-Diablo's Journal, 26 June 2019

I agree with you 100 percent. It's hard, "clean" eating is so hard for me to do. I've been going back and forth all year, and even weight more than when I started really trying to lose weight this year. The binge eating just gets to me. It's hard to get clean and not be able to eat everything you used to. Mine also is a lot to do with stress.  

Good to hear it helps you. I have never been consistent for more than a year but now it is pretty simple. 

I'd never heard of "flexible" eating before FS references. What constitutes "clean eating" on a flexible diet? 

I do flexible eating as well. I tried straight clean eating and keto went from 450 to 350 well started bingeing again and gained it back in no time. So now I'm going flexible eating and back down some, it seems to be working for me.  

"Clean" would be lean chicken breast, brown rice, sweet potatoes, oatmeal, saltless nuts, vegetables and fruit. For other diets, some of those wouldn't be considered "clean". I eat plenty of that but I also have daily treats. I used to believe that a piece of cake ruined your day when it came to losing fat. This was before I heard of IIFYM which stands for if it fits your macros. You can eat nothing but "junk", lose fat, and become healthier overall since being overweight is much worse for you than the temporary quality of food. It wouldn't be a good idea long term, of course. 

Great to hear, Angelface! My wife is doing it as well and has lost almost 40 since late February. 

I agree, when a food becomes forbidden it becomes much more tempting to have, you feel your missing out. Work that food into your daily calories and have it. I would definitely miss my NY bagels if I didn't work them into my calories once in a while. This journey is for life, strict restrictions will not last, having flexibility (for me) is much easier to do long term. 

Yes, for life, quick fix diets don't last for me either. 

I love this. 🙌🏻 

💯💯💯 

I think we all experiment and settle in on what works best for us. 

Thank you! 

I love how you implement discussions like this. through being on here people like you have taught me so much and given me the ability to be comfortable with my flexible diet and make huge changes in my life because I finally found a life style and not a diet.  

People should do what makes them happy and can sustain, period. Just like you, I have so many cravings and binging tendencies. I know how crazy I was when my food was restricted. I really need to eat some of my kriptonite every day in order not to lose my mind. 

Yeah, I remember thinking about doing what is most efficient/optimal but is it really optimal if you can't stick to it? It becomes the opposite if it derails you. 

Thanks,Tricia, frequency, and kickingcarbs. Kickingcarbs, you're doing awesome! :) 

Alright, I fall into that category of people who are "judgey" apparently :P It's fine, I assume. But is it easier to eat "clean" for me? Fuck no. I think that a lot of things depend on a few major criteria, it's just my own analysis, because I tend to classify information. So mainy they are: 1) education (both parents' and yours) 2) habits (starting from what you picked on in your childhood) 3) trauma (a lot of things are induced by emotional suffering and mental health) 4) GENES. So it's definitely better to eat "clean" for your health BUT you can eat as much clean as you want, if you overeat aka don't stay in your calorie limit, you won't lose anything. 

D.....if flexible and IIFYM and 80/20 are somewhat interchangeable then I'm good. If someone CONSTANTLY needs to attack this or these concepts their issue isn't with you it is with the idea that health to them means something vastly different then what you or I may think.  

Obviously, we can't have pretty things. 

What or why is unacceptable?