"But I Eat Really Clean..."

The majority of women who come to me say some version of the same thing...

"But I eat really clean most of the time"

And I believe them.

They know which foods are inflammatory. They buy good-quality ingredients. They know protein matters. They’ve probably cut back on sugar, tried gluten-free, stopped buying the ultra-processed stuff and spent an unreasonable amount of money at a boutique grocery store.

But I have a slightly controversial opinion:

"I eat really clean" tells me almost NOTHING about whether your diet is actually set up for fat loss!

Because you can eat organic almond butter, avocado, grain-free granola, nuts, olive oil, smoothies and sourdough from the local bakery... and still eat more energy than your body needs.

You can also eat “clean” Monday through Thursday, get slammed at work on Friday, order takeout, have wine Saturday night, decide you’ve blown the weekend anyway, and promise yourself you’ll clean everything up again on Monday.

Do that often enough and you can spend years feeling like you’re constantly trying to eat well without actually spending very much time in the conditions required to lose 30 pounds.

I see this all the time.

And I think part of the problem is that we’ve turned food quality into a moral hierarchy. Salmon, vegetables and quinoa = good. Pizza = bad.

So women become incredibly focused on what category a food belongs to, while paying much less attention to the bigger picture: How much are you eating? Is it appropriate for your current activity level? Are your meals keeping you full? Are you getting enough protein and fiber? Are you eating in a way you can maintain when work gets insane? Are you ravenous by 8 PM because you barely ate all day?

That’s what I care about.

Because at 42, 57 or 63, I don't want you trying to win an award for the cleanest refrigerator.

I want you eating for the body you have now

That means we care about food quality, absolutely. But we also care about quantity, muscle, blood sugar regulation, appetite, stress, sleep, hormonal changes and whether your nutrition actually fits into your life.

Sometimes that means eating the bread!

Sometimes that means realizing the “healthy” handfuls of nuts you grab six times while making dinner are still food.

And sometimes it means having pizza on Saturday without turning it into a three-day nutritional crime spree followed by another cleanse on Monday.

If you've gained 30+ pounds despite feeling like you eat pretty well, I wouldn't automatically tell you to eat “cleaner.”

I'd want to figure out what your body actually needs now, and build something you can still follow when life isn't perfectly organized.

If you want our help doing that, click here to book a call with me.