"Clean Eating"?

Hi!

As a lurker in the "Weight Gainers: What did YOU eat today?" thread, I have noticed that some people are really religious in their nutrition. I know - KNOW - I need to rid myself of my sweet tooth. I began indulging in baked goods a few months back because I had "deprived" myself for so long and figured "oh, you can afford it." But I know it isn't what is best for my body.

So... I've read about some people and "clean eating." What is "clean eating" exactly? Is it just organic, or is it avoidance of all processed foods?

see I just don't do cheese.

In the interest of honesty I don't do cheese because I don't want to CUT the cheese in the middle of the night while sleeping next to my husband. He's seen me give birth but I don't want to fart for the man.

I don't know why I get this urge, Fidget, NOT to spark a snarky comment, because I know that you call people out on their BS and I think that's great. I don't want to be tempted to restrict my calories - so I stopped using the counter. I want to have a more balanced view of how my body actually burns calories, so I ask questions. And I want to silence some of the voices in my head (or is that my mother!?!??!) who basically make me feel like eating 4 oz. chicken and veggies for every meal ISN'T healthy.

But darnit I like cake...

I guess I'll stick to "clean enough."

Hey girl, I just want to let you know that I am a big follower of Clean Eating, but seeing as you are still in recovery from an ED you may want to consider your reasons for wanting to "eat clean". It is a perfectly healthy way of eating (you aren't cutting out food groups or calories) and as long as your motives are coming from the right place it is a great way to improve and maintain your health longterm.

"Clean" to me does not have to be organic. I do buy some organic produce and packaged items (packaged, not nessessarily "processed") but the majority of my grocery cart is not filled to the brim with "organic" labels. For me, clean eating means eating whole, natural foods and avoiding pre-made foods with any artifical ingredients or anything that is highly processed. Now that doesn't mean I avoid packaged foods altogether. For example, I would choose a sprouted grain bread over a regular loaf from the grocery, or choose Amy's organic low-sodium soup over a Cambells chicken noodle.

Another thing, cake is not "unclean" either. Any food that is homemade with REAL ingredients should not be automatically labeled "unclean" just because it contains butter or sugar. Of course at home such foods will be of much better quality since YOU control the ingredients and portion sizes. All things in moderation. It's perfectly find to have a homemade cookie or a bit of cake every now and then, and you shouldn't feel guilty if you made it yourself, that's for sure.

ok bsh if you start eating daily amounts of kfc, burgerking, mcdonalds, dunkin donuts, domino's pizza, washed down with 2L of coke. and support it with snacks of crisps and 3-4 bars of chocolate and your only fruit intake is a carton of capri sun and your only veg intake is the tomato and pickle in a burger... then  i will suggest that something a bit cleaner needs to be added to your diet.....

but right now i think you are doing great and i think you should allow your self plenty of everything.

and tel your mum and your ed  voice to p^ss off

Original Post by fidget84:

not from a cow who has grazed on organic grass seeds harvested by organic worms and processed by a farmer who then hand delivers it to the pizza store.

lmfao.

Yeah, balance is really what all of us ED recoverers are striving for. In all respects. Zebulancherry is working her way there, healthfully, and I do applaud her for it. I don't think it has been terribly easy for any of us - but in time we'll get there.

Merylwhite1's outlook on food matters is often a source of wisdom that I draw from. We complicate this crap way too much. We need to simplify. We need to relax. We need to LET GO.

Be careful about researching different ways to eat, such as clean eating.


It can start harmless -  but then, when you eat a food that is outside your  “comfort zone“  or “ list“, you get the same intense fear that you had about gaining weight, when you were anorexic.


I became orthorexic after my anorexia.

My advice, is to try to NOT think about food more than is necessary, until you are a healthy weight, and until you are mentally more recovered. That should be a year at least after you restore your weight, and then you still need to assess weather you are mentally ready to research and learn about food.

It is better if people are not interested in food science or nutrition while recovering, but I couldn’t help it as it has always been what I wanted to do; this is fine, but even I had to put it on hold, until I got healthy enough.

