Clean Eating: no processed/refined foods, no high sugar/fat foods, or no foods with dirt on them?
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The "shop the perimeter of the store" is the dumbest thing ever. I don't need to repeat what everyone else has already said, but seriously. The frickin bakery is on the outside of the grocery store. So is Ice cream.
"clean eating" is just a buzz word that I wish would go away. It doesn't really mean anything and I find it to be annoying.6 -
Rather than ‘clean eating’ I prefer saying I eat ‘whole foods’. Minimal processing, 5 or fewer ingredients that I can pronounce and know how to find them on my own. It isn’t about status for me. My mother and grandfather died of liver disease, which i believe was caused by unhealthy eating. I am trying to eat as healthy and whole as possible. I shop around the edges of the store and read every ingredient list.
if i just shopped the edges of the supermarket i use i would get....
salad stuff, mushrooms, peppers etc, coleslaw, potato salad, hummus and pre packaged sandwich meats....
gluten free stuff... fresh cakes and bread from the bakery
deli meat... warm chicken.... salad bar.... ooooh new fresh pizza counter... fresh fish and meat....
and then the freezer aisle...
super clean, great logic @msdunny! :laugh:
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lynn_glenmont wrote: »I just read through this entire thread. Why is everyone belittling others’ choices? If I try to eat whole, healthy, unprocessed foods, why does that matter to anyone? I am new to this ‘community’ but it really seems anything but that from what I’m seeing here.
So, your food is "clean" (as opposed to the dirty food other people eat), your food is "whole" (as opposed to the broken or incomplete food other people eat), and your food is "healthy" (as opposed to the unhealthy food other people eat), and it's the other people who are belittling others' choices?? OK.
Edited to fix typo.
When I've made efforts to "clean up MY diet" I never spared a thought about other people's diets. My OH eats fast food all the time and I don't judge him for it.
I think a lot of the backlash against clean eating is undeserved and non-clean eaters are projecting something on their WOE that simply isn't there in the mind of clean eaters.6 -
I try to avoid processed foods and to buy organic and free range meat. Thats what it means to me. But, I do inevitably eat processed food.0
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Q: "How do you get anything out of the supermarket without a box or a bag?"
A: Walk around the perimeter of the store and get fresh food only (and that's a relative term)....- Really driven people will work directly with a community supported agriculture program and obtain their food and dairy items from within an hour or so of their house... "farmer to table"
- That works if you have the financial means to do so and you don't live in a food desert as many poor people do.
- Sometimes the stores are too far and corner convenience marts and fast food are the closest thing.
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Q: "How do you get anything out of the supermarket without a box or a bag?"
A: Walk around the perimeter of the store and get fresh food only (and that's a relative term)....- Really driven people will work directly with a community supported agriculture program and obtain their food and dairy items from within an hour or so of their house... "farmer to table"
- That works if you have the financial means to do so and you don't live in a food desert as many poor people do.
- Sometimes the stores are too far and corner convenience marts and fast food are the closest thing.
What is the value in avoiding any food that comes in a box or bag? Just from the top of my head, I've got the following bagged or boxed items in my home: raw cashews, raw pumpkin seeds, quinoa, oats, black beans, garbanzo beans, and hemp seeds.
These foods are generally recognized to have nutritional benefits and fit into many definitions of "clean foods." Is the argument that I'd be better off without them?6 -
janejellyroll wrote: »Q: "How do you get anything out of the supermarket without a box or a bag?"
A: Walk around the perimeter of the store and get fresh food only (and that's a relative term)....- Really driven people will work directly with a community supported agriculture program and obtain their food and dairy items from within an hour or so of their house... "farmer to table"
- That works if you have the financial means to do so and you don't live in a food desert as many poor people do.
- Sometimes the stores are too far and corner convenience marts and fast food are the closest thing.
What is the value in avoiding any food that comes in a box or bag? Just from the top of my head, I've got the following bagged or boxed items in my home: raw cashews, raw pumpkin seeds, quinoa, oats, black beans, garbanzo beans, and hemp seeds.
These foods are generally recognized to have nutritional benefits and fit into many definitions of "clean foods." Is the argument that I'd be better off without them?
Depends, were they on the perimeter?
