In this article, you will know why eating clean isn’t always healthy. And this is information is very beneficial to you.
Eating Clean: A good target for those trying to lose weight and improve their fitness.
However, before you say you’ll never eat another slice of pizza, you should understand how calories affect weight loss and gain.
While health and weight gain/loss are related, they are not synonymous.
- Even if you eat nutritious foods, you can still struggle to lose weight.
- You will lose weight by eating unhealthy foods.
- You will gain weight even though you eat healthy foods.
If you’re consuming nutritious foods but still gaining weight, I’d suggest you’re following an unhealthy diet.
Being overweight, obese, and possessing a lot of abdominal fat makes it more likely to die from preventable causes including heart disease and type 2 diabetes (among others) (hips to waist ratio).
As a result, any diet that causes you to gain weight, even though all of the foods you consume are good, is unhealthy.
But how is it possible to gain weight eating healthy foods?
Energy balance is the sole determinant of weight gain and loss. Calories are a unit of measurement for the amount of energy you expend (which is determined by your weight, form of mass (fat or non-fat), and level of activity).
Calories are a unit of measurement for the amount of energy you consume by food.
If the latter is greater than the former, you’ll be in a calorie surplus and gain weight.
You would be in a calorie deficit and lose weight if the former exceeds the latter.
Most healthy foods are low in calories but not all.
Most people turn to consuming more fruits and vegetables and less chips and fast food when they go on a healthy eating binge.
This normally leads to weight loss and a calorie deficit.
However, there are some “balanced foods” that aren’t all that low in calories and can easily wipe out any calorie deficit you’ve developed.
Some chief offenders are:
- Avocado
- Nuts
- Nut butters
- Salmon
- Fresh juices
- “Healthy” snacks like Graze
Even some fruits will easily add up to a lot of calories. A banana has about 100 calories in it. It’s not a big sum, but it all adds up. On top of all your meals, two bananas, half an avocado, some peanut butter, two glasses of orange juice, and a bag of Graze snacks could easily add up to 1,000 calories.
In supermarkets, there are also large bags of nuts mixed with dried fruits that contain over 1,000 calories per bag. They’re incredibly tasty.
If you’re inactive, a smaller person, or a woman (who tend to be smaller), there’s probably not enough space in the calories you’d like to lose weight for those extra “balanced” calories.
So Should You Eat “Clean” or Not to Lose Weight?
Make an effort to consume more “proper” foods. Things that had to be grown or destroyed and are in near proximity to their natural state. Lean meat, whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and other foods will make up the majority of your diet.
If you like it, you can also eat avocado, almonds, nut butters, salmon, and other similar foods.
However, keep in mind the total number of calories. It’s really tempting to consume so much “good” food.
There are no such things as nutritious foods; only healthy diets exist.
A diet that allows for some “fun” and junk food while still ensuring that you get the recommended amounts of vitamins and minerals and maintain a healthy weight is preferable to one that excludes all “unhealthy” foods but causes you to gain weight due to overeating.