I have written about diet, health and food for more than 20 years. I have also battled the diet, health and food demons for twice that time. In my heart, I know what I should be doing. But my tongue often protests. Over the years, I’ve accumulated some knowledge about (and adipose tissue because of) food. So, I figured it was time to pull together all the best diet-food-nutrition info that I have gleaned over the years. (As always, the following should be taken with a grain of salt, preferably on a margarita glass or a head-sized soft pretzel.)
- A favorite mantra of one of the doctors I write with is this: “Eat foods that love you back.” That’s great a way of thinking about it, but I might have to get a restraining order against bacon and sausage.
- You can’t out-train a bad diet. It’s advice I first heard when I worked at Men’s Health, and I am reminded of it constantly. First and foremost, health success and weight management starts and ends with consistent eating (in regards to both quality and quantity).
- I cold-turkeyed a massive Diet Coke addiction eight years ago. I don’t know if it has had any effect on me, except in the direct surge in coffee and [other adult brown liquid] consumption.
- Whipped. Freaking. Cream.
- Cauli. Freaking. Flower.
- If half your plate is covered in vegetables, you have won the meal. Unless the other half is Doritos.
- Some say that salmon could very well be the world’s most perfect food. Those who say that have never had a cheesy beef burrito.
- Perhaps the greatest ally in any food fight: water. It keeps you hydrated, fills you up and replaces bad-for-you-beverage habits. From now on, I vow to drink more of it (he said, for the 45th time).
- Eat foods that look the way they do when they come from the earth. This explains why I have recently planted a pancake tree.
- Good habits > relying on willpower.
- There are so many different approaches to eating healthy that can work. And those same strategies may not work. It depends less on what the format and rules are, but more on who you are, what you want and if you’re ready. Note: I am currently ready for some avocado toast.
