Food Rules?!?!

[JaneV2.0]

Rules concerning food are completely arbitrary:

Eat what works for you. When it stops working, do your research.
Keep your eyes on your own plate--nobody likes a food nanny.
Avoid spoiled food.

Remember that most "food rules" are made by manufacturers, advertisers, and those with an axe to grind (and they change every generation), and that your "eating healthy" may be seen as just the opposite by those with a different point of view. When someone says "I eat lots of fruit and whole grains; I avoid salt and fat" I think "I hope you have a robust liver, you're going to need it." But maybe you're a model fruitarian, who knows. I think often of the people of Roseto, who ate whatever they wanted washed down with wine, and avoided stress-induced disease as they did so. So don't stress over food, or anything else.

[Teacher Terry]

I am a very picky eater so never eat things I don’t like. Other than that I eat what I want. I mostly drink water because it has no calories and it’s free. I do think diet soda is unhealthy so avoid it. Sometimes I will have a regular soda when out.

[HappyHiker]

After much trial and error and serious experimentation and consideration, I have boiled my "food rules" down to these 4:

1. Avoid head cheese.
2. Avoid tripe.
3. If it smells "off" do not eat it.
4. Avoid anything with raw egg in it (after a violent G.I. attack after once breaking that rule)

[ApatheticNoMore]

I suppose it might seem endlessly complex to have a bunch of rules, but since most shopping is automatic and many of the same items all the time it really isn't. One just takes in more information and changes with that. So they aren't really rules even just habit at a certain point.

[Miss Cellaneous]

My main rule in life is: Everything in moderation, including moderation.

Not that I've ever thought of them as rules, more as guidelines or just things that I do:

I don't buy soda and chips and baked goods. I do eat/drink them when at someone's home and they are offered. They are treats, not staples.

I try to make most of the food that I eat.

I aim for 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day, with different colors of fruits and vegetables for a more well-rounded diet.

I don't eat things I don't like. So no eggs for me, except in baking.

For snacks, if I want a salty snack, I have to make popcorn. This involves a pan, the stovetop, popcorn and oil. And clean up. If I want a sweet treat, I have to bake something--cookies, brownies, a cake. This involves multiple ingredients, bowls, utensils, baking pans and the oven*. And clean up. So it's a constant tug-of-war between fulfilling the urge for a snack and not wanting to clean up. Or wanting a snack at 9 pm, but knowing there's no way I'll clean up that late and I try not to leave the kitchen a mess at night, so . . . I eat fewer snacks than I would like to, but when I really, really want something, I take the time to make something that tastes really good.

*All my baking also requires me to mix everything up by hand--burning off a few calories before I chow down on the chocolate chip cookies.

[KayLR]

After much trial and error and serious experimentation and consideration, I have boiled my "food rules" down to these 4:

1. Avoid head cheese.
2. Avoid tripe.
3. If it smells "off" do not eat it.
4. Avoid anything with raw egg in it (after a violent G.I. attack after once breaking that rule)

Yes, these plus no bloody meat.

[Gardenarian]

I don't have rules, but I do have habits and preferences.

I'm a vegetarian, so, no meat.
I don't like to eat until at least noon, and I don't like to go to bed with a full stomach, so I mostly eat within a 6 hour window every day.
I eat all the fruits, vegetables, beans, tofu, non-fat yogurt, healthy fats, and whole grains that I want.
I have a sweet tooth and I do limit sugar. I try not to eat any white flour or overly processed foods.
I don't like eating in restaurants; the food often makes me feel sick. In a restaurant I usually just get soup.
I only drink alcohol on special occasions, and limit myself to one drink (I have a low tolerance anyhow.)
I'm hypersensitive to caffeine, so no coffee drinks. The only thing I drink aside from water is herbal tea and fruit juice.
I try to eat all local and organic whenever possible.
I don't like to cook - soup, salad, fruit, oatmeal, sandwiches, rice & beans, and ww pasta make up most of my diet.

[bigbear]

Here are my food rules:

1. Eat only vegetables, fruit, whole grains and legumes.
2. Drink only water.
3. No animal products like meat and dairy.
4. No salt.
5. No oil.
6. No sugar.
7. No nuts.
8. No seeds.
9. No avocado.
10. No soy.
11. No gluten (wheat, barley and rye).
12. No caffeine.
13. No processed food.
14. Eat only whole, unrefined plant foods.
15. No added fat.

I used materials from Dr. John McDougall ("The McDougall Program for Ultimate Weight Loss"), Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn ("Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease"), Dr. T. Colin Campbell ("The China Study"), Chef AJ ("The Secrets to Ultimate Weight Loss") and Dr. Alan Goldhamer and Dr. Doug Lisle ("The Pleasure Trap") and a few others to design this plan.

I got rid of some foods I believe are healthy (nuts, seeds and avocado) because they are high in fat and calories. Soy is also high in fat. I believe salt, oil and sugar are chemicals that cause dopamine response in my brain and make food addiction harder to overcome. Processed food generally has unusually high levels of salt, sugar and fat. Caffeine is a drug but since I switched to drinking only tap water, I don't really encounter this anymore. Meat and dairy cause problems with circulation and increase the likelihood of heart disease, strokes, high blood pressure, etc. As for gluten, I honestly just added that when I started to as it was easy to give up and I wanted to see what kind of results I would get if I ate as clean a diet as I could. However, I have found other whole grains that I'm happy with and I don't eat bread, so I don't miss it.

This way of eating has eliminated edema, facilitated weight loss, gotten rid of inflammation, made me happier, gotten rid of anxiety and depression, saved me money, calmed my brain, gotten rid of my desire to eat out, eliminated cravings for the food I like in the past and has cured my food addiction. It took me three weeks to get used to it and now I like the food as much as anything I've ever had.

Although I can eat out, I'm usually restricted to steamed vegetables, fresh fruit, baked potatoes and salads with no dressing. I can make all those things at home in less time and for less money, so it has really reduced the amount of eating out that I do. When I visit my parents, my mom adjusts her recipes to include only ingredients I can have and I take my instant pot. Although I'm used to and happy with food with no added seasonings now, if I want seasonings, I have to cook from scratch and that is something I never learned how to do so I have had to learn as almost all processed food I've found goes against at least one of my rules.

However, the downsides are few compared to the upsides. Switching to this way of eating has been one of the best decisions of my life.

[Teacher Terry]

No offense BB but that sounds truly awful. How long have you been doing that? I wonder if it’s sustainable in the long run.

[lmerullo]

What BB is doing. - not to put too fine a point on it - is a style of veganism. I follow a FOK eating plan, which stands for Forks Over Knives. There is a documentary of that name available on Netflix. It's based on the China Study.

I eat nuts and seeds, wheat and avocados. Otherwise, much the same. This way of eating is actually very sustainable. I've been following for six months, and see no reason to stop.