A 'clean' day for me would be to have a balance of 40% carbs, 30% protein and 30% healthy fats at each meal for a total of 1500 - 1600 calories. No fast food or processed foods, at least two servings of fruit, fresh veggies, 64 oz. of water and no alcohol.

I always feel healthier and more alert, too, when I eat 'clean'.

Oh, I forgot to ask in my previous ramble:

Is Kashi "clean"? I like the Autumn Wheat cereal with milk (sort of a mini-shredded-wheat) for breakfast and a half-cup of the Go-Lean Crunch dry as a snack. Are they "clean" or "not-so-clean", since they are, technically, processed foods?

Hi all!
I am new to this forum, and am enjoying the topic of this thread. To me, eating "clean" is the same as eating natural foods that are processed as little as possible. For example, steel-cut oats instead of instant oatmeal, brown rice instead of white rice, sauted chicken breasts instead of frozen and pre-prepared seasoned chicken breasts.
BUT, I really have a hard time labelling eating habits as "clean" or, the converse, "dirty". I think that we all have enough trouble losing weight without creating such negative labels on our food habits. Self-image, in my opinion, has alot to do with the self-talk (aka the running commentary) that we all have going on in our heads ALL THE TIME. I am trying to be a positive person, but that is hard if I categorize all food items in such terms. I prefer to think of my food as "healthy" and "not-so-healthy", instead of "clean" and "dirty".
Cheers!

Kashi wouldn't be clean to me, but I still eat it The Oxygen boards have a lot of very strict fitness competitors as posters and they have a list of "clean" foods over there you might be interested in.

http://www.oxygenmag.net/showthread.php?t=2377

The whole thread with all the comments is pretty interesting. Just remember that the posters tend to be fitness competitors and their goals are a little more intense than someone like me (just wants to be healthy).

For me, clean is pretty much unprocessed, homemade vegetarian food. (Plus some yoghurt and cheese for calcium) Proportions and amounts don't matter, it's the quality rather than quantity that defines clean as far as I'm concerned. The vegetarian bit is just my choice, lean meats could come into it, but at the moment I don't choose to eat them.

Clean isn't necessarily healthy all the time, but it's more likely to be. I actually quite like this. It means that I don't need to feel guilty about cheese or relatively fatty nuts (even if they're good nuts) because I know that overall everything balances out better than if I was eating processed foods, even if those processed foods seem to have fewer calories or lower fat.

I rarely eat anything pre-prepared or processed, I can't believe how much nicer my homemade salads, soups and other meals are than the processed stuff I used to eat. Except chocolate. That's not clean, but I still eat it. I try to make sure it's good chocolate though...

I guess I never thought in the reverse way. I never think of foods as dirty. More like a sliding scale from junk food->food->good food->clean food

Every body is different,, I focus on trigger foods first, then once I rid those, then I do the Whole Wheat, canola oils.. and stuff like that, I watch trans fats , and sugar carbs,, eat at least 4 cups of veggies a day and I eat a lot of fruit, as well protein and what not.

Hmmmm according to Glory's list, maybe I'll have to bump my score down to an 82-83. I do like the Kashi . Still, an 83 isn't bad, right?

If you ask a bodybuilder or serious strength trainer, you will probably be told that this phrase is synonymous with staying on plan with a diet that is junk-free, in the right portions, timed appropriately, and with good quality fats, proteins and carbs.

Heck no, I like Kashi too. I eat a lot of foods that aren't on that list - like olives. No way I'm giving up olives!

I like olives too!

Jennifer makes a good point. It all may be a matter of degrees. "Clean" enough for a fitness competitor or body builder is certainly "cleaner" than I need to eat. So then Lena's 83 is probably awesome!