The grocery store where I used to live had the produce in the middle of the store, and I would often buy prebagged local apples and berries there. In a bag and not on the perimeter, so I guess they were bad for me.5 -
I saw a few posts to the effect "what difference does it make if I make it at home or buy it in a box with the same ingredients." When I think of bad or not clean and yes I dislike the term "clean eating" I am not talking about where the ingredient comes from. If I buy white bread at the store or bake it at home both will likely contain highly processed flour. The processed flour has literally everything that was good for us striped out. The perimeter of the store thing is a generalization thing and we should all be able to understand the intended meaning. Now that I have improved the types of food I eat I often peek into others carts and see the 4 two liter bottles of coke, 2 boxes of eggos frozen waffles, bags of chips, frozen fries in the electric cart that is used because it is too difficult to walk. I was never that bad but I did eat some crap back in the day. We are all free to call a way of eating clean or dirty if it makes us feel good. I just try to make healthy choices for me and my loved ones. It's funny how this happens as I age a bit. One of my old favs was a large chilli cheese-A-plenty. It is two cheese burgers on a bun with chilli on it and completely buried beneath onion rings and french fries. I washed it down with sweet iced tea. I cannot believe I would crave that mess.7
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I saw a few posts to the effect "what difference does it make if I make it at home or buy it in a box with the same ingredients." When I think of bad or not clean and yes I dislike the term "clean eating" I am not talking about where the ingredient comes from. If I buy white bread at the store or bake it at home both will likely contain highly processed flour. The processed flour has literally everything that was good for us striped out. The perimeter of the store thing is a generalization thing and we should all be able to understand the intended meaning. Now that I have improved the types of food I eat I often peek into others carts and see the 4 two liter bottles of coke, 2 boxes of eggos frozen waffles, bags of chips, frozen fries in the electric cart that is used because it is too difficult to walk. I was never that bad but I did eat some crap back in the day. We are all free to call a way of eating clean or dirty if it makes us feel good. I just try to make healthy choices for me and my loved ones. It's funny how this happens as I age a bit. One of my old favs was a large chilli cheese-A-plenty. It is two cheese burgers on a bun with chilli on it and completely buried beneath onion rings and french fries. I washed it down with sweet iced tea. I cannot believe I would crave that mess.
Someone wiser than me once said that trying to make sense out of life was like being given one random sentence from a novel and trying to determine the plot.
You peek in a total stranger's shopping cart once and assume that you're looking at their typical diet. You don't know:- Who's been invited to a potluck and asked to supply drinks or snack food. Or is doing a birthday party for their kid and feels it more important to compromise normal dietary standards for one day and serve what's served at the other parties, rather than—or alongside—the less-processed treats, rather than have their kid singled out for being weird/different.
- Who is living with chronic pain and some days, just doesn't have the energy to cook a meal from scratch. And sometimes, there are enough of those days that they've run out of the stuff they cooked ahead and froze, so they make sure that there's something in the freezer that they can pop in at the end of a long day, even if they didn't make it themselves.
- Who was asked to pick something up for a friend or family member, "since you're going to the store anyway".
- Who's watching what they eat, but still wants the occasional comfort food to snack on and, upon returning home, will measure out those bags of chips into 1-oz baggies and enjoy a small serving whenever. Or just feels like having Eggos for the first time in years.
Just because a person shops a certain way one day doesn't mean they shop that way every day. And if they do? So what?27 -
kshama2001 wrote: »lynn_glenmont wrote: »I just read through this entire thread. Why is everyone belittling others’ choices? If I try to eat whole, healthy, unprocessed foods, why does that matter to anyone? I am new to this ‘community’ but it really seems anything but that from what I’m seeing here.
So, your food is "clean" (as opposed to the dirty food other people eat), your food is "whole" (as opposed to the broken or incomplete food other people eat), and your food is "healthy" (as opposed to the unhealthy food other people eat), and it's the other people who are belittling others' choices?? OK.
Edited to fix typo.
When I've made efforts to "clean up MY diet" I never spared a thought about other people's diets. My OH eats fast food all the time and I don't judge him for it.
I think a lot of the backlash against clean eating is undeserved and non-clean eaters are projecting something on their WOE that simply isn't there in the mind of clean eaters.
