Process vs. Outcomes

How to Put Clean Eating Principles Into Practice

Aug 27, 2024

One thing I’ve learned about weight loss is that setting a goal is not sufficient to make it happen. To move the needle, you need a way forward. Writing a goal down, in terms of what you want to weigh or how many pounds you want to lose, is a good start, because it makes you aware of your intentions. But focusing on outcomes alone without developing a process is a recipe for failure. Eating the Standard American Diet is too strong a habit for most of us to overcome without a process to replace it.

How to Start Clean Eating

If you're interested in trying clean eating, there are a few things you can do to get started:

Start by making small changes to your diet. Don't try to overhaul your entire diet overnight.
Focus on adding more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains to your meals.
Limit your intake of processed foods, added sugars, and unhealthy fats.
Read food labels carefully and choose foods that are minimally processed.
Cook more meals at home so you can control the ingredients in your food.

The above came with help from Artificial Intelligence. OK, so I’m cheating a little. Just like I do with my diet. Actually, I stay away from the word “cheating” in relation to my eating habits. It promotes guilt. When it comes to food and drink I find that guilt is unhelpful. If I eat or drink something I know I shouldn’t, or if I overeat or drink too much, I accept it and move on. I’m human. It’s the big picture that matters. What I’m trying to do is develop and maintain sustainable habits.

Here is my take on the AI-generated bullet points above.

Small changes can be a great way to start. It depends on your goals and your situation. If you want to lose ten pounds, that’s very different from wanting to lose 50 pounds. During Covid, I developed a constellation of bad habits. Fourteen months ago I decided to overhaul my diet. This video provided the template. The ideas in the video Dr. Hyman made got me excited about what I could do. I told myself that big problems demand big changes. You may not need to do that. But removing sugar and most processed foods is helpful no matter your situation. Consider it.

I’ve got to change my way of livin’

This life I’m livin’ ain’t no good

—Howlin’ Wolf

When it comes to fruits, vegetables and whole grains, I focused on vegetables. It kept things simple. Behavior change is hard enough; when you have multiple ideas and strategies to deal with, it makes things harder. I make it a point to eat vegetables every day. (I often fail but I haven’t given up yet.) This was standard advice when I was young: eat your vegetables, they’re good for you. That never motivated me. But now I realize that eating something because it is good for me is a damn good reason. Broccoli, spinach, asparagus and green beans have become staples in my diet. (I’m still learning to like them.) There are many healthy foods you can integrate into your diet. Here is a list of so-called “superfoods.” In addition to green vegetables, I also began regularly eating mushrooms, yogurt, nuts and seeds. I drink green tea first thing in the morning most days. I often use olive oil instead of butter when I cook.
A few more words about processed foods and sugar. I would say “eliminate” as opposed to “limit” processed foods and sugar. That is asking a lot and is nearly impossible in our toxic food culture. But approaching it that way helps me. There are many clean eating content providers who say sugar is poison. Framing it that way helps me take it very seriously.
The key concept of clean eating, as I understand it, is to eat whole foods. If you’re eating whole foods, you won’t have to read labels. When I look at packaged foods and read the labels, I have trouble understanding them. Many of the ingredients sound more like they belong in a chemistry experiment than on my plate. There is a system used by nutritionists and researchers that places foods into four groups. I try very hard to avoid anything in Group 4.
If you want to eat clean, it’s vital that you cook your own food. That gives you total control over what goes on your plate. For many of us, the habit of eating out, the compulsion to eat out, is strong. Eating out is a treat. It’s also much more convenient than cooking at home, which requires planning, preparation, and clean-up, all of which are time-consuming. If you’re working a demanding job and raising a family and trying to have a little bit of a life outside of work, it is very hard to stay out of restaurants, fast food places and the deli section of the grocery store. What I’ve done is tell myself it’s not that great. I try to minimize the reward aspect of it and that helps me. It’s gotten easier for me because, frankly, the experience of eating out has gotten much less enjoyable over the past few years, at least for me. I’ve been served a lot of mediocre meals in restaurants over the past couple of years. The food is not hot, not tasty, not presented well. Not served with any grace or elegance. I walk out of a place having paid over $50 for a lunch I could make at home for less than half that number, and I feel cheated. The food and the experience most restaurants are providing is just not that great. Knowing that makes it easier for me to avoid it.

Health Benefits of Clean Eating

Besides weight loss and maintenance, there are many potential health benefits to clean eating, including:

Improved heart health
Reduced risk of chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer's disease
Increased energy levels
Clearer skin
Improved mood
Better sleep

Each one of these benefits is significant and can make life better, and lead to overall happiness and satisfaction. This is the return on investment for the hard work necessary to kick the Standard American Diet to the curb.

Reflections on the Standard American Diet (SAD)

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