have you lost weight *without* clean eating?

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  • placeboaddiction
    placeboaddiction Posts: 451 Member
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    50 of the 65 pounds I've lost were non-diet (I'm still not-dieting and losing weight). I just have changed my lifestyle. I use to eat a large pepperoni. I use to be able to eat 6 hot dogs. I use to be able to eat a double whopper with cheese. I can't now. I can eat max 4 slices of pizza and 2 hot dogs and if I must go to burger king, I get a Jr. Whopper with no fries.

    My weightloss was inspired by "The Fast Food Diet: Lose weight and feel great even if your too busy to eat right". The actual diet they proposed wasn't for me, but the first half of the book is really interesting and had me saying "well I'll be damned" a lot.
  • CherokeeTopaz
    CherokeeTopaz Posts: 299 Member
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    I have.. I give myself a choice between a soda a day OR snacks (lil debbies) lol and I eat 3 or 4 if I choose that but I don't necessarily eat that many every time I choose that. lol But I have to drink plenty of water and exercise alot. I already don't eat fruits and veggies so that's outta the question.. I can lose 2 pounds in 1 week. I do go days where I don't do sodas or snacks. lol
  • CherokeeTopaz
    CherokeeTopaz Posts: 299 Member
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    Oh.. I must add I'm also 29 weeks so I'm not really trying to lose right now.. maintaining is good though. :)
  • schalka
    schalka Posts: 57
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    I lost weight and still eat what i want ...if its not good or healthy stuff i eat LESS of it and try to fill up with good stuff, like if i really want round table pizza i eat it but try to have water and salad before my slice/s. I cant cut out bad foods cuz i love them and i think if i did i will just get grouchy or angry about dieting. :grumble:
    I lowered calories, keep excercising, and switch up workout routine all the time. Youll do fine
  • aj_31
    aj_31 Posts: 999 Member
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    I lost 40 lbs on Weight Watchers from 2010 to mid 2011. I never ate 'clean' on that program. I ate what I wanted in moderation. Now I'm stuck and I seem to be losing and gaining the same couple of pounds since I started lifting.
  • joanie152
    joanie152 Posts: 159 Member
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    Remember the guy who ate his daily calories all in twinkies? He still lost weight. A calorie is a calorie.
  • essjay76
    essjay76 Posts: 465 Member
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    Eating clean is a myth, I lost without it.

    The only thing that science has conclusively shown to be unclean are high carb beverages (soda, sports drinks, juice). Our bodies do not recognize carb-only liquid calories as calories yet it still has most hormonal effects, thus it has the double whammy of actually making you hungrier while sending no signals to you that you have taken in calories. Even a candy bar or cake is at least recognized by the body as food with a calorie content and thus you will get full from the calories.

    If anything is unclean it is fried foods, however you just have to realize that the caloric content is through the roof and plan accordingly.

    Huh? Eating clean is a "myth"? Why do you say that? It's a basic principle - eating a food as close to its natural state as possible. I think you have your own definition of it. If you meant to say that eating clean to lose weight is a myth or is unnecessary, you're right. Someone can severely restrict their calories by eating crap and still lose weight. Is it unhealthy to do so? Yes.
  • CherokeeTopaz
    CherokeeTopaz Posts: 299 Member
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    Eating clean is a myth, I lost without it.

    The only thing that science has conclusively shown to be unclean are high carb beverages (soda, sports drinks, juice). Our bodies do not recognize carb-only liquid calories as calories yet it still has most hormonal effects, thus it has the double whammy of actually making you hungrier while sending no signals to you that you have taken in calories. Even a candy bar or cake is at least recognized by the body as food with a calorie content and thus you will get full from the calories.

    If anything is unclean it is fried foods, however you just have to realize that the caloric content is through the roof and plan accordingly.

    Huh? Eating clean is a "myth"? Why do you say that? It's a basic principle - eating a food as close to its natural state as possible. I think you have your own definition of it. If you meant to say that eating clean to lose weight is a myth or is unnecessary, you're right. Someone can severely restrict their calories by eating crap and still lose weight. Is it unhealthy to do so? Yes.

    Whether you eat healthy or not you're still restricting your calories to lose weight.. That's the ONLY way you can. Now is eating healthy better for you?? Yeah.. but that's why multivitamins are so great. They keep those of us that don't eat healthy.. well healthy. :)
  • litatura
    litatura Posts: 569 Member
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    I eat cleaner, but definitely not clean. Daily, I get 8 servings of fresh fruits and veggies per day, raw natural nuts, the only meat I eat is chicken (boneless, skinless breast), and I consume very little bread products (this is due to a gluten/wheat sensivity, not for weight loss). Where I toe the line between healthy and not so healthy is my morning oatmeal is the instant packages, I put fat-free Cool Whip on my strawberries, etc. I totally cross into the unhealthy zone by still consuming full-on junk, but they are low calorie options like single serving/100 calorie treats (chocolate pudding cup, Rice Crispie square, Pop Chips), products that contain artificial sweetners (I have a mini can of Diet Coke daily), and lower fat/cal frozen dinners (Stouffers or thin crust pizza). As you can see from my ticker, I've lost 66lbs. in less than a year and am almost at goal. The way that I eat now is sustainable in the long term because I haven't cut out anything completely and I think this is why I don't have cravings/splurge. So, while others may disagree, I'm happy with not being squeaky clean, but cleaner.
  • kje2011
    kje2011 Posts: 502 Member
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    bump
  • dis5150
    dis5150 Posts: 157 Member
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    I lost weight and still eat what i want ...if its not good or healthy stuff i eat LESS of it and try to fill up with good stuff, like if i really want round table pizza i eat it but try to have water and salad before my slice/s. I cant cut out bad foods cuz i love them and i think if i did i will just get grouchy or angry about dieting. :grumble:
    I lowered calories, keep excercising, and switch up workout routine all the time. Youll do fine