I generally agree, sort of. I also understand some hostility/kneejerk reactions from those who dislike the term (who may or may not eat more "clean" than people claiming the term by most definitions, IME, so I don't actually think it's "clean eaters vs. non-clean eaters" as much as "clean-eating-terminology advocates vs. other-terminology advocates").
Too often, the term sails into threads on a heady gust of moralism and self-congratulation. (I have no reason to believe that's where the most recent PP to use the term was coming from.) Food orthodoxy is legitimate target for critical analysis, and the starting point of this thread pretty much called for it (probably should've been in the Debate forum).
When someone comes in all (metaphorically) fresh-faced and focused on health, and says they're "eating clean", but they're not coming across moralistically or prescriptively (other than using the way-too-popularized term), it's probably more effective to eye roll in the privacy of my own living room, but try to Be Nice. Doing otherwise does make it seem like a debate not about semantics but about eating practices.
Furthermore, the likely reaction of the fresh-faced poster is going to be - as we've just seen - feeling attacked or feeling offended, and assuming folks advocate eating cr*p . . . not exactly the best reaction to provoke in people who may be naive or imprecise with terminology, but who may benefit (us and them) if they hang around and develop a little more nuanced terminology. Non-posting readers who are new are possibly feeling some of the same feelings, so there may be second-order effect.
For my taste, the "my diet is better, and your diet is just bad" factions can back up the bus and take another route (even when it's me acting that way ), as it isn't helpful.
It comes down to whether we're trying to communicate and persuade, or just make points in the rhetorical games. Tone is all we've got, really, and not much of that in a mostly-text forum.
Oh, NVM, I'm psychoanalyzing and hectoring myself here, mostly.
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I think it means different things to different people, esp. considering we all have different goals. To me, it means cutting out processed food as much as I can, cutting back on sugar, and trying to get my nutes from as close to natural sources as possible. Sure, I have a bag of cookies and some ice cream for when the grand-daughter comes to visit, and sometimes I taste test it to make sure it's still good LOL - but that is only on occasion. BTW - I have problems with FODMAPs, so while I don't do Keto, I do eat lots of veggies and carbs from rice or potatoes only. No GMO or gluten/fructose wheat products.2
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I don't care what it is, because I have no plans to eat that way.1
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maureenkhilde wrote: »I too am confused by the term clean eating. I for one am eating foods that are not processed as much as possible. I admit to butter and a few that are processed. But mostly staying away from processed foods, packaged foods. But I do not refer what I am following as Clean eating. And not sure why anyone would think so called Clean eating would have some type of magic or goodness over any other type someone is following.
Don't worry about butter! I make butter with nothing more than heavy cream, salt, and a mason jar. Not all that processed when it comes down to it
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nutmegoreo wrote: »It varies with the individual. Someone follow keto will have a different description than someone who is vegetarian, or paleo, or even for those who feel everything in moderation is fine. That's why, in my opinion, the term clean eating is meaningless and trying to define it is a pointless exercise in futility.
Bingo!
Clean eating is about as meaningful as the Woo button that came after the Awesome button left.
Go over to Bobistheoilguy forums and one will see 'clean motor oil' as different meanings to different posters.
There is NO one way of eating that fits for ALL so what might be clean eating for one may be dirty eating for another.2 -
I wish that I still had a link to the thread, but I've had no luck finding it again. Once upon a time we had a thread comparing the diets of people who used the label "clean eating" for themselves and those who didn't. Their diets tended to be really close to each other. A lot of clean eaters use an 80/20 philosophy where cookies and candies and things fit occasionally. And a lot of non-clean eaters still want to hit certain macros, so cookies and candies and things only fit occasionally. It's two different ways of thinking that tend to get to the same result in the end.
The use of the label becomes extra confusing when you start looking at the specifics, imo. I don't call myself a clean eater. I subscribe pretty heavily to an IIFYM philosophy. But my diary has been called very clean at times by various people back when I was still logging.
