Flexible dieting vs clean eating

justinkimcentral · June 2018

So i know that clean is preferred but how does flexible dieting work. Is it just calories in vs calories out? I heard that Calorie in calorie out isnt all that simple though. So if i were to have noodles but still be under my maintainence, will i burn the same amount of fat as if i were clean eating under my maintainence

lynn_glenmont · June 2018

Yes.

Diatonic12 · June 2018

I have no preferences for Clean Eating. I don't even believe in it. Clean or Dirty Eating is subjective. Give yourself permission to do everything on your own terms. Yes, it really is that simple.

Honor your hunger and eat what you like. Otherwise, we trigger the 'primal' drive to overeat with excessive hunger and cravings wanting to eat all the things at one time when we put ourselves on some brutally strict protocol.

WinoGelato · June 2018

Whether you are eating clean or dirty, restricting certain foods or eating all things in moderation - a calorie deficit is what results in weight loss and Calories In Calories Out is the energy balance that describes how weight loss, maintenance and gain happens.

Clean eating is a vague and arbitrary term that means something different to everyone who purports to follow it. Noodles will not prevent you from losing weight any more than eating broccoli will cause you to lose weight - if both of them are done within the context of a calorie deficit. In fact, no reason not to eat both if you enjoy them.

Put your stats, goal weight, and a reasonable rate of loss in MFP. You will be given a calorie goal to strive to hit. Eat a variety of foods within that calorie goal focusing on those that provide nutrition, satiety, and enjoyment. Log everything as accurately as possible, ideally using a food scale. If you exercise, eat those calories back. Be patient and stop trying to classify foods as good and bad - it’s just food. It can all fit within the context of a varied and balanced diet.

sardelsa · June 2018

With clean eating there are more restrictions.. more rigidity. Certain foods are allowed and others forbidden. With flexible dieting no food is off limits and moderation is utilized.

For me I am very flexible. I eat everything but not all of it and not all the time. If I have a party to go to and eat all kinds of foods I'm not worried about falling off track because it's all part of the big plan. I've had a huge amount of success doing things this way.

Mini_Medic · June 2018

You get more bang for your buck eating “clean” aka most generally recognized as unprocessed, whole foods with little or no added sugars, such as fruits, vegetables, meats and grains. More bang meaning if you ate 1,000 calories worth of Twinkie’s (6.5 Twinkie’s to be exact) or 1,000 calories of broccoli and steak (that would be half a pound of broccoli and a very good 12 oz steak) your belly fullness/satisfaction and nutritional profile would be substantially better on the broccoli and steak. Eating only the 6 Twinkie’s would leave you sugar buzzed, bloated and still hungry. Same amount of calories but different outcome. You can really eat anything you want, it is just that too much straying from fruits, vegetables, meats and grains (not completely comprehensive just giving examples) and you will be spending too many calories on only a small amount of food. You can eat 1,000 calories of Twinkie’s and as long as your in a deficit you will still lose weight. The point is you will likely be very hungry. Your body will function, look and perform better on the broccoli and steak.

Everything in moderation!

sardelsa · June 2018

Mini_Medic wrote: »

You get more bang for your buck eating “clean” aka most generally recognized as unprocessed, whole foods with little or no added sugars, such as fruits, vegetables, meats and grains. More bang meaning if you ate 1,000 calories worth of Twinkie’s (6.5 Twinkie’s to be exact) or 1,000 calories of broccoli and steak (that would be half a pound of broccoli and a very good 12 oz steak) your belly fullness/satisfaction and nutritional profile would be substantially better on the broccoli and steak. Eating only the 6 Twinkie’s would leave you sugar buzzed, bloated and still hungry. Same amount of calories but different outcome. You can really eat anything you want, it is just that too much straying from fruits, vegetables, meats and grains (not completely comprehensive just giving examples) and you will be spending too many calories on only a small amount of food. You can eat 1,000 calories of Twinkie’s and as long as your in a deficit you will still lose weight. The point is you will likely be very hungry. Your body will function, look and perform better on the broccoli and steak.

Everything in moderation!

