Is "clean" eating really necessary?

[Weasel]

I keep reading about "eat only clean foods" and such. I sort of have an issue with this, is it really necessary to only eat the most healthy foods you can find out there? If your goal is to lose weight and you eat sensible and reduce your portion amounts then I don't see why it would be required to change your diet. Now don't get me wrong, I am not saying to keep eating a gallon of ice cream for supper in place of steak and potatoes, but do you really have to kill the potatoes and substitute long grain rice instead? If you track the potatoes and reduce the amount shouldn't that suffice? By the way, the gallon of ice cream for supper was done by a girl I worked with. She starved herself all day and then her only meal was a gallon of ice cream for supper. YIKES! I tried telling her about 6 meals a day to lose weight but she thought that would only make her more fat. So she stayed over weight....

I noticed once I joined ShapeFit that calories where correct, but I was taking in too much of those calories from fat. I have not changed eating habits too much except I now restrict fat intake to the tracker limits and in one month I have lost 6 pounds and 4 cm from around waist. Basically isn't a carb a carb as far as your metabolism is concerned? Can it really tell that those calories came from mashed potatoes and not long grain rice?

***side question: I have read that whey powder can lead to middle spread, I don't believe it and I think it is just scare tactics to get people to buy the new powder and supplements out there, what do you think?***

[Weasel]

Well no one replied but I sort of proved theory to myself. I am eating the foods I normally eat, but now track them and adjust as necessary and to date I have dropped 8 pounds and 3" around the gut (6 pack showing!!) while adding more muscle (an inch to arms alone). The only real change I have made is try not to eat carbs at night, but if daily amount is well below what it should be I will consume them.

One thing Shapefit did make me realize is that too many of calories were coming from hidden fat and carbs, and not enough from protein. For the first week or so I had real trouble getting below 47g of fat per day, but now I am the opposite, having trouble getting up to fat goal. I guess in this case if you have to err on a side less is better. Also, all of calories were normally consumed in 3 meals and a snack at night, now I spread it out over 5 or 6 meals which I think is the real winning key to losing weight.

[Endless1]

grats man, I've never considered potatoes not to be clean foods though.....unless there in the form of french fries or something. I think its mainly like refined sugars and the heavy chemical food that never expire that are the "unclean foods". Potatoes a hour before a workout seems like a great way to get extra energy, eatting them an hour before bed seems like it would be a bad idea though. But I completly agree with you I think you can eat pretty well whatever you want at times as long as you use portion control and are meeting your bodies nutritional needs.

[Nokie173]

I agree with portioning your size (calories) will help you lose. Eating clean to me is finding alternatives type food with more nutrition. Instead of white rice, I would go for brown rice. Brown rice has more fiber it also contains nutrients like magnesium, manganese, and zinc. Instead of deep fried chicken, I would go for grilled chicken breast. Grilled chicken has less calories and fat with lots more lean protein. Instead of white potatoes, I would go for sweet potatoes. First off… It tastes much better to me! Sweet potatoes is less starchy carbs and more complex carbs, low in calories and have more calcium, phosphorus, potassium, fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C and many more.

So, in sum…. Eating clean to me is to have better nutrients in the food and still portioning the size. Just because it’s healthier doesn’t mean it doesn’t contain calories.

[Weasel]

I agree, I have just discovered Jasmine rice, it is quite good. I have been doing a lot of reading since joining and I must say there does seem to be a lot of extremes out there. One fellow advocates no carbs after supper, while another states no carbs for breakfast. I believe that doing anything extreme is bound for failure; friend is currently on a "protein only" diet with carbs allowed once per week, why don't people just eat sensibly?

[christiana1203]

A couple of years ago I lost quite a lot of weight by just reducing portion size( counting calories) and trying to eat healthy... I would every now and again have something "bad", but that was only an exception...it wasn't all clean foods though, and it worked. Was working out a lot as well... weight came back as I didn't keep it up after a while, but that's not the issue here.
I tried a high protein diet earlier this year with only clean foods, and it worked...I could see changes in body after a couple of weeks only but needless to say I couldn't keep it up.
So yes I think that as long as you eat sensibly you can definitely loose weight. No need for extremes...especially if it's a diet you're not going to keep up.

[Weasel]

friend on the protein diet was a type 2 diabetic, big on him. He has now lost about 40 pounds in three months, but I have a couple of fears; 1. that he is trading diabetes for heart disease and clogged arteries, and 2. that once he returns to normal/modified normal diet with carbs and such that the weight will return.