 Hi friends. Welcome back to my channel and welcome if you're new here. I know two videos on this beautiful Tuesday. This is a video that I feel compelled to put out today. I'm literally filming this on Tuesday in my kitchen when I got back from running around and my mail appointment because it's been brought to my attention a few times and repeatedly over the last month or so since I transitioned my way of eating on ww to a more clean approach to the program and I've been hearing and reading comments about how I eat built bars so I'm not even clean or that isn't considered clean eating because it's processed or how is that considered clean and you claim that you're eating clean but then you're showing us this chip or this cracker so after today and hearing more discussion on this particular topic I had to put this video out and I'm if you can't tell a little bit not only frustrated but disheartened that I have to film this video and like I said I feel truly compelled in my heart of hearts that I need to film this video. You are new here or if you're not really sure what I'm talking about about a month ago I decided that I wanted to switch to a clean eating approach to ww the reason for that is because I wasn't seeing the success on the scale that I wanted to see I wasn't feeling my best self my healthiest self I lacked energy I lacked motivation and energy in my workouts I was suffering from a lot of stomach issues which I shared several times on my videos just saying that my stomach was bothering me so I did a little bit of research well a lot of bit of research and decided that I just wanted to eliminate sugar-free foods and fat-free foods from my diet and I really wanted to watch the amount of processed foods that I was eating not necessarily eliminate them entirely but watch the amount of foods that I was eating that are considered processed I also really deep dove into reading ingredient labels and choosing foods that were more whole real foods so with doing that I've shared that journey here on my youtube channel that's what this channel is for is to share my journey the good bad the ugly I share everything with you I've also decided to share some of the research that I did into what is considered clean eating and we're going to get into that a little bit more but I shared with you guys the dirty dozen and the clean 15 today I uploaded a video on sugars and I also have a couple of other videos filmed and ready to go that talk about ingredients and what to look for and what to avoid but after this being a constant discussion on whether I'm eating clean based on your definition her definition his definition I'm really rethinking whether or not those videos are going to be uploaded here on my channel and that's part of where the frustration comes in is I did a lot of research I continue to do a lot of research because I want to share with you guys not only my journey but what I'm learning and what I'm finding through trial and tribulations what works what doesn't work what foods look good don't look good I want to share all of that with you guys here on my channel but there has been so much negativity around this subject that I'm rethinking that all together now will I continue to share with you what I'm eating yes of course I'll continue to share my meal prep what I eat in a day my weigh-in video recipes but I don't know that I want to continue sharing information with you as far as what I've found when it comes to a cleaner approach to eating because there is so much negativity surrounding that I have heard that there are people going to other youtubers talking about me in this new clean eating approach saying I'm not eating clean saying that they're leaving comments here on my channel and I'm deleting them yes if you guys leave me mean negative comments I'm going to delete them off of my channel I have said time and time again that my channel is a positive supportive place and if you're going to leave mean comments on my channel I am yes absolutely going to delete those and block you from my channel to maintain this being a positive safe place I am not getting a lot of messages on my clean eating or what I'm calling clean eating I'm not getting a lot of response and questions on what about this and what about that instead I'm hearing it from other youtubers or other subscribers or other people in the ww community and that is what is frustrating I can't give you my answer because I'm not being asked those questions are going to other people who are outside of my decision to change my approach to ww so that's where the frustration comes in the disheartening comes in with those negative comments and with what I'm hearing as far as backlash goes with my decision so I want to clarify with you guys a little bit about clean eating so I said that I am taking a clean approach to ww I am following clean eating so what exactly does clean eating mean so when I started my research I looked up the definition of clean eating and let me tell you there are a lot of definitions on the worldwide web for clean eating so the one that I took was the one from the Mayo Clinic and I'm going to be inserting a lot of information into this video so according to the Mayo Clinic what constitutes clean eating well there are several things clean eating means eating more real food so basically food that is unrefined and unprocessed convenience food is okay sometimes even necessary just make sure that what's in your canner package is the real thing with few other ingredients and try to eat your food in its most natural state so that is what I looked up when I started doing a little bit of research on clean eating I also watched a few channels here on youtube such as clean and delicious and some of the other channels that talk about clean eating so after doing the research and reading the Mayo Clinic's definition of clean eating that's what I adapted I try to eat a whole food real food diet now I still eat bill bars I still eat processed foods I just try to find a healthier alternative to those processed foods so for example if I am choosing to eat a cracker I'm choosing a cracker with less ingredients or better ingredients or cleaner ingredients never ever once have I said that I am the model of clean eating that I follow clean eating 100% of the time the true true clean eating of zero processed foods because that's not the definition of clean eating that I adapted I adapted to the definition of clean eating from the Mayo Clinic now like I said there are so many different variations to clean eating on the web I'm going to share some of those with you so from clean housekeeping what does clean eating even mean here is what the website of good housekeeping says and I'm linking all of these down in the description box for you guys good housekeeping says the phrase begin with good intentions it's used to imply eating lots of whole real foods veggies fruit whole grains animal and plant based proteins nuts seeds and oils it's also meant that you should eat as close to nature as possible minimally process not packaged or originating from a factory cooking at home and finding good ingredients were encouraged so similar to what I read on the Mayo Clinic but then saying that you should avoid any food that's processed in a