Do you need to “eat clean”?

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What does “eating clean” even mean?

To some, it can mean eating whole organic, non-GMO foods that aren’t sprayed with lots of pesticides, and doing their best to avoid other toxic ingredients like seed oils, natural flavors, and preservatives.

To others, “clean eating” can mean eating more of the things that progress them to a goal and less of the things that don’t. Like limiting added sugar or refined carbohydrates.

Or maybe “eating clean” means eating only baked chicken breast and boiled broccoli to maintain a very specific amount of calories and macronutrients.

Honestly, there’s many versions of this. It can mean any way of eating that considers some foods to be more pure or healthful than others, and strictly avoids any of the “unclean” foods.

Which, let’s be fair, can be problematic.

Some people might think that eating a Keto or vegetarian diet is clean, and they have to strictly adhere to all the rules and rituals, or they’re doing it wrong.

Any time they step outside of the rules of their diet, they beat themselves up and sometimes have to eat even cleaner for a few days to make up for it.

The end result of this behavior is called Orthorexia, a pattern of disordered eating that can negatively impact your mental and physical health.

If you think you might be dealing with an eating disorder or disordered eating, please talk to your doctor or find an eating disorder specialist.

It’s an easy pattern to fall into when you pay close attention to everything you eat.

Personally, I struggle with “eating clean”.

I’m pretty good at avoiding certain foods that I feel don’t serve me or my health. Refined grains, sugary sweets and drinks, or fried foods for example. I’ve been doing it for a while, and I know I feel better without them.

I know I feel and perform my best when I eat a combination of meat, eggs and cooked veggies, and fruits. I’ll include white rice in there as well sometimes.

But occasionally my carefully planned patterns of eating get interrupted.

We go on a family vacation and eat at restaurants for every meal, and indulge in fun, sweet treats.

Or we have a super busy week and instead of a from-scratch homemade meal, we order in or make frozen pizzas.

I make pizza on Wednesdays and Pancakes on Sundays for the boys, but I may have a bite once in a while.

Or we celebrate a holiday meal with family and eat way more that you need, and then stuff in pie and ice cream and everything else that comes with big celebrations.

Add to that days where I don’t get a workout in, or don’t move as much as I like to, and I feel… lazy.

And I KNOW I should never feel bad about any of that. 

I should never feel bad about eating the hamburger bun once in a while, or eating a bowl of pasta when we go to Olive Garden for my son’s birthday, or eating a slice of pie and some ice cream at Thanksgiving.

But there is a small, dark part of my lizard brain that does.

It makes me think I’m going to need to work out more to “earn” those calories. It makes me think I need to be more strict with carbs tomorrow because I ate a few slices of pizza.

Most of the time, I can talk myself out of it. My more rational brain steps in to calm everyone down.

I know it’s fine. The times I eat food that I would consider “junky” is pretty rare, and I don’t want to beat myself up over enjoying a treat once in a while.

Plus, all the work I’ve done to build muscle and better insulin sensitivity means that I am way more resilient to eating things that might spike my blood sugar once in a while.

Still, a deep-seated drive to “eat clean” can affect your daily eating habits, and can cause some serious paralysis when trying to decide what to eat.

We don’t always have hard boiled eggs or cooked ground beef in the fridge to eat for lunch, so I have to find the next best thing. Sometimes that means a string cheese or some nuts, maybe a few slices of turkey.

I do like planning ahead and having things pre-made so I don’t have to sweat it, but I also don’t want to spiral when I have a piece of toast or something I would normally avoid.

So, should you try to “eat clean”?

Honestly, I think for most of us, “eating clean” is a bar we set too high.

When we don’t reach that bar, we can be pretty unforgiving of ourselves.

I do think we should all try our best to eat mostly whole, nutrient-dense foods. Limit refined carbohydrates and added sugars. Remove seed oils.

Does that mean you have to be perfect? Absolutely not.

Spending your time and mental and emotional energy worrying about every ingredient you put into your body is exhausting, and will drive your mental health into the ground.

Bundled up with that is a bunch of psychology around body image, self confidence and self worth.

At the extreme of this obsessive spectrum, Orthorexia can lead to malnutrition and all the negative downstream effects of that.

Most of you won’t find yourselves spiraling down that rabbit hole.

But if you notice that you beat yourself up over eating a bowl of ice cream or think you have to “earn” those extra calories with a harder or longer workout, here’s some ideas that might help.

Use the “80/20 rule”. 80% of the time, you stick to your preferred way of eating as best you can. 20% of the time, you give yourself more flexibility to enjoy things you wouldn’t typically eat.

Take a walk. Sometimes, when I’m starting to stress about eating the “wrong thing” or not exercising enough, just taking a walk gets me out of that negative headspace and makes my body feel strong again.

Do some jumping jacks or squats or pushups. Anything that moves your muscles, really. Sometimes I just need to shake off feeling stuck and slow. I dunno, maybe my lizard brain connects that movement with using more energy.

Talk to someone. I know it’s not always the easiest thing to do, especially for us men. But talking it out just to get the s&*t off your chest can lighten the load and help you stop spinning out about it.

Realize you are not going to die. Even if you ate something totally unhealthy and fattening and you feel slow and sluggish and the brain fog creeps in and all you want to do is take a nap. It was just one meal, just one birthday party, just one day. This will not knock you off track, this will not kill you.

I’ll say it again, if you find yourself constantly struggling with needing to “eat clean” and beating yourself up when you don’t, it may do you some good to talk to an eating disorder treatment provider. 

Eating disorders and disordered eating are not my focus of expertise.

But I can help you identify warning signs, and navigate through impulses that could eventually lead to disordered eating.

Just remember, nobody is perfect, and no one is expecting you to be.

Finding healthy, sustainable ways of eating that you enjoy and bring you big time energy and focus, a clear mind and positive mood is what my practice is all about.

You should enjoy what you eat and not have to constantly be worried if you are eating the “right things”. (Something I have to remind myself of from time to time.)

I want to help you get back the energy and drive you lost. I want to help you conquer your anxiety and depression. And I want to help you look and feel your best.

We work 1-on-1 for 6 months making small incremental changes to achieve your goals.

Ready? Set up your free 15 minute consult call with me today.