Q: I eat clean, but I’m not losing weight. What am I doing wrong?
A: If I were in your shoes, I would ditch the “clean eating” fad, and reinvest that energy in your main goal – weight loss. Here’s a quick breakdown on the surprising truths:
- Clean eating is about an ever-growing list of things to avoid that are either impossible, and/or have nothing to do with weight loss. Here are some examples:
- eating unprocessed foods (which is impossible)
- avoiding dairy (dairy helps with weight loss)
- organic food (which still uses pesticides, and will not help you lose weight)
- avoiding gluten (will not help you lose weight)
- avoiding seed oils (trading seed oil for lard will not help you lose weight), etc.
- Weight loss is about consuming fewer calories than you burn (these calories can be “clean” or “dirty” or “half washed”).
- Fat loss is about eating less fat than you burn (you don’t get to eat extra fat because it’s organic avocado, grass-fed tallow, etc).
- Being toned (having definition) is about losing fat while keeping or enhancing the muscle you do have.
Is Processed Food Good for You? – I’m not losing weight…
If you consider the fact that all food is processed, then the answer is obviously “yes and no.” Washing food, cutting and peeling vegetables, seasoning, and cooking are all forms of processing food.
Think of a bowl of strawberries and yogurt, this is a bowl of processed food: the berries were picked, packed, washed and cut. The yogurt is made from milk that is first heated, then it has a yogurt starter added, and then it ferments (is processed by various microbes). 100% processed.
To be clear, I think that a bowl of fat-free Greek yogurt with berries is one of the best weight loss meals there is because it is filling, high in protein, high in calcium, contains dairy (which seems to be one of the most helpful foods for weight loss), high in fiber, and is very easy to prepare.
Is deep fried, hyperpalatable food like ruffle cut sour cream and cheddar potato chips good for you? In moderation these chips are simply a sign G-d loves us. However, they are hard to eat in moderation and they pack a lot of calories, so you don’t want to build your diet around them.
Bottom Line
“Clean eating” is on the same level as being “nonjudgmental.” Both sound good on the surface, but then if you ask “how do you know that you are or are not being nonjudgmental?” The answer is obviously: by judging. In life we all have to make judgements, and the label nonjudgmental is a game of make-believe where you pretend to bypass one of the ever-present challenges of being human – are your judgments sound?
Clean eating is similar in that it’s also a game of make-believe where you pretend to bypass (“hack”) one of the ever-present challenges of being a human in the modern world – managing your weight. We live in a world that promotes inactivity and overeating, so there is a daily struggle to manage your weight. Clean eating isn’t a “hack” because the only “hack” is to stop looking for “hacks” so you can spend that time on your weight loss goal instead. So stop worrying about eating clean and incorporate things that will help you next time you say “but, I’m not losing weight.”
And remember:
- Weight loss is about consuming fewer calories than you burn (these calories can be “clean” or “dirty” or “half washed”).
- Fat loss is about eating less fat than you burn (you don’t get to eat extra fat because it’s organic avocado, grass-fed tallow, etc).
- Being toned (having definition) is about losing fat while keeping or enhancing the muscle you do have.
Josef Brandenburg—bestselling author, co-owner, and coach at True 180 Personal Training—and Gregory Clifton, our head coach since 2016, together, they bring decades of experience and multiple certifications to every conversation, offering real, practical advice on multiple topics, not just when you’re not losing weight, to help you better understand your body and fitness.