How clean was your diet while actively losing weight?

I assume by eating clean you mean minimal added sugar and processed foods. Eating a diet rich in whole foods will definitely help you feel more full and many people do report that eating an excess of sugar/carbs can make them feel hungrier. However, your hunger from your treat could also be because you over-restrict on other days. You shouldn't add in a treat out of "boredom", you should eat it because you wanted to. If you ended up that hungry and went over your calories, it could be because of over-restriction as well. I'm curious how many calories you actually went over and if you still were actually in a deficit.

I assume by "clean eating" you mean less processed, sugar, sodium, grease, etc, versus, basically, things that walk or grow on land, or swim.

I do experience the same situation, OP. Junkier foods makes me want more junky food, whereas something healthy and nutritious doesn't. A bag of M&Ms just begets craving for more M&Ms and for me, with a bit of a binging issue, there is never "too many" M&Ms; I'll simply eat every single m&m until I run out of them or burst or the car runs out of gas to make another trip to the store for more of them, whichever comes first. But a bowl of fresh cantalope doesn't beget more cantalope. I can have a nice big bowl of 100 or 150 calories of cantalope, and not want any more. And then not be hungry for several hours.

Such is also very much the case for me with foods that can be prepared in a healthy vs junky way. For instance, I can happily enjoy one big baked chicken cutlet for dinner with a nice lemon viniagrette salad on top and feel sated and satisfied, but if it's a deep fried piece of chicken parmesan blanketed in a thick layer of cheese and sauce, I AM going back for seconds and maybe thirds or, tbh, most probably until there's none left.

So in short, it's much, much easier for me to stay on track by eating healthier foods most of the time. I do find that I never actually say to myself "And now I'm going to binge!" It starts with some junky sugary, fatty treat and takes off from there. As long as I (mostly) avoid those, I tend not to binge and I continue to lose weight. Junk food really throws me off my game.

The first 40 lbs of my weight loss journey I actually didn't really have this issue, because I was so motivated and amped to lose weight that I could've eaten my caloric quota in chocolate covered pizza and managed not to exceed my number. After around 40 lbs, it got a little harder to remember exactly why I was pounding the diet so hard and I knew I needed better methodology. I lost the next 40 lbs really focusing on eating foods that would not make me want to binge, and that's where I remain today. These days, I eat pretty healthy almost all of the time.

For the first 6 months or so of my diet I reserved 100-150 calories every day for a "treat", like a couple pieces of Dove dark chocolate or potato chips. I've since replaced that with heathier 100-150 calorie snacks, like pecans and such. I'm still a big advocate of having a little treat everyday, but I just feel like I do better without reminding myself constantly what True Junk Food is all about, because I love that stuff too much to make it co-exist long term with weight loss.

harper16 wrote: »

What is your definition of clean eating?

Washing your hands before a meal is considered clean eating!

I have found I lose best when eating what I like but limiting amounts. If you don't restrict eating what you like, you aren't likely to gorge on it in times of weakness. Eat when hungry as a rule of thumb. Keep busy. Don't eat out of boredom. I know my limits. If I know there's a good chance of going over calories, I do more exercise to compensate. Weightloss is generally all about taking in less than you burn.

Things that I have found affect my ability to adhere to calorie goals, in descending order of impact:

1) getting enough sleep
2) getting "enough" caffeine
3) getting enough protein
4) getting enough fiber (i.e., eating lots of veggies, fruit, beans, whole grains, and reasonable amounts of nuts and seeds).

Depending on how you define clean, I suppose the latter two factors could tend toward making a diet "cleaner."

To gain weight (which I did for a decade or so), to stay fat/obese (which I did for around 3 decades overlapping somewhat with the gaining), to lose weight (a little under a year), and to maintain a new healthy weight (nearly 5 years now), I ate pretty much the same foods throughout, just in different portion sizes, proportions, and frequencies.

That said, I've been accused of being a "clean eater" by people who've looked at my diary, but I consider that a term so poorly defined as to be meaningless.

I've been ovo-lacto vegetarian since 1974. I prefer whole-grain breads and pastas and such (taste preference, not philosophy). i love fruits and veggies. I enjoy craft beer and good wine. I eat some "added sugar" every day (but not a lot). I eat chocolate fairly often, in small portions. I like the occasional rich dessert or deep-fried food. I like pizza. I've never been a big consumer of fast food, soda pop, or the things I think people mean by "junk food" (even while gaining and staying fat - just don't love that stuff). I don't like protein powder, protein bars, green smoothies, or that sort of thing. Is that "clean"? I have no idea. Don't care.

Other than the first couple of weeks of loss while figuring out a good new routine & getting used to it, I haven't had a big struggle with hunger.

Generically, I think it's good to figure out which foods one finds filling and enjoyable, to strive for overall good nutrition, to eat the number of calories that lead to healthy bodyweight, and to dial in an eating style and schedule that's practical and satisfying for the individual. That last varies quite a lot between people, it seems from reading posts here.