Calorie and macro-nutrient tracking/counting.

Healthier choices follow as a normal consequence. Once you’ve got the proof in front of you of the nutritional value of food and what it’s doing for you, it’s really a lot harder to make unhealthy choices again… It’s easier to get fruit and veg into your diet, veg in particular is so filling for how low in calories it is it’s basically “free”.

I’m not on any sort of restrictive diet– low carb, low fat, no sugar, keto, vegan, or anything else– except that I stick to my recommended energy intake. I didn’t intentionally cut junk food out, there’s nothing I’m forbidden from eating, but I ended up eating far less junk food incidentally as a result.

It absolutely is not for everyone– some people find calorie counting stressful or a time drain, and it does of course have an association with disorders– but eating only your recommended energy intake for your age, height, gender, and activity level is a great starting point.

If you’ve stuck to your calorie budget but you’re still physically hungry late at night… Well, your diet needs rebalancing.

I bailed on pasta, processed meats, packaged premade “meals”, and stopped drinking soda when New Coke was released in 1985. I eat meats (chicken, pork and fish) and greens… Mostly greens. Cook at home and generally avoid all the garbage on the store shelves in bright;y colored boxes. Shop the edges of the grocery store - that is where all the fresh food is.

As a non american: most people do agree on what a healthy diet looks like. Water > anything else for drinks Diverse and fresh/ unprocessed for foods. Limit salt to 2.5g.

Eat a variety of plant based whole foods, limit processed foods, avoid ultra processed foods.

NutritionFacts.Org is a non profit run by Michael Greger, M.D. FACLM, a real licensed doctor. It has a ton of great information, breaking down scientific studies and examines how diets affect the population. There’s a reason why 9 out of the top 15 causes of death are dietary related, and there’s a reason why people who exclusively eat planet based have much better health outcomes, in terms of heart disease, cancer, etc.

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Switched most of my white bread for brown bread, try to get some beans and chickpeas in from time to time. Try to eat a touch less red meat and replace it with fish, and usually my chickpea or bean meals mean I don’t have any meat with those.

nobody can seem to agree on what a ‘healthy diet’

You’re wrong but it’s OK. Eat vegetables. " Things that are green " if it helps you. Not too much meat, not too much bread and pasta. That’s it, it’s easy. 2 or 3 times a day, not more. Stop eating sugar.

Avoid sugar and artificial sweeteners, eat fermented foods like kimchi/kefir/sauerkraut etc, increase fiber intake. No alcohol except on special occasions.

I don’t avoid fat at all except trans fats. Salt I’m also not overly concerned about. Will eat as much bread and carbs as I want.

Still look and feel great for my age (almost 40), body fat is low, and I get a lot of compliments - so I guess it’s working. Bloods are always excellent too.

Pretty easy to stick with this diet and it isn’t too restrictive

what everyone said but i would add watch macros to find balance. swapping out fat for more fibre and protien goes a long way especially with reducing visceral fat which can have a long impact on things like reducing stroke and organ diseases.

keep sugar down around 25g. the average person gets up to like 5 times that amount a day or even in one meal. and any eat sugar you do eat, eat it with fibre so its not released into your system all at once.

There is pretty good consensus on the basics:

1. Aim for less than 25g of sugar and less than 5g of salt/sodium per day (processed food typically contains lots of salt).
2. Eat mostly vegetables, fruit, and whole grains.
3. Eat unsaturated fat. Avoid trans fats.
4. Prefer water to other beverages. Even tiny amounts of alcohol can hurt you.

This is based on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthy_diet#Recommendations

doesn’t have to be complicated, dont eat much processed food, eat lots of vegetables, cook for yourself … or my preferred choice, have a chef for a gf who is big into garden to plate i.e from her own garden and/or other locals she swaps with.

Wherever possible, stick to the perimeter of the grocery store. Fresh vegetables and fruit, eggs, dried fruits, nuts and oats, frozen vegetables, unprocessed meats if that’s your thing. The closer you get to the middle of the grocery store, the more processed and less healthy the items are. The candy and chips are usually right in the middle of the store. And for God’s sake don’t eat or drink anything from the shampoo and laundry aisle.

Try to get 30 grams of fiber a day. Limit processed foods. Limit saturated fats.

I eat a lot of salads with avocado. Oatmeal with dried fruit. Beans and rice.

I had high cholesterol and was overweight. Changing my diet fixed these issues and made me feel better.

People do agree.

Almost everyone who studies this stuff professional agrees that the following are bad, and should be limited:

• High sugar, low fiber foods: soft drinks, candy, donuts, cake, ice cream, most other classic desserts.
• Oily/fatty processed foods: chips, certain crackers, shelf stable baked goods like cookies, donuts, wrapped cakes, really greasy pizza.
• Trans fats
• Alcohol

Almost everyone agrees that the following are good, and should be maximized:

• Leafy vegetables
• Colorful vegetables
• Beans, peas, chickpeas, lentils, other cooked legumes/pulses
• Fermented/pickled vegetables, especially through lactic acid fermentation

It’s not universal, but it’s a pretty broad consensus that the Mediterranean diet is good for you, which includes a lot of:

• Fish, especially fatty fish low on the food chain, like sardines and anchovies
• Other seafood, especially those low on the food chain
• Whole fruit
• Nuts
• Extra virgin olive oil in reasonable quantities

It’s also not universal, but the broad consensus is that the following are bad for you when eaten in excess:

• Cured meats like sausage/ham
• Fried foods
• Red meat
• Low fiber white starches (white bread, white pasta, white rice)

For me personally, I eat a lot. I want to eat a lot. I could win amateur eating contests in my youth, and even today, left to my own devices, I have no trouble eating 2000 calories in a single meal, 5000 calories in a single day. So I need to manage my hunger, and I’ve found that for me, fiber and protein promote satiety, so I eat a lot of legumes: beans, lentils, green beans, peas, peanuts. These are basically my staple food, and I drink a lot of water, and eat a lot of watery foods (fruit, soup, etc.).

I mostly avoid processed sugar (no sugary drinks or candy or desserts). I leave fried foods, which I love, for special occasions. I have seriously reduced my consumption of red meat, almost to zero, mainly out of social responsibility, but also with an eye towards health.

I avoid bringing unhealthy foods into my house. It’s a lot easier to avoid eating them when I would have to go out of my way to order it.

I’m also working out all the time. Not just to buy me a calorie budget for eating, but also because knowing I need to go to the gym later helps control my portions and choices earlier in the day. Nothing worse than trying to squat 330+ lbs (150+ kg) with a huge portion of greasy fried chicken sitting in your stomach.

You don’t have to have a perfect diet (trying too hard to get one ends up being bad for you), you just have to do enough of the things mentioned here.