    Off the subject but "ROUND TABLE PIZZA"!!! Oh how I miss Round Table! I lived the first 40 years of my life in Northern California and the past 4 in Colorado and Arkansas and all we have here is Pizza Hut. Now I will be dreaming of their Pepperoni thin crust. :)
  • chanstriste13
    chanstriste13 Posts: 3,277 Member
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    wow! thanks for all of this feedback!

    someone mentioned portion control - i do measure out my food, even though i log it sporadically. i've just gotten tired of the mfp 'in five weeks' promise that doesn't deliver.

    someone else mentioned that i shouldn't stop losing weight when i start eating better. tell me about it! but i have eaten *much* better this near-year of non loss than the nine months of consistent loss. i don't understand. and part of me does want to seek comfort in my tostinos and moe's, but i'm proud of the improvement in my diet, even if they aren't that extreme (well, i guess they're extreme to me) and i don't want to go back to those old habits.

    but i still wonder if maybe i just should look at my old food logs from last spring and eat the same stuff, even though i know it's a lot worse than what i eat now.

    so i don't know. someone mentioned protein. that's what i'm working on since last week, and trying to get it in withing 45 minutes of my workouts.

    no one has mentioned water yet, but i did break a plateau once (8 weeks - not 10 months) by upping my water from 8 to 12 servings a day. but 12 is about my tops - i can't seem to manage more than that.

    i keep hoping that there is some weird muscle/fat exchange going on - my arms and legs are much more defined and i have lines on my stomach, but i still carry a lot of weight on my belly so it's kind of weird. i'm getting way stronger. but my measurements aren't changing either.

    the good thing about all this is that it has been almost an entire year with no weight loss and i am still on the bandwagon, still working out, still maintaining my meal routines - this is the first time i've been at a place where i am committed to this even without seeing results, so that's kind of cool.

    i'll just keep switching things up and see if i can break the code. thanks for all of your comments, everyone!
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    Yeah.. but that's why multivitamins are so great. They keep those of us that don't eat healthy.. well healthy. :)

    Are you sure about that? Multivitamins are not without risk.
  • Matiara
    Matiara Posts: 377 Member
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    I don't eat clean and I'm losing fat steadily. I tried eating clean last year and a month into it, I ending up downing 2 bags of mini Peppermint Patties in three days and subsequently fell off the wagon altogether for a couple of weeks because I felt like a failure. I don't blame clean eating for that, but it showed me that it's just not for me. I prefer healthy foods to unhealthy ones. Honestly, if I'm at a gathering and a good fruit platter is offered alongside cookies, I always load up on the fruit. However, I don't want to eat healthy *all* the time. I also like to eat things simply because they taste good with no consideration of nutritional value.

    I went back to how I normally eat, which is 80% healthy and 20% not so healthy. When I say that I haven't given up fast food, "junk food", and sweets, that doesn't mean that I eat that stuff for three meals a day. I do it in moderation.

    Clean eating works well for a lot of people, and that's great. I just don't like the implication from *some* who eat clean that they are somehow superior to and so much more healthy than those who don't. My yearly physical results beg to differ.
  • CherokeeTopaz
    CherokeeTopaz Posts: 299 Member
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    Yeah.. but that's why multivitamins are so great. They keep those of us that don't eat healthy.. well healthy. :)

    Are you sure about that? Multivitamins are not without risk.

    Yep :) I don't have an iron deficiency due to vitamins and if they had any kind of crazy risks doctors wouldn't advise them during pregnancy. :)
  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
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    Multivitamins can make me nauseous. I thought I was pregnant for a while...
  • fiveohmike
    fiveohmike Posts: 1,297 Member
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    I have lost 22lbs so far, with getting retarded drunk on the weekends and binging on Jack in the Crack at 2am afterwards *shrug*

    I am sure I could have lost more without the binging session but my friends are Aholes (and all in shape)
  • thistimeismytime
    thistimeismytime Posts: 711 Member
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    Eating clean is for health. You don't have to eat clean to lose weight. I don't eat very clean, but I strive to go in that direction because I want to be healthy and live a long life, not just weigh a certain amount. Two totally different things. You can eat nothing but Twinkies and lose weight, but being healthy requires a lot more effort and balance.
  • Sublog
    Sublog Posts: 1,296 Member
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    Eating clean is for health. You don't have to eat clean to lose weight. I don't eat very clean, but I strive to go in that direction because I want to be healthy and live a long life, not just weigh a certain amount. Two totally different things. You can eat nothing but Twinkies and lose weight, but being healthy requires a lot more effort and balance.

    Define healthy?

    Cause I eat ice cream every day and tons of sugar and my health indicators/bloodwork/mental well being are off the chart good.
  • Pspetal
    Pspetal Posts: 426 Member
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    Yes. I operate under the rule "calories in, calories out."
    It doesn't matter what you eat as long as you stay within your calorie limit. It could be all fat or all protein. If you exercise worth 500 calories, you can eat 500 more 'clean or 'unclean' food. For me, eating clean is important because of my massive appetite. If I eat fresh fruits and vegetables, I can eat more food and be satisfied. The more I increase my "bad' food intake, the less I can eat that day.

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