factory so I'm telling you for me that's not possible sometimes I need convenience food I'm not always at home where I can cook my food where I can cook a whole food healthy meal sometimes I need a minimally processed food as a snack or as a meal replacement such as a bill bar or maybe some simple mills crackers or maybe some gluten-free bites that have oatmeal and chocolate and all the good things sometimes I need those so what I've been doing is really focusing on the ingredient label and choosing foods that don't have refined sugar sugar alcohol sugar substitutes sugar-free fat-free all the things yes I still eat my bill bars my opinion on bill bars and this is my opinion in what I'm doing for me on my journey to eating a cleaner approach to W.W. in my opinion based on the ingredients in the bill bar and the smart points value of the bill bar they are the lowest point protein bar with the best or decent ingredients that will fit into my points on W.W. I would love to eat a Lara bar every day but those are seven to eight smart points that's a true clean protein bar in our X bar is pretty good but there's still natural flavors in our X bar so it's not considered a clean protein bar either but I am limited on the number of points that I get in a day so I have to make substitutions and modifications that work with my plan and one of those is sometimes having a built bar I may have it as a dessert I may have it when I'm on the go before or after I go to jazzer size and I don't see anything wrong with me choosing to have that on my journey another article I found was from eating well it says that we're not opposed to eating processed foods but we should try to eat whole food clean processed foods exist like plain yogurt cheese whole wheat pasta packaged baby spinach you just have to read the ingredients and limit those processed foods so if you've watched any of my meal prep or my what I eat in a day the majority of what I'm eating is whole real food I do have some minimally processed good ingredient processed foods here and there yes that happens because this is life and I have to live my life and I can't always eat whole food I also found an article from prevention magazine that talked about what's considered a processed or a highly processed food and prevention says that highly processed foods are stripped of their inherent nutrients or ply or filled with sugar sodium unhelpful fat and unrecognizable ingredients so that's what's considered a highly processed food so maybe the crackers that I'm choosing because they may have natural flavor or they may have a wheat flour may not be the best option but they're not a highly processed food also an article from eating well magazine that defines clean eating as when you're eating clean whole foods like fruits and vegetables are obvious choices minimally processed foods with short ingredient list can also fit into a clean eating diet choose foods with healthy ingredients like whole grains and healthy fats and those low and added sugar and salt so as you can see there are so many definitions of what clean eating is there is not a textbook definition it varies depending on who you talk to because clean eating is a lifestyle it's not a diet it's not a fad it's a way of eating it's the way that were that people choose to eat so for me I read the Mayo Clinic definition of clean eating and that's what I've adapted so for those of you that say that I am misleading you or giving you wrong information or I'm not a clean eater and I shouldn't be talking about clean eating on my channel to that I say that's your opinion and depending on the definition of clean eating that you read that's where you're going to form your opinion but for me what I am considering clean eating or clean approach to WW is this and I'm saying this on this video so that this chitter chatter about what Jen's doing what Jen's eating whether Jen's eating clean or not can cease I am following a clean approach to WW which means for me that I am focusing on whole real food fruits vegetables lean meat organic whole ingredients raw honey in place of sugar free honey real peanut butter in place of jiff whips or powdered peanut butter I'm making the substitutions from processed food into more real whole food I am still allowing myself the option of eating minimally processed food some of the snack foods on the market even your siette tortilla chips that have amazing ingredients are still considered processed but the process of these chips means putting them into a chip form they're all real whole ingredients I'm going to continue to eat a built bar I'm going to continue to eat minimally processed or processed foods if it fits into my lifestyle I am never going to say that I am going to only eat fruits and vegetables meat and dairy for the rest of my life that doesn't work for my life it's not sustainable for me what is sustainable for me is focusing on real whole foods and filling the gaps with minimally processed foods so to me that is the definition of clean eating that is my definition of clean eating and how I am approaching a clean approach to WW if you have any questions feel free to ask me but I wanted to come on here and clarify what I'm doing as far as clean eating on WW it may not be your version of clean eating or your definition of clean eating but this is my definition and I have the right to choose how I'm going to follow WW just like you do and because I'm following this approach to WW certainly doesn't mean that you have to I have said this time and time again in several videos you have to do what works for you and maybe your definition of clean eating is zero processed foods where you literally only eat food in their natural state you're not even having things like almond flour or coconut flour because those are processed but for me it's primarily eating whole food and filling the gaps as needed with minimally processed food with good ingredients that's my definition of clean eating I'm really sad that I had to even put this video out there and I'm sad that people have to have an opinion on everything that we do I know that I'm putting myself out here on social media I know that I'm sharing information with you and research with you that you may not agree with I know that the way that I'm eating clean may not be the way that you're eating clean but this is my journey and my channel and my choice of how I'm going to follow WW so I really hope that I don't have to have another one of these videos I hope that I don't have to hear any more comments or have any other conversations about how I've chosen and what I've defined as clean eating so that being said um before I get even more emotional I'm going to end this video here and I hope that you guys understand where I'm coming from and appreciate the fact that I've been honest and transparent with you this entire switch over to changing my approach to WW and I continue to be honest with you but I don't know how much more research informational videos you'll see here on my channel so I hope you guys are having a good day if you're new I'd love it if you'd subscribe and join my channel here normally I'm much happier and more upbeat so I hope that you check out some of the other videos here on my channel and I'll see you guys next time