Eating "clean"... What does it REALLY mean?

i have just started clean eating am eating foods that isnt proccessed x

Wash your hands for a full 40 secs before you eat.

You may see a big change shortly after you stop nursing. That is when my stomach went away after both my pregnancies. Eating clean doesn't have a 'real' definition out there, so people basically make up their own rules for how to do it. High level definition though is food that is unprocessed or minimally processed - as close to its natural form as possible.

To me, 100% "Clean" eating means staying away from as much processed stuff as possible - to me, clean = natural, so fresh fruits/veggies (or frozen if they were just frozen from fresh, not processed/had a bunch of stuff added), lean meats, milk, water, no soda, etc.

Having said that, though, I personally believe in clean-ish eating. Yes, I'm trying to incorporate more fresh fruits and veggies into our diet (we always did the lean meats) and I'm trying to cook more of our food ourselves so we aren't using the preprocessed and pre-prepared stuff. A can of chili, or example, is always going to be less healthy for you than what you can make yourself. But I enjoy my sweets occassionally, I still buy Pepsi (not even DIET! Double Gasp! LOL), I just don't consume much of it. Anything in moderation.

And just a tip - if you're exercising that heavily and losing at that rate WHILE BFing, make sure you're getting enough water/liquids. Sounds to me like you're doling great.

http://www.wannabebig.com/diet-and-nutrition/the-dirt-on-clean-eating/

I like this part from the article

"For those hoping that I’ll tell you to have fun eating whatever you want, you’re in luck. But, like everything in life, you’ll have to moderate your indulgence, and the 10-20% guideline is the best way I’ve found to do this. There currently is no compelling evidence suggesting that a diet whose calories are 80-90% from whole & minimally processed foods is not prudent enough for maximizing health, longevity, body composition, or training performance. As a matter of fact, research I just discussed points to the possibility that it’s more psychologically sound to allow a certain amount of flexibility for indulgences rather than none at all. And just to reiterate, processed does not always mean devoid of nutritional value. Whey and whey/casein blends are prime examples of nutritional powerhouses that happen to be removed from their original food matrix."

This is basically my thinking.

According to my cousin, I mostly eat "clean", though I call it eating whole foods (not WholeFoods!). From what you described, it sounds like you're eating just fine.

My preference is to avoid heavily processed foods*, prepackaged stuff, artificial flavors, or colors, etc. Fillers and pointlessly added fats are a no-no, like peanut butter with more oils (or corn syrup?!) added in. On the other hand, I do eat butter, eggs with their yolks, whole milk, and all kinds of other fatty foods, and real (raw) cane sugar, maple syrup, and honey. It's not fat/sugar/carbs that are bad for you, it's excess. Eating "clean" just makes it harder to unknowingly eat extra fats and sweeteners, and the foods you do eat will generally be more satisfying.

I try to buy organic when I can, because I'm nutty about environmental responsibility and because the organic certification adheres to a stricter standard for quality and labeling. Even more than that I try to buy local whenever possible. Food grown and produced near you has had less time to wilt, spoil, or lose nutrients. Fruits have more time to ripen naturally on the tree. Vegetables are crisper. Eggs, dairy, and meats will be from smaller family farms that can devote more time, and better food to their livestock, which produces a richer and healthier end product for you.

I don't know if that's what everybody means when they say "eat clean"... but that's what I think.

Was your second child bigger? and/or did your belly get bigger than with your first? Maybe your muscles just stretched more, and it will take a bit longer to get them back to where you want.

*My one caveat is that I don't eat meat, and processed fake-meats are part of a compromise between me and my meat-eating husband. :ohwell:

I couldn't do much with my weight while I was nursing. My body just wouldn't let it go. Too low of calories would effect my milk supply. It's hard but try not to worry about it too much until you wean. (Unless you plan on nursing the kid until it's 4 like the lady in the Time magazine...)

keep doing what you are doing.

you do not need to eat "clean" in order to lose weight, or be healthy.