6 Twinkies would probably have me full and not wanting to eat for the rest of the day. Everyone is different

WinoGelato · June 2018

Mini_Medic wrote: »

You get more bang for your buck eating “clean” aka most generally recognized as unprocessed, whole foods with little or no added sugars, such as fruits, vegetables, meats and grains. More bang meaning if you ate 1,000 calories worth of Twinkie’s (6.5 Twinkie’s to be exact) or 1,000 calories of broccoli and steak (that would be half a pound of broccoli and a very good 12 oz steak) your belly fullness/satisfaction and nutritional profile would be substantially better on the broccoli and steak. Eating only the 6 Twinkie’s would leave you sugar buzzed, bloated and still hungry. Same amount of calories but different outcome. You can really eat anything you want, it is just that too much straying from fruits, vegetables, meats and grains (not completely comprehensive just giving examples) and you will be spending too many calories on only a small amount of food. You can eat 1,000 calories of Twinkie’s and as long as your in a deficit you will still lose weight. The point is you will likely be very hungry. Your body will function, look and perform better on the broccoli and steak.

Everything in moderation!

If it’s everything in moderation, then why use an extreme strawman example of an all Twinkie diet? What’s wrong with eating steak, broccoli, some roasted potatoes with healthy fats, AND a Twinkie if you so desire? Or a serving of gelato would be more my speed...

CarvedTones · June 2018

Clean eating is a vague, mostly meaningless label. Even people who think it makes a difference can't agree on what it is.

Unknown · June 2018

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psychod787 · June 2018

Why not do both... eat 90% whole nutritious foods, and 10% whatever the hell you want. Get your macros and micros.

amyepdx · June 2018

Why oh why does it always come down to Twinkies? I haven’t even seen a Twinkie in years!

AnvilHead · June 2018

Eat a nutritious, reasonably balanced diet that is sustainable for you, fits your calorie goals and don't worry about labeling foods "clean" or "dirty". To quote Eric Helms, ""Once our nutrient needs are met, we don’t get extra credit for eating more nutritious food!"

If you ask fruitarian, vegan, vegetarian, paleo, keto and "flexible" dieters what "clean eating" is, you'll get different answers from every one of them. It's a subjective phrase with no clear definition.

Yes, an all Twinkie diet would be bad for you. So would an all kale diet.

amusedmonkey · June 2018

This was my breakfast today and I enjoyed it:

Why did I have it?
1. Yesterday was a relative's birthday and I didn't feel the need to eat desserts. The main meal food looked more delicious and I didn't feel wasting calories on dessert was worth it when I could use them on those delicious dolmas. Simply knowing it's always a regret-free option makes it much much easier for me to say no to something when I don't feel it's worth the calories for that day. It doesn't feel like an opportunity I need to take and "cheat" before vowing to be "good" again.
2. I felt like having it today
3. I have my long run today so the calories are no issue
4. I don't have much planned for lunch or dinner so I can just make them as heavy or as light as I want and with any nutritional profile I want
5. Did I mention I felt like it today? It made me happy, didn't induce stress, and made me feel glad that there is a way to achieve my goals without deprivation. Mental health is very often ignored when someone tries to "have a healthy lifestyle".

I don't believe clean eating is superior. Just because I don't restrict foods doesn't mean I don't eat nutritious foods, I just don't make a big deal about it or treat it like a moral playground. Higher calorie foods are not nutritionally devoid anyway. Today's breakfast had pretty decent calcium.

rheddmobile · June 2018

amusedmonkey wrote: »

This was my breakfast today and I enjoyed it:

Why did I have it?
1. Yesterday was a relative's birthday and I didn't feel the need to eat desserts. The main meal food looked more delicious and I didn't feel wasting calories on dessert was worth it when I could use them on those delicious dolmas. Simply knowing it's always a regret-free option makes it much much easier for me to say no to something when I don't feel it's worth the calories for that day. It doesn't feel like an opportunity I need to take and "cheat" before vowing to be "good" again.
2. I felt like having it today
3. I have my long run today so the calories are no issue
4. I don't have much planned for lunch or dinner so I can just make them as heavy or as light as I want and with any nutritional profile I want
5. Did I mention I felt like it today? It made me happy, didn't induce stress, and made me feel glad that there is a way to achieve my goals without deprivation. Mental health is very often ignored when someone tries to "have a healthy lifestyle".

I don't believe clean eating is superior. Just because I don't restrict foods doesn't mean I don't eat nutritious foods, I just don't make a big deal about it or treat it like a moral playground. Higher calorie foods are not nutritionally devoid anyway. Today's breakfast had pretty decent calcium.

I love this! I had birthday cake for dinner one day last week for similar reasons. My diet overall was balanced and within my calories, and having cake by itself instead of with a meal helped me manage my blood glucose better.

OP, please don't be offended, but it makes me sad that you even need to ask such a question. It just shows how much useless hoodoo has been taught to would-be dieters. "Clean eating" is not a thing - someone on this site asked what was meant by it, and last time I looked they had tallied upwards of eighty different definitions of what "clean" was supposed to mean, everything from "nothing in a package" to "no GMOs." It's good to eat mainly foods which are good for you, but what that means is different from person to person depending on your needs, and it has nothing to do with losing weight.

