One of the comments in my last post got me to thinking about how strict some people are with eating clean. Many people eat clean for various reasons. Some people simply do it to get lean and cut, while some people do it for weight loss, or even medical reasons.
Some people have the discipline to eat clean with no desire to cheat. Then there are those of us who stray every now and then but for the most part stick to it 90% of the time.
Strict Clean Eater
A strict clean eater has made clean eating a 100% lifestyle choice. This means they probably never, ever stray and cheat by eating things that aren't qualified as clean eating foods. They are disciplined and don't think twice about what to eat.
Weekend Cheater
This type of person eats clean 5 to 6 days a week but uses the weekend to indulge in all of the foods that would never make the clean eating list. This means eating junk and then getting back on track at the start of the week.
Allows Typical Diet Foods/Beverages
This could mean allowing foods that contain sugar substitutes like diet colas, sugar free desserts, etc.
How strict are you with eating clean? Do you struggle with it or has it become a lifestyle change that you don't worry about anymore?
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
For the most part, I eat clean but allow for red wine and one or two cheat meals per week. Truth be told even my cheat meals are not too too bad. I cook at home so I control what goes in my cheat meals. I am always mindful of what I put in my body. I feel so good eating properly, I don’t really get tempted.
I am with Kristy. I allow myself to have red wine, but other than that eat clean all the time with very few cheat meals. If i dont have the bad food in the house I dont feel tempted. I feel I have worked sooooo hard to get my body lean, why sabotage it all for junk. Clean eating and excersize has helped me shed 43 lbs in 5 months.
Nice work Kellie!
I feel that eating clean is like someone handing you a blank check and telling you to fill in your amount. Only with clean eating you are filling in the blank on your future healthy self. Why ruin that blank check by cheating?
We eat clean as a family and allow ourselves to have some treats and less-than-healthy items. We normally make the things that aren’t so good for us from scratch so we always know what went into them.
I have been eating clean for years now. It is a lifestyle choice and you do feel and look healthier, not too mention I sometime think it prolongs aging. I don’t have to think twice whether it’s OK to eat certain foods. It’s pretty much a way of lifestyle change and my brain works automatically. When I see foods I train myself not to eat, I get turned off immediately as if it was a cigarette or drug. I have family members who thinks I am wierd eating this way and they look at me as I am torturing myself, but I’m really not because if you know how to cook clean, clean and healthy foods are pretty satisfying. There are a lot of great recipes on clean eating and it tastes great!
I eat clean for the most part. I’m 14, so sometimes my parents will make me eat a “normal” dinner with them. But, I don’t really crave non-clean foods! I’m not even lying, when I get hungry now, I immediately want an apple. Not a slice of pizza! I love this!
Please just stop. Stop with the “clean” and “dirty” eating or “clean” and “dirty” foods. Food is food. A meal is a meal. You do not “cheat” when you eat “dirty” food. The moral attachment that occurs when labeling foods in this way serves to generate guilt and is counterproductive to the goal of fat loss. Eliminate these words from your vocabulary and you’ll be happier and less neurotic.
Look up “orthorexia nervosa” if you need some more information: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15330084?ordinalpos=13&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum
If you take away the vocabulary we use to describe what we are doing to eat properly and feel good, how do we express what we are really trying to say? How would you phrase it?
Eating clean is definitely good for everything! you know when you’ve eaten foods that are not clean when you feel disgusting after you eat them. when you stick to natural foods you should feel energized not lethargic after you eat. you always have to watch your portions no matter what you eat so that doesn’t stop when eating clean. you just have to be true to what you know is going to make you feel good. it’s common sense we all KNOW what we should eat. we just have to eat it.
I have just started the process of clean eating. I am slowing elminated dirty foods from my diet. The hardest to delete is diet pepsi. I have found on some items I am saving money, but nned to slowly start buying organic free range meat, it is just soooo expensive, but I know its worth it
I think i’ll have something non “clean” once every few weeks.. a Starbucks, or a dessert, etc… but not very often. I don’t crave it anymore either… I had the worst sweet tooth before, and was honestly shocked when it just “dissapeared”.. I went from *gasp* 4 heaping sugars in my coffee to 1 organic tsp…
I’d say I eat clean 95% of the time!
Randall- “Meals” are not just “Meals” and “Food” is not just “Food”. If we didn’t specify between “clean” eating and “dirty” eating then losing weight and feeling better about ourselves both mentally and physically would mean nothing. You can’t say that a candy bar and an apple are the same “food” or a meal from Taco Bell and a homecooked chicken and brown rice with veggies are just “meals”, one is obviously “clean” and the other “dirty”. I do not feel that this is counter productive at all. It’s nice to know that there are other options to eating so you can lose weight, feel better about yourself and look better. The problem with america is they DO view “food” as “food” regardless of it’s nutritional value and that is why America is one of the most obese places in the world. It is nice to be educated as to what is “clean” for you to eat and what isn’t. I have changed my eating habits during my second pregnancy and I have never felt better about myself. I have more energy, I sleep so much better, my bowel movements are more regulated, I feel better about myself, just by making a few changes in what I eat daily. Eating “clean” foods such as fruits and veggies, turkey, whole wheat breads and tortillas, cutting off sodas and sugary drinks has made my life so much better. I hope that everyone can someday realize the harm that unhealthy or “dirty” foods has on your body and get educated and on the clean eating bandwagon
Good luck to you all!
I just recently started eating clean. I went on a few websites for a clean eating list, it turns out Ive been eating clean 90% of the time so it isnt hard for me at all.
Diane