Tag Archive: eating clean

One of my major pet peeves is when people tell you the reason you’re not losing weight is because you’re not “eating clean.” What does “eating clean” even mean? You can buy a ton of books on these “lifestyle changes” that involve cutting out sugar, soda, sometimes dairy, sometimes fruit, anything processed, etc. For some people that is hell on earth – you cut out 99% of some peoples diet. I can understand why people tell you this. It’s a lot easier to lose weight when you’re eating cups and cups of spinach (which can be like 20 calories a cup) versus downing a whole 1,200 calorie pizza in one setting. But do you really NEED to eat clean to lose weight?

No. And if someone tells you that, slap them with some science yo.

First, let’s look at the nutrition professor who lost 27 pounds in two months eating just Twinkies, Hostes cakes and other gooey treats. He took a multivitamin and had one protein shake a day, but otherwise he ate Cartman-style meals for 2 months. And lost weight. And improved his cholesterol. His only requirement was to eat 1,800 calories a day or less. Considering his maintenance caloric intake is about 2,500 (according to him) this was enough to cause a serious deficit conducive to losing weight. He. Lost. Weight. Does he recommend this diet to anyone else? No, he doesn’t. He makes an important point though – some people in poor states live like this day in and day out. They only have access to a convenience store and there’s no grocery store for miles. I did an article on this, so you can read it here.

There’s also a marathon runner who sent a PR of 2:34.14 after eating nothing but McDonalds for 30 days. Spoiler alert: he lowered his cholesterol too. (If this freaks you out, google some articles about how Morgan Spurlock’s “Supersize Me” is kinda a total scam)

Now you’re asking, where’s the science? This is just some dude eating crap and losing weight, big deal. Don’t worry. There’s been a TWO YEAR study comparing diets of groups of people by changing their macronutrient intake and showing weight loss over this time. Some people ate only 15% protein, others 40% fat, etc. They wanted to know if the amount of calories you ate were more important than what you ate. Guess what? Calories won. It flew in the face of previous studies that only lasted 6 months or less testing various diets (Zone, Atkins, etc.) on different people. Long term calories are all that matter.

Now, I know what you are thinking. Losing weight =/= health. And you’re right! It doesn’t! These studies don’t take into account building muscle and needing adequate protein, or meeting your daily vitamin nutrients, or any of that fun stuff. However, this series is about metabolism and losing weight, so I’ll assume you all know this.

So no, you don’t have to “eat clean” to lose weight. Calories are king. Do you eat clean because it keeps you fuller longer? Because you genuinely enjoy vegetables and fruits? Is eating cleaning turning out to destroy your social life? Ask yourself these questions before you buy into this idea that you can or cannot eat certain foods in order to lose weight.