There is one way in which different foods burn more calories - protein requires more energy to digest. However, the difference is so small that most people don't even need to worry about it when trying to lose weight.

kommodevaran · June 2018

justinkimcentral wrote: »

So i know that clean is preferred

By whom? Not me. People who eat clean don't even even agree on what clean eating is.

but how does flexible dieting work. Is it just calories in vs calories out?

Yes.

I heard that

I've heard a lot of things too. All of them aren't true.

Calorie in calorie out isnt all that simple though.

Yes it is. It's ridiculously simple. It's just not necessarily easy, because it means "eat less, move more, for real and forever". Not many people are ready for that.

So if i were to have noodles but still be under my maintainence, will i burn the same amount of fat as if i were clean eating under my maintainence

Were you going to only eat noodles? Your question is absurd.
Understand what maintenance means - the amount of calories that leads you to maintain a stable weight.

livingleanlivingclean · June 2018

To me, flexible dieting, aka IIFYM, requires you to meet certain goals for your macros (in grams, not percentages) as well as fibre. Your macros are set to help you achieve specific goals.

This is a preferred way of eating for me.

Clean eating does not necessarily mean you achieve anything except your lofty goals surrounding food intake and health. "eating clean" also doesn't mean you'll be healthy. There is more to health than what you out in your mouth.

NovusDies · June 2018

In my experience diets like life have good days and bad days. Days where you are in control over what you put in your mouth and days where social/occupation obligations put you at the mercy of others.

On good days and days where you are in control extra restrictions (like eating clean whatever that means) may not add up to much more than mild static. On bad days, in my experience, extra restrictions would just make things harder. I cannot tell you how grateful I have been at times that I have some processed frozen meal items available or that I can run out and grab a sandwich. I also do not want to the be the person who is sitting in the corner hungry because my diet won't let me eat the available food. I certainly don't want to come across as the pretentious preachy type when explaining why I can't join in especially if I don't have at least an ethical or religious reason to be doing it.

Diets already fail for so many reasons. My plan is to get where I want with the path of least resistance to reduce the danger of another failure. With every pound I lose I get healthier. For me that is good enough.

Jackie9003 · June 2018

I have no idea what clean eating is but it sounds faffy, restrictive and not sustainable in "real life" I also refuse to use the word diet in any context.
I have a calorie allowance and within that I'll eat whatever I want, so if I have fresh chicken and veg for my dinner I will have some calories left over for wine, chocolates, ice cream etc but if I have pizza then I won't, I'll sometimes have a banana in the afternoon other times I'll have crisps, the other week I had virtually nothing all day so I could go out for a meal in the evening.
For me losing weight, and eventually maintaining, is all about moderation i.e portion sizes and not having to make drastic changes to your lifestyle.

GrumpyHeadmistress · June 2018

I started this process with the whole concept of “yay, I can eat whatever I want as long as it’s within my calories” and that’s still true.

However I’ve ended up eating different foods (some would say “cleaner”) in order to make me fuller for longer and to give me energy to exercise. Plus I’m greedy and want to eat as much as possible.

I still absolutely eat cake, ice cream, chocolate, candy, burgers etc. In fact last nights dinner was a burger with fried chicken and waffles on it. Drenched in maple syrup. Topped with whipped cream and bacon bits. Nom. Fitted in my calories so...

fb47 · June 2018

I hate those words "clean eating". It's so subjective, I mean is a hamburger clean or junk? Some people label white rice as clean and some don't. I prefer a flexible diet where I eat an overall balanced diet that meets my micronutrients, fiber and my macros goal for the day. I hate it when something has too much restriction. The only restriction I want to have is not going over my macros, that's it.

amusedmonkey · June 2018

GrumpyHeadmistress wrote: »

I started this process with the whole concept of “yay, I can eat whatever I want as long as it’s within my calories” and that’s still true.

However I’ve ended up eating different foods (some would say “cleaner”) in order to make me fuller for longer and to give me energy to exercise. Plus I’m greedy and want to eat as much as possible.

I still absolutely eat cake, ice cream, chocolate, candy, burgers etc. In fact last nights dinner was a burger with fried chicken and waffles on it. Drenched in maple syrup. Topped with whipped cream and bacon bits. Nom. Fitted in my calories so...

See? That's what many people don't understand about flexible dieting. It's self-adjusting. Your choices adjust to your needs, preferences, and hunger level. It doesn't need rules set in stone about what foods to eat and what not to eat, but it also rarely translates into "twinkies all day every day". I have no idea why people understand it that way.

