*Some people hate the term "junk," but I do mostly know what you mean and the term doesn't bother me, I don't think most think of it all that literally, but just mean low nutrient/high cal.

You don't have to respond, although I am sorry if not, because as I said before I do think it's mostly a misunderstanding.

another_chelle wrote: »

@lemurcat12 Like many people her I'm on a mission to lose weight and try and live a healthier lifestyle. I come to the community boards to gain motivation for my journey and ideas on how to make my overall plan better.

I understand you may want to have a conversation and understand where others are coming from however when you use phrases like "are you suggesting otherwise" and " I was offended" it becomes an inflammatory conversation.

I'm really not sure why, so perhaps I am communicating badly. Let me focus more specifically on your first post.

You said:

another_chelle wrote: »

You can't ask that type of question here It's all about calorie counting and meeting you specific calorie goal to lose weight.

This seems to me to be saying that people here are not open to discussions about health or nutrition, that we care ONLY about weight loss. I think you are misunderstanding.

I will share that I feel better overall when incorporating more fruits and veggies in my diet. Besides being able to eat more because of the low calorie nature of fruits and veggies I also get less heartburn, migraines and overall feel better.

This suggested to me that you are assuming that people who say they don't self-define as "clean eaters" don't eat vegetables and fruit, that that is something "people here" would dismiss or make fun of, vs. just focusing on calories.

Again, I think you are misunderstanding, if so.

When I said "are you suggesting others," I was genuinely asking if you think that everyone here who asks what "clean eating" means or does not self-identify as a "clean eater" was uninterested in healthful eating or vegetables and fruit, because I think that's pretty obviously not true, and yet so often people who say "I eat some processed foods" (again, processed foods being a huge category including many nutritious items) or "I include some sugar in my diet" get accused of not caring about health or eating only donuts. I did not think you were making that leap, but I was asking, because it appeared to me from your post that you were saying others here didn't care about healthy eating.

I was totally open to being wrong. Sorry if that did not come across well, and I am sorry if I misunderstood your post.

Can you understand at all that it gets tiresome to be accused of caring nothing about nutrition when many of us really do?

@Desifreckle
Hi there,

I try to eat clean, which to me is no processed food...so single ingredients.

For example, my food plan for today is:
B - 50g smoked salmon, 50g avocado & fresh lemon
L - lean mince with peppers, onions, garlic & chilli cooked in coconut oil with 50g (dry weight) basmati rice
D - fresh cod (with paprika), boiled potatoes & green beans with pine nuts

I stick to it as much as possible, but it can be difficult...so I don't beat myself up if I have spaghetti instead of rice