Cleaner diet -- once you start, you can't stop....or else!

I'm wondering whether this is a common outcome for folks who've cleaned up their diets.  I've eaten clean(ish) for years -- mostly whole foods, only occasional greasy or sugary foods, but not particularly careful about fat or sugar content, as long as it was home-cooked foods from fresh, natural ingredients.  A few months ago, I started being a lot more careful, really limiting my intake of baked goods and switching to lower-fat protein sources, giving up half n half in my coffee about half the time, etc.  Well, I just went on vacation and I threw caution to the winds, ate what I wanted, didn't lift, walked a moderate pace at best (but lots of mileage!) I didn't eat much in the way of junk food, but I ate a lot of very rich, high-calorie food, a fair amount of candy, and coffee with cream every day.  I feel awfully sick now though.  Nothing digestive actually, but weak, tired, and depressed.  Also, I've had some minor, chronic conditions that had been under control go crazy on me. My doctor was skeptical about the chronic condition flare-ups being diet/lifestyle related, but I think the poor diet has me sort of run-down and that's allowed things to get out of hand.  Anyway, no real specific question here, but I wondered whether other people have noticed that they're more sensitive to diet once they've adopted a healthier lifestyle.  In the past, while my overall health was poorer, I could go on a high-calorie 'spree' without it making any change at all in how I felt.  I'll take feeling better and being compelled to stick to the good diet over my old ways, but I admit to feeling a bit whingy over this all the same!

I have found this to be true, too.

Unfortunately, it is the month of the State Fair here and on my first trip this year I went and binged pretty big on ice cream and sweets and now I am having a hell of a time weaning myself off of those cravings. I had been off of sweets entirely for about 5 months, and during the latter part of those 5 months I had no cravings for them. But d*mn that State Fair.

This is my second consecutive clean day and I so want to keep it up. I've been satisfying my sweet tooth with dried fruit and cocoa-roasted almonds but it is sooo hard.

What you're experiencing is the 'general crappy feeling' that goes hand in hand with a poor diet and mild malnutrition.   For many people this is their default setting... they've done it for so long that they think it's normal to feel 'generally crappy'.  You've experienced a good diet and good health for a while so you're noticing the difference.

I used to be a terrible Chinese takeaway junkie. Gave it up for about 6 months as part of my lose weight, get healthy campaign.  After 6 months I cracked and ordered 'my usual' as a treat.  When I ate it, it tasted horrible and the next day I felt 'generally crappy'.

At least now you know and you can choose..... Good luck

I guess I am the outlier here.  I, like the OP, always ate clean(ish) -- I love that term!  I simply ate too much, had too many "special treats", and didn't move enough.

I have been taking care of myself much better for the past 10 months, and am about halfway to goal.  I still find room in my plan for the odd "special treat", especially when I am away from home, and suffer no ill effects from them at all.  I don't go overboard, but they don't make me feel at all the way you report. 

Late this summer, during a heat spell (one of the few heat spells we had this summer) the newspaper ran a big picture/article about root beer floats which are one of my favorite special treats.  I just had to have one, so the next day I planned one into my calorie count, bought 2 bottles of root beer and a pint of Ben & Jerry's vanilla ice cream.  I made a small root beer float for myself and my husband after dinner the next day.  I enjoyed it thoroughly.  A few days later my husband said there was enough root beer and ice cream for another float, did I want it?  To my surprise, I didn't.  I had satisfied myself with my treat and didn't want it again.  Now, that was new, in the old days I wouldn't have been satisfied until the ice cream was gone!

Interesting that we are all so different.

I am very different. When I eat healthy....lots of low-cal Vegetables, Fruits, whole grains....all that "good stuff" my stomach will ache for days. Ill get so gassy and be in a tun of pain. People say "its your body getting used to the change and will eventually not hurt anymore", it just doesnt happen for me.

Maybe all my bad eating habits have screwed me up for life. But now I just eat whatever I really want as long as I stay within my calorie range for the day. Eating straight healthy food has just never worked for me. but then again, eating straight crap food has never worked either. I find a good balance of in between.

Perhaps it is because I am young but I haven't really felt bad when I "eat dirty".  I still have the occasional processed meal, but I don't feel sick afterwards.  I might not be able to put away as much as I used to before my stomach starts to hurt, but that is the only change.  My portion tolerance has shrunk.

I do notice, however, the acidity of fruit juice and soda much more.  I stopped drinking soda because I take medication that increases my stomach acid, and then I stopped drinking juice because bottled juice is too expensive for my budget and wegmans doesn't sell low-acid orange juice frozen concentrate.  If I drink juice or soda now it feels like burning in my mouth.