{thanks for your comments to my last post!}
The past week has been all about recovery and a little celebrating – both the marathon and this birthday thing that happened. It’s been fun to not really worry about getting up at X:XX o’clock to run or do whatever, but I have to admit I’m kind of itching to start training for Chicago. I was pretty sore up until about Wednesday, and then slowly started to feel like my normal self again minus some lingering exhaustion. I’ve gone on a few easy runs since the race and think some of the post-marathon sluggishness is starting to lift (hooray!). Still, I don’t want to push it so will probably keep the miles easy the next couple of weeks before really gearing back up.
That’s about all I’ve got when it comes to running, but luckily there is always something to talk about in the world of nutrition. One thing I’ve been wanting to write about is the term “clean eating” (or, #eatclean, if you will). This article said a lot of what I think of the term, but I think it’s worth a little more discussion. It’s everywhere – blog world, books, Instagram, Twitter, magazines – and the term is used by a ton of different people (even some RDs, to which I cringe). But what is “clean eating?”
are vegetables “clean” ? What if they’re not organic? Or local?
That’s the thing – it doesn’t have a definitive meaning. It’s not a scientific or clinical term, and it’s basically subjective to whomever is using it and what they think it means. That’s kind of confusing and misleading, yes?
In general, I think people who use the term are trying to eat minimally processed, whole foods, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, I think it’s great as more than half of the American diet typically consists of processed foods (!!!). But the term still bugs me because it is inherently negative in the assumption that if there are “clean” foods, then there must be “dirty” foods. And if you’re not following whatever version of “clean eating” you believe in, then you must be “dirty eating” or eating poorly. That doesn’t really make sense! And it sets a difficult standard for most mortals who enjoy a treat every now and again, not to mention it can also open the door to disordered eating patterns.
elk burger from Bareburger – lean protein, whole grain goodness
I’ve said before that I don’t think there is any one “bad” food, and this term puts a lot of foods (again, based on your own personal definition of it) in that category. Instead of “eating clean,” I think focusing on food as fuel, eating a generally healthy diet full of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and good protein sources with higher calorie, higher fat and heavily processed foods consumed in moderation is a more positive and doable way of looking at how we eat.
I’m always curious to hear thoughts on topics like this – do you ever use the term “clean eating”? Like it or dislike it?