I think some of the belief that non-clean eaters must be eating tons of cake and ice cream might stem from this 80/20 philosophy. If a clean eater eats non-clean foods 20% of the time and sees someone else say that they don't eat clean, then it's easy to fall into the trap of thinking they must eat almost no clean foods or at least more than 20% of their diet is non-clean because otherwise they could still identify as a clean eater. It's the old adage of three people trying to describe an elephant based on whether they're touching a tail, limb, or trunk. Most diets land somewhere in the middle, but the other person's diet seems foreign when they're coming at it from the other end.10 -
estherdragonbat wrote: »I saw a few posts to the effect "what difference does it make if I make it at home or buy it in a box with the same ingredients." When I think of bad or not clean and yes I dislike the term "clean eating" I am not talking about where the ingredient comes from. If I buy white bread at the store or bake it at home both will likely contain highly processed flour. The processed flour has literally everything that was good for us striped out. The perimeter of the store thing is a generalization thing and we should all be able to understand the intended meaning. Now that I have improved the types of food I eat I often peek into others carts and see the 4 two liter bottles of coke, 2 boxes of eggos frozen waffles, bags of chips, frozen fries in the electric cart that is used because it is too difficult to walk. I was never that bad but I did eat some crap back in the day. We are all free to call a way of eating clean or dirty if it makes us feel good. I just try to make healthy choices for me and my loved ones. It's funny how this happens as I age a bit. One of my old favs was a large chilli cheese-A-plenty. It is two cheese burgers on a bun with chilli on it and completely buried beneath onion rings and french fries. I washed it down with sweet iced tea. I cannot believe I would crave that mess.
Someone wiser than me once said that trying to make sense out of life was like being given one random sentence from a novel and trying to determine the plot.
You peek in a total stranger's shopping cart once and assume that you're looking at their typical diet. You don't know:- Who's been invited to a potluck and asked to supply drinks or snack food. Or is doing a birthday party for their kid and feels it more important to compromise normal dietary standards for one day and serve what's served at the other parties, rather than—or alongside—the less-processed treats, rather than have their kid singled out for being weird/different.
- Who is living with chronic pain and some days, just doesn't have the energy to cook a meal from scratch. And sometimes, there are enough of those days that they've run out of the stuff they cooked ahead and froze, so they make sure that there's something in the freezer that they can pop in at the end of a long day, even if they didn't make it themselves.
- Who was asked to pick something up for a friend or family member, "since you're going to the store anyway".
- Who's watching what they eat, but still wants the occasional comfort food to snack on and, upon returning home, will measure out those bags of chips into 1-oz baggies and enjoy a small serving whenever. Or just feels like having Eggos for the first time in years.
Just because a person shops a certain way one day doesn't mean they shop that way every day. And if they do? So what?
I was making a generalization and did not intend to offend anyone. When I see a cart full of foods that can be directly linked to obesity and diabetes without any healthy food choices and a person is in poor health. I can generally assume that they are all related. Sure its possible that they exercise daily and shop for others but I would bet that I am generally correct in my assumption. They are free to shop and eat any way they like. I only observe, I don't make faces or whisper derogatory remarks or shame them. I also admitted that I used to eat a very poor diet and I am sure others noticed the food and my 50 pound beer gut. My own son poked my belly once and asked "when is it due". That was the moment I started paying attention to my diet. Like a reformed smoker that can't stand the small of smoke I now notice the the difference in my cart and other peoples cart.11 -
estherdragonbat wrote: »I saw a few posts to the effect "what difference does it make if I make it at home or buy it in a box with the same ingredients." When I think of bad or not clean and yes I dislike the term "clean eating" I am not talking about where the ingredient comes from. If I buy white bread at the store or bake it at home both will likely contain highly processed flour. The processed flour has literally everything that was good for us striped out. The perimeter of the store thing is a generalization thing and we should all be able to understand the intended meaning. Now that I have improved the types of food I eat I often peek into others carts and see the 4 two liter bottles of coke, 2 boxes of eggos frozen waffles, bags of chips, frozen fries in the electric cart that is used because it is too difficult to walk. I was never that bad but I did eat some crap back in the day. We are all free to call a way of eating clean or dirty if it makes us feel good. I just try to make healthy choices for me and my loved ones. It's funny how this happens as I age a bit. One of my old favs was a large chilli cheese-A-plenty. It is two cheese burgers on a bun with chilli on it and completely buried beneath onion rings and french fries. I washed it down with sweet iced tea. I cannot believe I would crave that mess.
