Why not more?

  • I practice clean eatin that has made a significant impact on my life. I am really surprised that this forum is SOOO slow. Does anyone know why? I mean, it's so amazing what the lifestyle does.

    I've tried WW in the past several times and I know it works... but you can eat all your points in sugar if you want and still lose weight! The way I eat I never have to restrict calories, and keep eating less and less...

    I'm just really surprised more people aren't doing it!
  • eek! Time to update the photo too, lol! I haven't been around here for awhile!
  • I'm around. I guess though for me it is because I'm short on time.

    If I have to pick one area to visit I head over to the PCOS area because that's my biggest hurdle.

    After that? Then maybe the 100's because that's what I have to lose. Then the 30's because I'm a 30 something.

    So this one often falls by the wayside even though I'm interested in this too.

    But you know, the PCOS area was kinda slow til I just starting hanging there even if I had to talk to myself or just a few others.

    We can always try that here!

    Hi! How are ya?

    A.
  • Eating clean has had a huge impact on my life and health in general, but it was learning portion control that finally helped me drop some pounds. I went to the farmer's market this weekend and plan to make a big pot of beet soup and massaged kale salad - yum!
  • I think there are a lot more people doing it, or working at it, than posting about it.

    Think about brushing your teeth. Everyone does it, but how long do you think a toothbrushing thread would last? It's too mundane to keep interesting because there's not much to say after you agree that it's important.



    The same seems to be true about whole foods and exchange plan dieting too. Those of us following exchange plans periodically try to keep a thread going, but it gets dropped fairly quickly because people just run out of things to say, once they've sung the praises of the lifestyle.

    It becomes a string of:

    "I love this"

    "me too"

    "this is easier than I thought it would be"

    "yeah, me too"

    Ok, now what?


    I mention exchange plans, because I've been using exchange plans for so long, that I tend to translate any diet I'm on into an exchange plan. It also helps me compare plans in my food journal, and makes it easier to tweak to find the best carb/protein/fat balance. As with calorie counting, I could choose less healthy options to fill my exchanges, but instead I use what I learned from reading about Whole Food and Paleo diets.

    I'm not a purist with Whole Foods or Paleo, but the principles guide my choices (when I'm not being stubborn).

    Paleo has a very active thread, but Whole Foods and Exchange plans don't, and I think it's because the basics are so easy to learn and there's no controversy to defend. Everyone agrees that WF and exchange plans are sensible lifestyle choices, they're relatively easy to learn, so there's really not a lot to discuss.

    A lot of the most active threads are those in which people have had to defend their choice. People have told low-carbers that it's unhealthy and unsafe, so you see a lot of posts asking aobut safety or people posting how great they're doing to prove the naysayers wrong.

    With Whole Foods (and exchange plans too) there are no naysayers. No one is saying "real food, why would you want to eat real food?" Balanced nutrition, why would that be important?"

    For the most part, I've given up trying to keep the exchange plan and whole food threads active, because I can't come up with anything profound, new, interesting, or funny to say about it. It's all been said very well. Every so often the topic is resurrected, and there's a whole rush of "yes, that's true for me too" but it always seems to fizzle eventually because of the lack of new things to say.
  • Yeah, me too, Colleen. Seriously, I think as usual you hit the nail on the head. Really, whole foods is represented across the board in one sense or another, from calorie counting to get maximum benefit from controlled calories, to Paleo-ish people who've kicked junk food to the curb, to the accountability threads in Maintainers.

    I'm doing a controlled-carb, gluten free, whole foods exchange program myself.

    PS I'm jealous of Osaunt's kale---I want a massage too!!
  • I was jealous of my kale too, as I LOVE massages. When I started refocusing on my health earlier this year, I purchased a groupon for a hour and half massage and it's going to be my onderland reward. Getting closer
    By the way, if anyone is interested in the kale salad recipe, it's listed in the WFL forum and the post is called Raw Kale Salad(don't know how to post links yet). I highly recommend - it was delicious!!
  • I do have a question for whole food devotees --

    how far removed from processing should the food item be in order to be considered whole?

    For example, national brand whole wheat bread vs. local specialty store WW bread vs. homemade WW bread vs. home grown and ground wheat bread, etc.
  • I sometimes think that this particular forum is so far down the board that most people just don't bother coming here.
  • DixC, as far as defining the WF nomenclature, it's my opinion that any sort of bread is processed, even if it's made with whole grains. The grains have to be milled. Even sprouted wheat bread is milled, which is a form of processing. Bread is a processed food, no matter where you buy it or who bakes it.

    That doesn't make it bad. Or something that people who visit this part of the forum wouldn't eat. Perhaps the Paleolithic Diet people wouldn't choose to eat it. Or those who are strictly low-carb.
  • It may also be that Whole Foods are more of an adjunct to weight loss, and more related to being healthier in general. By that I mean that losing weight is (for me, certainly) easier using whole foods, but I still have to use other tools to actually get the weight off (for me, Calorie Counting and lots of exercise). Nuts are a tremendously healthy whole food, but they're calorie dense and I can't eat them as often. So perhaps for WEIGHT LOSS advice, specifically, it's more pertinent to check out one of the other forums.

    I'm sure that some people have gotten to goal weight simply by switching to all whole foods, but most people have to combine a whole foods approach with some other plan to see sustained loss and maintenance.
  • Quote: I'm sure that some people have gotten to goal weight simply by switching to all whole foods, but most people have to combine a whole foods approach with some other plan to see sustained loss and maintenance.
    This was very true for me. When I was near my highest weight (somewhere between 350-360 lbs), I tried to combine whole foods with mindful eating. For a while, I was quite the food snob, but it didn't work for weight loss. While it takes a lot more whole foods to maintain morbid obesity than junk food and fast food, it's still very much possible.

    I learned that I don't have very reliable hunger cues, so mindful eating doesn't work very well for me (and I drive myself to near psychosis trying to determine whether the hunger I'm feeling is "real" hunger or not). No matter what I eat, I have to have a portion-control element, or I do not lose (and often gain). I was even able to stall weight loss on Atkins induction.
  • I can speak from experience. I had gotten down to 170lbs last yr. I was making all my own bread + grain products (ie.. granola etc). After I quit eating in that way + got lax about my food choices (bread, crackers, tortillas) I gained 30lbs back in a matter of 3-4 monthes. Although I still use whole wheat pasta, stevia for sweetening... which is why I dont think I gained the other 20 lbs back. We dont know what those factories stick in those breads to keep them fresh and what not.
  • my husband and I eat this way. I discovered it a few years ago after watching a show on BBC called "You Are What You Eat." It was a huge wake up call for me. I try to eat as many colors in one sitting as possible while still staying in a healthy calorie range. My husband is a little more relaxed with it and will occasionally give in to a Pop-Tart or something but all-in-all, he is doing very well.

    Do most of you eat the foods raw?
  • Its the best way to go, and after awhile its what your body craves instead of the other garbage!