Here's an article by JCD Fitness, you can search on google to get to his site as it is full of great info, and is all free too which is awesome. I think this article is important cause it shows the balance, that yeah you can achive great results eating "clean" but you can also achive great results not eating clean as well. Here's the article
Clean eating – it’s a term we’ve all used and have surely heard a million times.* We’ve stumbled upon it in the magazines, seen it in our favorite diet books and have probably even heard it on TV.* Heck there’s even a magazine titled Clean Eating.
Now I have no problem with the magazine – the recipes are really good and the pictures are something I often lust after.* I do, however, have a problem with the negative connotation it presents to the minds of many health and fitness enthusiasts and even some professionals unwilling to consider other ideas.
For many who adhere strictly to the clean-eating principles, it cripples our relationship with food and often affects our social lives.* For some, it has much steeper consequences.* An obsession with clean eating and meal timing can be the cause for dysfunctional eating down the road for a few.
I cannot say that clean eating is the cause of any particular eating disorder, but my hunch tells me ideas behind the concept are partly responsible for many health and fitness folk developing a tragic relationship with their cheesecake.
An Obsession in the Making
In my first year of college, I was very fortunate to get involved with a great group of people the opening weeks of class.* Most of these people also happened to be very physically active like myself and enjoyed competition as much as I did.
It turned out that every year a little contest was held during a student conference over Christmas break.* It was secret and non-commercial.* They labelled it the “best-body competition” although it had no formal name.* Yea, I was invited to compete.
The cost was $60 to enter and there were about 15-20 participants.* There was first, second and third place prize money to be had and I made up my mind to be a placing contestant.
At the time of my joining, I was pretty chunky.* I was still athletic as I continued the resistance training I participated in for football but I really needed to lose about 35+ pounds to have a shot at this thing.
So what did I do?* Just like most everyone does, I scoured the internet and every magazine for all the info on clean eating and losing body fat that I could find.* My of my sleepless nights spent searching were successful; well at least I thought so anyway.
So for about 3 months straight, I put my newfound knowledge to good use.* I ate 6-7 small meals daily, all of which contained about 30-40g of protein, fiber, healthy fat and some form of clean carbohydrate.* I trained on the weights about 4-5 times all the while doing 20+ miles on the elliptical or treadmill every 7 days.* Smell a disaster?
Weekly schedule
Up at 7 to do my cardio.
Breakfast right after.
Class.
Weights after class.
In all reality, the only reason I believe I didn’t burn out had to be a result of my previous athletic conditioning and from the sheer amount of food I was eating.
I had an unlimited meal pass to the cafeteria, therefore in between classes, I used to roll in and grab some lean protein and a few pieces of fruit for a snack.* All my meals were deemed clean as I ate lots of egg whites (cholesterol is bad, you know?), bland brown rice (no MSG from seasoning), oatmeal (not the packets either), cottage cheese, steamed broccoli (no butter), the occasional spoon of natural peanut butter and dry chicken breast. **The diet was miserable as I watched all of my friends eat greasy pasta, ribs and ice cream cones – they were as active as I was and in fairly decent condition, too.
While I never counted calories (I didn’t know how at the time), I’d guess I was eating between 2500 and3000 calories on most days.* Some days were well above 4000 calories (unintended binge cheat days).* Keep in mind I was walking everywhere, training twice daily and always atended social functions (standing, dancing, and trying not to pass out).
To cut myself short, the moral of the story is this.* I lost a good 35-40 pounds in both fat and muscle and got the 2nd place prize money.* This was also the very first time in my life that I’d ever seen a full row of abs when gazing into the mirror.
And here is where it gets dark.
One word: OBSESSION
But before we get into what I went through, let’s first establish what clean eating really entails and why it makes no sense – no matter how you look at it.
Clean Eating Exposed
While there is no real basis as to what constitutes a clean and a dirty source of food, the idea is still prevalent to this day.* Allow me to educate you on why this faulty type of thinking stands firm.
I have no clue where the concepts came about or who originally coined these terms but I think they’re awful and here’s why.
Typically, clean foods are considered to be whole, unprocessed, low-calorie choices and dirty foods tend to be higher in calories, full of flavor, the occasional man-made compounds such as artificial sweeteners or trans-fats, and they’re only acceptable every once in a while (and for some – NEVER).
It’s common knowledge that clean eating will produce the muscle gain and fat loss results you want, while a diet full of dirty food will give you subpar results at best.* However, this makes no sense when looking at the macro composition of foods that are often referred to as clean or dirty.
If I were to sit the stereotypical, fitness junkie down for a flash card test, in which he/she labelled foods as dirty or clean based upon a picture, this is likely how I imagine it would go.
Flash Card: Pizza
Fitness Junkie: Dirty
Flash Card: Tomatoes, olives, shredded cheese, onions, beef
Fitness Junkie: Clean, bro!