Someone wiser than me once said that trying to make sense out of life was like being given one random sentence from a novel and trying to determine the plot.
You peek in a total stranger's shopping cart once and assume that you're looking at their typical diet. You don't know:- Who's been invited to a potluck and asked to supply drinks or snack food. Or is doing a birthday party for their kid and feels it more important to compromise normal dietary standards for one day and serve what's served at the other parties, rather than—or alongside—the less-processed treats, rather than have their kid singled out for being weird/different.
- Who is living with chronic pain and some days, just doesn't have the energy to cook a meal from scratch. And sometimes, there are enough of those days that they've run out of the stuff they cooked ahead and froze, so they make sure that there's something in the freezer that they can pop in at the end of a long day, even if they didn't make it themselves.
- Who was asked to pick something up for a friend or family member, "since you're going to the store anyway".
- Who's watching what they eat, but still wants the occasional comfort food to snack on and, upon returning home, will measure out those bags of chips into 1-oz baggies and enjoy a small serving whenever. Or just feels like having Eggos for the first time in years.
Just because a person shops a certain way one day doesn't mean they shop that way every day. And if they do? So what?
I feel this way every time we're shopping for one of my teenager's marathon board gaming get-togethers
No doubt we've been judged for our cart full of frozen pizzas, chips, cookies, and soda. Luckily I don't give a *kitten* anymore. They're teenagers - let them eat crap when they have a party while they can still get away with it! 10 -
I LOL'd @ foods with no dirt on them...5 second rule g2g3
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estherdragonbat wrote: »I saw a few posts to the effect "what difference does it make if I make it at home or buy it in a box with the same ingredients." When I think of bad or not clean and yes I dislike the term "clean eating" I am not talking about where the ingredient comes from. If I buy white bread at the store or bake it at home both will likely contain highly processed flour. The processed flour has literally everything that was good for us striped out. The perimeter of the store thing is a generalization thing and we should all be able to understand the intended meaning. Now that I have improved the types of food I eat I often peek into others carts and see the 4 two liter bottles of coke, 2 boxes of eggos frozen waffles, bags of chips, frozen fries in the electric cart that is used because it is too difficult to walk. I was never that bad but I did eat some crap back in the day. We are all free to call a way of eating clean or dirty if it makes us feel good. I just try to make healthy choices for me and my loved ones. It's funny how this happens as I age a bit. One of my old favs was a large chilli cheese-A-plenty. It is two cheese burgers on a bun with chilli on it and completely buried beneath onion rings and french fries. I washed it down with sweet iced tea. I cannot believe I would crave that mess.
Someone wiser than me once said that trying to make sense out of life was like being given one random sentence from a novel and trying to determine the plot.
You peek in a total stranger's shopping cart once and assume that you're looking at their typical diet. You don't know:- Who's been invited to a potluck and asked to supply drinks or snack food. Or is doing a birthday party for their kid and feels it more important to compromise normal dietary standards for one day and serve what's served at the other parties, rather than—or alongside—the less-processed treats, rather than have their kid singled out for being weird/different.
- Who is living with chronic pain and some days, just doesn't have the energy to cook a meal from scratch. And sometimes, there are enough of those days that they've run out of the stuff they cooked ahead and froze, so they make sure that there's something in the freezer that they can pop in at the end of a long day, even if they didn't make it themselves.
- Who was asked to pick something up for a friend or family member, "since you're going to the store anyway".
- Who's watching what they eat, but still wants the occasional comfort food to snack on and, upon returning home, will measure out those bags of chips into 1-oz baggies and enjoy a small serving whenever. Or just feels like having Eggos for the first time in years.
Just because a person shops a certain way one day doesn't mean they shop that way every day. And if they do? So what?
Or someone with a chronic illness that's on a highly restricted diet and who is severely underweight who is trying to eat whatever they can tolerate to get calories in. I'm that person. I have gastroparesis and I'm low fiber/low-moderate fat and have trouble getting in more that 500-800 calories a day. I'm also 5'8 105.3 bmi 16.0 so hell yah my cart has juice, white carbs, sometimes pop and very little to no vegetables , fruits or meats. Eating something is better than eating nothing. Gotta love the judgy mcjudgypants.13
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