Health and nutrition information is complicated. Eating healthfully doesn’t have to be.
Nutrition is a quickly evolving field, and new studies are coming out all the time. If you’re not an expert, or aren’t inherently fascinated by the topic, it can get a bit overwhelming.
Where do you start? How do you eat better? How do you know that the choices you’re making are actually good for you?
We need to boil it down to the essentials. What’s the really important stuff?
I’m not saying you shouldn’t learn as much as you can — you probably should. If you have the time and the interest.
As I researched and explored what I eat and how I relate to food, I realized that when it comes to healthy eating, eating better doesn’t necessarily mean you have to eat best.
Said another way: If you try to be perfect, you’re setting yourself up for failure.
So I continued on my educational journey, and I kept coming back to three core ideas.
I don’t claim them to be perfect — far from it! — but they’re a huge step in the right direction. I believe that everyone who follows these three rules will feel better and be far healthier.
It’s not easy, but it is simple.
- When you eat grains, eat only 100% whole grains.
- Don’t eat high fructose corn syrup.
- Don’t eat hydrogenated oils, trans fats, or anything that’s been deep-fried.
To make this work, you need to Decide Once to follow the rules. Make them simply “the way it is” in the same way a vegetarian simply will not eat meat, or a non-smoker never touches a cigarette.
Make it an absolute choice in your life, with no gray area. By doing so, it removes willpower from the equation – it’s something you just. don’t. eat. So you don’t even have to think about it.
If you find high fructose corn syrup in the ingredients list, for example, put it back on the shelf without a second thought. Simple as that.
But enjoying food is important, too! I love french fries as much as the next guy, and I couldn’t imagine never eating them again! So I’ve added an important corollary that I believe makes it possible to follow these rules without going insane: The Cheat Meal.
Once a week, go ahead and cheat. Eat anything you want. But make it special. Look forward to it all week. Savor the meal. If you do, I’m pretty sure you’ll find those french fries are much more enjoyable.
So what else am I going to write about? I’m writing about anything diet, food, or nutrition-related that I come across that seems interesting or useful. Hopefully reading my posts will teach you, inspire you, or simply show you something else you hadn’t seen before. It’s a blog, so it will certainly continue to evolve.
I’ve also been doing a series called Menu Mondays. I’ll scrutinize a chain restaurant’s menu (including all the nitty-gritty nutrition info) and make recommendations on the healthiest choices.
(I understand that it’s not possible in today’s world to follow the rules all the time. Sometimes you’re in a place that doesn’t have the greatest options. But it still pays to seek out the better options.)
I also post an occasional recipe. It may be one I found in a book or online, or that a fellow blogger shared with me. It also may be something I created completely from scratch, a complete experiment. Or, it may be a healthier take on an old favorite.
Feedback is always welcome, and I look forward to hearing from you!
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Hi. My name is Andrew Wilder, and I think Eating Rules! I write about three of them, and everything in between.
March 26, 2011 at 7:40 pm
I’m really impressed with your website and tonight just started following you on Twitter. I, too, was a “foodie” long before it was “cool.” My passion is food of all kinds; vegan, vegetarian, ethnic, gluten free…the list is fairly endless. I love to educate myself on everything and mold it into my own.
I’m glad you are out there. : )
Kathy
P.S. Since I just started my blog (very amateur, but more for “me.”, if that makes sense, I would love to know how to do the tag cloud. I’m learning…so the best way to learn, is to ask!
Peace.
April 6, 2011 at 10:00 am
Hi Kathy,
It sounds like you’ve got it going on, and thanks for following me on twitter!
Not sure how to add a tag cloud to a blogger site… I’m running WordPress, and using a widget plug-in to do it. Hope that helps?
Best,
Andrew
May 18, 2011 at 11:26 pm
Ok so what’s so awful about fried food, especially when you do it yourself? For example my lady and I fry up some breaded catfish once every couple months in Canola and it’s amazing and wonderful and then we don’t do that again for a couple more months. Intersperse with that in the same interval we make our own corn chips by shallow frying cut up tortillas. So we each eat a serving or two of fried food every month and then go back to our normal omnivore diet. We regularly exercise (mainly running and light yoga for her and mainly biking with some running and misc other for me) and our diet is great for our income bracket. So what’s the problem?
May 19, 2011 at 7:31 am
Hi David! There’s nothing awful about frying your own food every so often, especially when you combine it with the diet and lifestyle you’re talking about.
It’s what I call the “cheat meal” — which is an important point in all of this. Cheat meals add variety, interest, and flexibility to your life. That’s the real meaning of “everything moderation,” and it sounds like you’re doing that quite well.
