Please educate me. I've recently subscribed to Clean Eating magazine and looks interesting to me. Is this the same approach as a whole foods lifestyle?

I am not sure but I would guess so. Following a whole foods lifestyle means to utilize as many organic as well as locally grown products as possible. Avoiding processed foods as much as possible.

I think it is. It is all about real, organic, unprocessed food. I really liked the book, and strive to eat that way.

Not necessarily. "Whole Foods" aren't necessarily organic and they aren't necessarily local but many whole foodists do try to focus on organic and local. The local thing came way after "whole foods" as a concept came out. Also, I don't remember seeing organic in any of the stuff I read about whole foods.

Eating whole foods is about eating foods as close to their natural state as possible and minimally processed foods.

I too don't think whole foods necessarily means organic foods. They are not one and the same.

Wait a sec. Okay. From Wikipedia:

Whole foods are foods that are unprocessed and unrefined, or processed and refined as little as possible before being consumed. Whole foods typically do not contain added ingredients, such as sugar, salt, or fat. Examples of whole foods include unpolished grains; fruits and vegetables; unprocessed meat, poultry, and fish; and non-homogenized milk.

The term is often confused with organic food, but whole foods are not necessarily organic, nor are organic foods necessarily whole. Because of the lack of basic processing, some whole foods have a very short shelf life.

To me, personally, clean eating is pretty much the same as a whole foods lifestyle. Which to me, means eating as little processed food as possible. Though I do use a couple of canned products, such as tomatoes and beans.

For me, it all stemmed from wanting to get the most volume, filling power and satisfaction from my calories. I want to stave off cravings for the *bad stuff* and keep my sugar levels steady. And in order to do that, I need nutrient rich foods, no garbage - whole foods, *clean* eating - veggies, veggies, veggies, low fat proteins and fruits.