To want to completely go 'clean eating'

[CapricornCalling]

I'm on a very low calorie diet/strict exercise programme at the moment. When I reach my target weight after a week or so I want to start on a complete clean eating programme. Just eating fresh fish, nuts , fruit and veg and drinking just water. In some ways, it's boring - no tasty treats etc!! Having said that - I did this precise eating programme for a few weeks back in 2013 - and felt so much more 'alive'!! Also my teeth have suffered over the years due to all the processed rubbish I've eaten.

stupid question - can you eat chick peas or lentils on clean eating, I guess not?

Why on earth not? Both are great, healthy sources of protein.

pucker, I'm not clear what the whole "no processed" bit means.

pucker, I'm not clear what the whole "no processed" bit means

The NHS's definition is:

^any food that has been altered from its natural state in some way, either for safety reasons or convenience.
This means you may be eating more processed food than you realise.
Processed foods aren't necessarily unhealthy, but anything that’s been processed may contain added salt, sugar and fat^

So although chickpeas often come canned, they rarely have anything added. And anyway you can also buy them dry in their natural state, just like you do with lentils.

So cooking does not render them processed then?

GloriaGaynor - I m 5 ft 1 inches tall

Sorry posted too soon

Thefitfatty - I'm so sorry to hear about your friend - anorexia is an awful disease when it gets it's grip. x

AnthonyPandy that's a good question - I thought about it before you asked. You add heat when you cook , but you don't add unnatural ingredients so I would say no - not processed.

It sounds quite extreme. Is this really going to be sustainable?

Comtesse that's a good question - truth is, I don't know until I try.

But by that definition chick peas are processed as they have been cooked for safety reasons ie you cannot eat them raw. So poratoes cooked to taste nicer are ok but chick peas cooked to make them edible are not. Isn't that what the nhs quote is saying?

Well, it does say "Processed foods aren't necessarily unhealthy".

I don't think arguing about the semantics is really helpful. In layman's terms, processed food is food that has been altered in some way that makes it unhealthy to the consumer.

So your question is as i thought - AIBU to want to get a medically acceptable weight by clean eating?

Don't even know why it's a question. Do what you like. Probably best to take your own food to people's houses though, one of my tiny friends does the raw food only thing and she always takes her own food because people get stressed otherwise.