I had to just forgot about it all. Even though I had wanted a career in food science/related area my whole life.

Years before I had tried different ways of eating after my disorders, including clean eating.


I ended up using set ways of eating to control food once again; it was not about controlling my weight or calories, but about controlling the actual food. Another method of control.

Later, after a rest from any food research, I met a person who introduced me to an alternative way of eating, and I was genuinely interested and felt ready to continue to study my area of interest.

Now, I actually eat in a very different way to the way most people do, but despite eating so differently, I can do it in a way that is healthy.

I am an extreme and rare example because not every recovering person has always wanted a health career, and most people do not eat the way I do,   but the point is, it is HOW you eat, not necessarily WHAT you eat that can cause disorders.

I eat very differently but it dos not mean I have a disorder;  I go about how I eat in a normal way, for example, I am able to eat when I am hungry, naturally eat what I feel like, and not think about my choices or food again.

Any way a person chooses to eat becomes disordered when it negatively impacts their life, such as if they have to think about what they eat too much, and have to restrict things they enjoy, and think too much about it.

personaltrainer - I have heard of orthorexia. I was just asking about it because I had heard about it but didn't know much. Orthorexia, just like anorexia, sounds very stressful mentally and so I imagine that does something detrimental to the body, too. I can see how anorexia requiring "justification" to eat might lead to orthorexia.

What does everyone think of canned fruits and veggies? I ask because in some situations it can be prohibitively expensive to buy the fresh stuff. I buy a lot of fresh stuff at the Farmer's Market and cut it myself. Is there something about the canning that leeches out vitamins/minerals.

Fidget. I just finished my KFC breakfast and I'm moving onto a double helping of domino's pasta bowls now:-) Actually, the way you wrote that made me feel like my choices really are clean enough.

Perhaps my thinking about this WAS skewed, like if I knew enough about a new "style" of eating it would help me move away from my love of dessert. During the week, anyway, I have dessert at dessert time and I love it. That probably recalls a lot of the guilt association with food. If I'm looking to eliminate, that can't be good. If there comes a time when I need to lose weight, I guess cake can be the first things to go, but as I am not in any danger of that and in fact am in the opposite boat, I'll cake it up.

Or develop a love of pie.

im no exspert but im sure tinned fruit and veg can be just as good. your so right though it can be exspensive you go in the supermarket and can spend a couple of pounds and get a load of junk and all you can get fruit and veg wise is a couple of items of veg . isnt this clean eating expensive?

nancy clark sports nutritionist extraordinare, says canned fruit is jus as good as the fresh stuff. from a personal standpoint i feel better about eating the stuff in its own juice rather than syrup!

ive got that book id recommend it

i dunno anyone else who has that. but it kickstarted my recovery. its fantastic

Original Post by blueberry_lips:

Original Post by tryatri:

Butter has saturated fats, the margarine I was referring to was Crisco and other trans-fat margarines... Saturated fats are necessary to an extent, while trans-fat have no benefit.

I consider cake "clean eating" if it doesn't have trans-fat, high-fructose corn syrup, or any aftificial ingredients. So basically, I make all my own cake ('cause I can make freakin' delicious blueberry cake) and consider it clean, 'cause I don't add in the artificial ingredients.

Baked oatmeal and hummus and beans are all good, but sausage can be good too... Whole foods carries sausages that don't have any preservatives. I consider them clean because they're all natural. 

about the fats: usually true, but while you can do a lot better than trans fats most of the time, they DO benefit your body if you are fat-deprived. trans fats are better than no fats, i just thought i'd point out. like everything else, they are not only okay but good in moderation. deprivation is what gives no benefits. :)

Mm, I see what you mean about trans-fats. If you are fat deprived (such as most people recovering from an ED) then I believe trans-fats will get you out of that momentary fat-deprived state. If trans-fats are continued to be eaten, then it causes more problems. So I guess trans-fats CAN resolve fat-deprived problems, but it also creates it's own if eaten in large enough quantities (creating new problem).

Canned fruit over fresh: I prefer fresh even if it's canned in it's own natural juices because it has more fiber that way and helps you be more "regular".