Flash Card: Stir fry with white rice
Fitness Junkie: Dirty
Flash Card: Brown rice, broccoli, asparagus, chicken
Fitness Junkie: Clean
Flash Card: White bread
Fitness Junkie: Dirty
Flash Card: Whole grain, wheat bread
Fitness Junkie: Clean
Without further ado, I’m certain you get the point.* And here’s why it makes no sense.
Let’s take a pizza pie for example.* I love pizza and I love even more so to make my own at home.* I eat the same foods day in and day out so spicing up my diet with something like a fresh pizza is always a treat.
The typical ingredients for a pizza are dough, crushed tomatoes, cheese, meat (beef, pork, chicken), olive oil, lots of veggies and sometimes fruit like pineapple.* All of these foods by themselves are typically deemed clean by the informed fitness fanatic.
Combine them for an awesome pizza pie and you can’t bust their mouths open with a baseball bat.
We’ve garnered some sort of negative connotation with these foods that are traditionally higher in calories mainly because of the fast-food way of preparing them (lots of oil and other high fat items) but in reality, there is nothing different about the macro composition.
And this is why many people will allow their social lives to take a nosedive – all because of some false belief that a slice or two of pizza will make their waistline expand but an equal caloric amount of brown rice and chicken won’t.
Now let’s take a look at how this myth began to cripple me.
How a Newfound Hobby Turned into Mental Chaos
After the competition was finished, we headed over to the local 24-hour diner.* I ordered the fattest plate of eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, waffles, hash browns and cheesy grits you’ve ever seen.* It would’ve made Adam Richman (man vs. food) very proud.* If I had the money, I would’ve gotten the entire dessert menu for my appetizer.
You see, after long periods of clean eating, it’s common knowledge to have a cheat meal.* Mine was epic.* The mental anguish I experienced a few days later was more than I could bear.* After seeing a full row of abs completely blurred out as a result of the sheer amount of food and sodium I inhaled – I was in shock.* It was traumatizing to witness all of my hard work completely undone. Little did I know that it was only water retention and I would return to normal a few days later.
Now, when this happens I just brush it off because I know in a few days the water will flush out and I’ll return to previous sexification.* Then, however, I had no such clue.
And this is where a bad cycle began.* All because of clean eating.
You see, at this point, the only smart thing to do would’ve been to cut back on the cardio, tone down the weight training for a few weeks and take a well-deserved break but I didn’t.
I fully believed in the go-hard-or-go-home approach, so I kept everything up.* Except this time, I was more devoted than ever.* I even started separating my meals into protein/carb and protein/fat portions for fear of fat storage.
What did this mean exactly?
It meant I was the only one abstaining from pizza during social outings.* It meant omitting the bun from my hamburgers during our Sunday evening cookouts.* It also meant I ordered the naked chicken tenders with water instead of enjoying the wings and beer with all my buddies at the bar.
It was all because of my obsession with the clean and unclean myth that plagues many fitness enthusiasts’ psyche even to this very hour.
Someone out there right now is worrying incessantly about whether or not to have some melted cheese on their chicken and rice.* No joke – it’s happening.
This went on for a period of time.* I wasn’t making progress and was tired of spinning my wheels.* Luckily, I found a coach who pointed me in the right direction.
The truth is, people like me, and many others have been on both sides of the fence and not just the clean eating side.* I’ve went through periods of time where all I ate was sugary cereal, and white bread for my carbohydrate sources with no ill-effect.* Nothing.* I didn’t magically gain any fat or lose any muscle.* I’d say the only real difference I noticed was a slight increase in hunger just because there’s very little fiber in those food choices and they’re easier (for me) to overeat, etc.
So yes, I know what it’s truly like to be married to a false concept.* I also know what it’s like to break that bond.* The grass really is greener over here, by the way.* Read my meal frequency article to understand what I mean.
Clean Eating and Cheat Meals – Don’t Get Caught Up
Finally, the last concept I want to mention is the cheat meal situation.* As Home sapiens, it’s coded into our being to give into do something we ought not to do.* Yea, it’s the rebellious gene and we all have it.
But here’s the problem, a cheat meal is lame, and when you think about it, what are you accomplishing as a result?
Since most cheat meals, by nature, consist of a boatload of calories you’ve been depriving yourself of for weeks and even months, it does nothing for your long-term strategy.* The reason is because for many, the few days after a cheat meal (sometimes resulting in a binge) usually consist of excess exercise and a lack of nutrients.* After a few days of deprivation, you have the urge to cheat yet again.* I’m sure you can see where this might lead.
So, ideally, you will abandon the notion of clean eating altogether and adopt a mindset of food being energy and nothing else.* Say it out loud with me.
“Food is neither clean nor unclean, but merely energy my body needs to function and survive.”
That’s it.* If you look at it this way, there’s no reason you can’t fit a brownie in for dessert a few times per week.* By going about it this way, you eliminate the desire for a full-on cheat meal and you’ll prove to yourself that the clean eating concept is nothing but horsefeathers.
It doesn’t exist.
Your turn.* What do you think?
This article was written by JCD Fitness
