Here’s a look at why “clean eating” may not be delivering results!
We’ve all heard the expression “you are what you eat“. Basically, that means that you’re only going to be as healthy as the food you put in your body. Diets like the Clean Food Diet or Raw Diet are designed to help you limit the intake of “unhealthy” foods while stocking up on “clean” foods as much as possible.
Unfortunately, many people on these “clean” diets still aren’t seeing the results they want. Not only are they not losing weight, but they’re still seeing the health problems they were certain the diet would clear up.
There are two reasons why the Clean Food Diet may not work:
1. Diet alone isn’t going to solve your problem
Dieting is a good way to get your eating habits under control, and it can be a good option for weight loss. If you make the transition to clean eating, you’ll find yourself dealing with far fewer health problems: diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, toxicity, and the list goes on.
But diet alone isn’t the cure-all to the world’s ails. In fact, a few months of clean eating may not be enough to get rid of a lifetime of toxins from junk food, medications, and the chemicals you’re exposed to.
If you’re not seeing the weight loss results you want, that may be due to a lack of exercise. Your clean food diet is going to help get your body back on the right track, but it’s not going to kick the weight loss into high gear. Dieting helps you to consume the right amount of calories; exercise helps you BURN calories. You need exercise if you’re going to see proper weight loss. No amount of clean eating will make up for a lack of daily movement and activity.
Also, it doesn’t matter how clean your food is if you eat more than your body can burn. Even if you eat 4,000 calories’ of lettuce, you’ll still gain weight. You need to not just eat clean, but you need to eat in moderation as well!
READ MORE: The Raw Food Diet: How to Make it Work for You
2. You’re too stressed
Did you know that stress can be a huge impediment for weight loss?
A study conducted by Ohio State University found that “clean eating” wasn’t the only factor to take into account when thinking weight loss. In fact, stress may actually PREVENT weight loss, no matter how clean you eat!
In the study, participants were given two breakfasts: biscuits and gravy (high in saturated fat) or a breakfast heavy with unsaturated fats. Obviously, the ones who ate the saturated fat-heavy meal had much higher markers for disease than those who ate healthy.
But then stress was introduced into the equation. When the women suffered a stressful event before breakfast, they ended up with the same disease precursors as the women who ate the high saturated fat diet.
It doesn’t matter how “clean” you eat: if you’ve got the weight of the world on your shoulders, some of that weight is going to end up around your midsection. Stress will not just lower your metabolism; it can actually stop your body from using healthy fats the way they were meant to be used. You could end up gaining weight on a clean food diet simply because of your stress.
It’s time to find ways to deal with your stress once and for all. Easier said than done, sure, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try. Find ways to cope with the stressors in your life—your health and weight depends on it!