The reason it’s one of my rules is that most people eat fried food — and in particular, fried food made by restaurants/corporations — with far too much frequency. There’s also a fundamental flaw in our memories, so that when most people think they eat fries, for example, twice a week, they’re more likely actually eating them four or five times a week. (Entire psychological textbooks can be written in this subject…).
I applaud you for cooking at home. The more I research and explore this topic, the more I’m coming to the conclusion that cooking your own food may be the single most important thing you can do for your health. (Even if it’s fried catfish.)
Does that answer your question?
May 19, 2011 at 1:03 pm
Yes it does, and thank you for your answer. Though I do have second question (of course).
I have been poking around your site since yesterday and like what I see, especially since you don’t wander off into food conspiracy theories that I feel damage that cause as much as their creators feel like they are helping. However, my question is: do you set up your eating rules in such a stringent manner so that when you get to these cheats you understand what they are and can treat them as “treat” that you don’t indulge in very often?
May 20, 2011 at 4:54 am
Pretty much, yes.
I do my best to stick to the rules, keeping them as “absolutes,” and then make the most of my cheat meals and enjoy it to the fullest.
Most of the time, that works great. Other times, though, life gets in the way. If I’m somewhere that doesn’t have any options that follow the rules (usually that’s the whole grain rule – the other two are generally easier to work around), for example, and I’m really hungry, I may have an unplanned cheat. If I have to choose between not eating and breaking the rules, I’ll choose the healthiest option, whatever that may be. I won’t beat myself up about it, though, and try to plan better next time.
May 24, 2011 at 6:25 am
Is’t organic dried cane syrup, organic evaporate cane syrup a glucose, sucrose or fructose?
May 24, 2011 at 6:38 am
Hi Lara! Cane sugar is sucrose. I recently posted on the subject, What is the healthiest sugar? (Part 2).
Also, it’ll still be the same kind of sugar whether or not it’s organic. “Organic” has a so-called “health halo,” and people may even unwittingly think organic junk food is healthier than regular junk food. (junk food is junk food…no getting around it!).
(I don’t mean to “diss” organic foods — I’m certainly a fan. I just wanted to be sure there’s no misconception here…)
Thanks!
May 24, 2011 at 10:24 am
So sucrose and fructose are the same (as bad)? I just learn that fructose is a poison, and how works in our liver and brain, do you agree?
May 24, 2011 at 10:50 am
According to some researchers/scientists/nutritionists, there’s no difference between between eating HFCS (a blend of 45% glucose and 55% fructose) and sucrose, because as soon as you eat the sucrose your body turns it into the glucose/fructose components. But then there are others who say there’s a significant difference, precisely because your body has to process it.
Make sure you go back and read Part 1! (and then let’s continue the discussion on the comments section for that post)
June 10, 2011 at 4:04 pm
After reading your Smoothie Smackdown: McCafe vs. Jamba vs. Robeks blog i wanted to share with you my recent complaint letter to Robeks…
6/9/11 To Whom This May Concern:
I am an employee of the surrounding area and have been a customer of your Robeks #6 in El Segundo for 7 years, so far the services have been impeccable, but today I encountered some really poor customer service.
I take a walk everyday during lunch as I did this afternoon. I stoped by your store and wanted to give the Green Tea Sensation a try. I was curious to see how my drink was prepared and the employee by the name of Ken was pouring the ingredients into the container I noticed that he stood in a weird way as if he was trying to hide or cover what he was pouring into the container, as he then returned the gallon to the fridge I noticed that the gallon looked more like non-fat milk rather than soy. I was curious to know and wanted to confirm what he had poured in the container so I approached a different employee by the name of Anthony, I asked if he could show me the gallon Ken had just used and sure enough it was non-fat milk. I didn’t understand why he would use non-fat milk over soy if the ingredients didn’t call for non-fat milk. I asked for an explanation and their response was that they ran out of soy. I strongly believe that I should’ve been asked if using non-fat milk was ok rather than him trying to hide the fact that he was pouring the non-fat milk. I am lactose intolerant and can only take so much dairy so the fact that he was adding even more dairy than necessary was a very careless move! I was outraged over the attitude and poor customer service I was given by Ken when I confronted him, Ken did not want to apologize and/or admit he was wrong by what he did and made it a point to tell me that he did not owe me an apology and that I shouldn’t had ordered any drink with dairy if I had any problems with dairy. This incident has really left a bad impression on me. I hope that you look into the matter immediately.
Thank you for your co-operation, and I hope such incidents will not be repeated.
Its day 1 and havent heard back from Robeks… my question… do they leave it up to each employees discretion as to which ingredients they should substitute rather than asking the customer?!?!?!?
June 14, 2011 at 6:44 pm
Hi Mimi. Thanks for sharing your story about Robeks. I hav eno idea what their company policy is, but it sure sounds to me like they should let the customer decide if they ever need to make a substitution!