The title of this post is a simplified version of Michael Pollan's formula for a successful diet, taken from his new book "In Defense of Food".
Food is a subject that is always on my mind, and especially at the start of a New Year, I am resolved to eat more healthfully. But how to sift through the enormous, and often conflicting, amount of theories and information out there? No carbs? Some carbs? No fats? Good fats? Protein? Food combining? To juice or not to juice?
Diet is a word that I detest. I still have a copy of this Grapefruit, Beet and Hard-Boiled Egg diet I went on about 12 years ago, guaranteed to make me lose weight in a short amount of time. All it did was make me want to kill everyone. It was a long time before I ate those foods again.
I love food. I don't want it to be my enemy. There are very few things in the world that I will not eat (and I have eaten some things that would make a lot of people shudder) - the more simple, regional and fresh, the better. Moving to California made me more conscious of not eating processed foods and the benefits of farmer's markets. But we are also eating out more than we ever have, and even the most moderate grocery store caters to the desires of our inner foodie. I have more $15 jars of jam than I would have ever thought possible.
Not long ago, I was advised by a friend to become more of a food connoisseur and less of a hedonist. Sound advice, but now I have to come up with the parameters around this and put it into action.
I think the key to any successful change is understanding the science behind it. I don't want to blindly follow a regimen laid out by someone else, I want to be able to make my own educated choices and be creative in my selections. I want to continue my lifestyle with modifications that don't feel like deprivation. In other words, I want to become my own nutritionist.
So this book, among others, is on my reading list. I am looking forward to delving into the world of food in a new way, and taking my first bite of healthful living.
