"What are the first 3 letter of diet?" These words were first spoken to me around 2005 by a guy named Dietrich Dejean who was and from what I can tell still is an elite level trainer and example of being an optimized human. His point was that people crush themselves physically and emotionally trying to stick to an extreme or very specific plan for eating, a "die-t" and instead of making consistent and lasting progress they see short term progress and then fall off sometimes reversing most of the gains and in some cases even going further in the wrong direction, away from their goals than they were when they started. So how can you avoid that? Here are some things to consider now based on what we know about food and people.
A plant based plan and/or "vegetables are good for you" isn't true for everyone. Don't stress about eating your veggies. In the United States even "organic" fruits and vegetables are being covered in pesticides with the soil being depleted of key nutrients because of modern day profit driven farming practices versus doing something that makes sense long-term for all involved. You can wash your spinach leaves under warm water all you want but it isn't going to make it good for you. if you're not eating your veggies it's going to be alright, in fact, we are even discovering more and more that some vegetables carry toxins in them that they used in nature as defense against natural predators, so that kale might not be great for you in general anyways.
Less is more. If you want to make a significant change in your eating habits, actually just eat less. You might be better off working past the "hangry" feeling instead of grabbing that fast food on the good. Research shows that there are all kinds of health benefits to simply eating less. Have you read about the health benefits of fasting? It can do everything from manage your blood sugar to increase your natural human growth hormone (these are good things). Some of my most feel good productive days are when I've decided to go on a 16-24 hour fast and after you work past what I find is a brief few moments of "give me food" great things happen, although I still do drink black coffee when I fast.
Not all things for all people. Listen, my genetic makeup and life experience aka environmental factors are different from yours, so I'm not going to tell you that you should eat this or that, in fact there's a lot to be said in today's data driven world that there is no "one size fits all" approach to nutrition because we have all mixed our genes over thousands of years. Some people thrive on an all meat diet and other reach their highest mental and physical performance eating fish or beans, to each their own. If you want help getting yours dialed in, I recommend working with a specialist like Mike at 10x Health (786.791.8103) or Dr. Kelsey Myers at KOI Wellbeing to get specific genetic testing and comprehensive blood work that your normal doctor just doesn't do because the insurance companies don't work on preventive care, they work off sick care. What that means is, your doctor has limited tools to actually help you be healthy, but folks like Mike and Dr. Kelsey help people get better long-term without the use of prescriptions and broken medical practices.
Move your body. It's that simple. You don't need to "slay it" at the gym every day to live a long healthy life. Now if your goals are big like climbing mountains, of course intense physical activity has massive benefits, but if you're just looking to enjoy life and be healthy into old age then going for a walk each day is a huge win. Do a couple of push ups, bend over try touching your toes. Invest in a rebounder (mini-trampoline) and jump on it for a few minutes each day, you'll be golden just like the Golden Girls.
Eat less, move more. Keep it simple, or go big if you have big goals. Whatever your path, remember you're highly adaptable and strong, and there is almost always a solution, although they sometimes appear very differently in the details for different people depending on desired outcomes. Humans have the ability to drastically change and alter themselves to meet new demands and challenges, or amplify what exists through habit, routine, focus, and energy.