Ainadan · June 2018

I generally eat "clean" but it depends on by whose standards. I also like popcorn that has MSG in it. I think figuring out how to cook and eat healthily is a good idea.

But I think a big theme of the people on this forum is that if you are too restrictive or strict with your diet, you are going to fail. You have to find a way to make a sustainable life-change. Most of the time that doesn't mean cutting out everything fun from your diet forever, but rather learning how to eat those things in moderation, like people who are at a healthy weight do.

inertiastrength · June 2018

Someone told you you had to choose? This may come as a shock but many flexible dieters get most of their calories from whole, nutrient dense foods they just don't get PTSD when they eat a slice of cake.

Unknown · June 2018

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paperpudding · June 2018

Who said our body was like a Bunsen burner machine and macros did not matter????

AnvilHead · June 2018

justinkimcentral wrote: »

kommodevaran wrote: »

justinkimcentral wrote: »

So i know that clean is preferred

By whom? Not me. People who eat clean don't even even agree on what clean eating is.

but how does flexible dieting work. Is it just calories in vs calories out?

Yes.

I heard that

I've heard a lot of things too. All of them aren't true.

Calorie in calorie out isnt all that simple though.

Yes it is. It's ridiculously simple. It's just not necessarily easy, because it means "eat less, move more, for real and forever". Not many people are ready for that.

So if i were to have noodles but still be under my maintainence, will i burn the same amount of fat as if i were clean eating under my maintainence

Were you going to only eat noodles? Your question is absurd.
Understand what maintenance means - the amount of calories that leads you to maintain a stable weight.

Our body isnt a bunsen burner machine that just burns calories as it is. Macros for example...

Exactly what point are you trying to make here?

Orphia · June 2018

justinkimcentral wrote: »

kommodevaran wrote: »

justinkimcentral wrote: »

So i know that clean is preferred

By whom? Not me. People who eat clean don't even even agree on what clean eating is.

but how does flexible dieting work. Is it just calories in vs calories out?

Yes.

I heard that

I've heard a lot of things too. All of them aren't true.

Calorie in calorie out isnt all that simple though.

Yes it is. It's ridiculously simple. It's just not necessarily easy, because it means "eat less, move more, for real and forever". Not many people are ready for that.

So if i were to have noodles but still be under my maintainence, will i burn the same amount of fat as if i were clean eating under my maintainence

Were you going to only eat noodles? Your question is absurd.
Understand what maintenance means - the amount of calories that leads you to maintain a stable weight.

Our body isnt a bunsen burner machine that just burns calories as it is. Macros for example...

That makes no sense. "Calories" are units of energy. "Macros" describe things that have calories.

That's like saying "Our body isnt a bunsen burner machine that just burns calories as it is. Our bodies burn purple for example".

SLLRunner · June 2018

justinkimcentral wrote: »

So i know that clean is preferred but how does flexible dieting work. Is it just calories in vs calories out? I heard that Calorie in calorie out isnt all that simple though. So if i were to have noodles but still be under my maintainence, will i burn the same amount of fat as if i were clean eating under my maintainence

I think we can get ourselves into trouble with labels because clean eating or flexible eating may not be the same for any two people. You simply need to come up with a food plan that helps you best reach your goal to lose weight. Weight loss is accomplished via a calorie deficit.

So, you will lose weight no matter what you eat, or how you eat, as long as you stay in a calorie deficit. Everything else you throw into the mix, such as flexible eating or clean eating, or anything, are just tools to keep you on your journey toward weight management

Roobyzooby · June 2018

Eating food you enjoy and not restricting anything is the way I chose to go. You have to do what works for you. The phrase clean eating is nonsense to me. Food is food, food is fuel. I kept to my alloted calories and ate what ever I liked. 8 stone lost and been at maintenance for about 9 months now...still eating what I like and not having to transition away from fad food ideas and "clean" food.

VUA21 · June 2018

As long as my cookie didn't fall on the floor - it's clean.

If you eat a fairly healthy diet, eating extra doesn't earn you bonus points.

I've done best at eating ~75% healthy (fresh fruit & veggies, lean protiens, complex carbs/whole grains), the rest - snacks and less than "clean" foods. Doing this I have never felt deprived or ended up with severe cravings that lead to binging on stuff.

Look up Olympic athletes eating on YouTube - they have interviews showing what they eat, and guess what, it's NOT "clean eating", and these are the best athletes in the world that need to be at thier best for competition.

Flexible dieting vs clean eating

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