* This is part of a year-long weekly series called "52 Weeks to Eating better than Ever". Click on the side bar for more information and to read the previous essays.
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Portion sizes are probably the single most important thing in managing weight and eating healthy, and eating healthy is also all about simplicity.  
 
Simple ways of doing things add up in the long run! 
 
Use this as a guide to portion sizes for specific food groups:
 
Two Playing Dice (2 per day)
 
Regular cheese
Nuts
Cooking Oil or Salad Dressing
 
Playing Card
 
Meat, Beans, Tofu, Fish (2-3 Per day)
 
Index Card
 
Servings of whole grains, brown rice, or al dente pasta (5-10 servings per day)
 
Baseball
 
Fruits (2-4 per day)
Vegetables (3-5 per day)
No- Fat Dairy, Skim Milk or Yogurt (2-3 per day)
 
Softball
 
Salads
 
And, as always avoid chips, fries, juices, sodas, white breads, crackers, white rice, sugary sweets, and heavy creams, except on occasion.  

* This is part of a year-long weekly series called "52 Weeks to Eating better than Ever". Click on the side bar for more information and to read the previous essays.
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If you only did this one thing, focusing on fruits and vegetables as your primary target, you would be much healthier in the long run.  Just focusing on eating those two things gives you a simple way to structure your meals and approach each meal.  
 
Think about this simple plan when you get hungry, or better yet when you’re planning meals or at the store. When you start thinking about your next meal, just immediately begin to think about fruits and vegetables, because they should make up most the plate.  Size-wise your plate should contain quite a bit, usually ½ to ¾, of fruits and vegetables.
 
Let’s say you’re craving a hamburger…ok, there’s nothing wrong with that.  But take your mind to what you’ll have with it.  A salad with tomatoes, onions, and carrots, topped with some oil and vinegar.  Maybe a light Cole slaw too, but no fries.  You can even have the bun.  Just avoid the fries and it’s a major win for most people.  Now do it repeatedly.
 
Let’s say you’re craving pizza.  Ok, one large piece or two small ones won’t hurt you.  But immediately think. Ok, I’m going to have pizza, but with extra sauce and lots of vegetables and no fatty meat.  
 
You want eggs and bacon on Sunday morning? Ok, fine, nothing wrong with that.  But add spinach, avocado, and salsa to the mix, and skip the biscuits. Skip the grits.  Have some whole-wheat toast and / or an apple.  Good decisions.
 
See how this adds up? Eating well is not about depriving yourself of things you like.  It’s about making wise decisions based on what’s good for you.
 
It’s passé for gurus, health writers, and fitness people to think they have some sort of special esoteric secret food knowledge, but taking the USDA advice and eating like this is as simple and effective as it gets.  Notice how the USDA “MyPlate” advice correlates to what I’m saying. Your plate should be ½ fruits and vegetables, at least.  

By following this one simple tip, covering half or more of your plate with fruits and veggies, you’ll:
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• Have a very simple formula to follow.  
• Eat fewer calories, losing or maintaining your body weight.
• Get more fiber and feel fuller.
• Take in more vitamins, phytonutrients, and water.
• Boost your immune system and have more energy.
• Eat less junk food and have fewer blood sugar crashes.

 
If you compare this simple strategy to eating typical foods like pizza, sweet cereals, shakes, and cakes, hamburgers with fries, and heavy pastas, there is no comparison.  Keep it simple, always think about filling your plate ½- ¾ with fruits and vegetables.  I know there are various theories about paleo, Mediterranean, ketogenic, and low sugar diets, and there may even be some merit to some of them. But study after study, and case after case points to healthier long-term outcomes and less disease for diets built around fruits and vegetables.
 
Enjoy! ​

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* This is part of a year-long weekly series called  "52 Weeks to Eating better than Ever". 
Click on the side bar for more information and to read the previous essays.
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Most great teams have “go-to” plays. Most great fighters have a “go-to” move that wins a fight. Actors have signature lines like “Hasta la vista, baby”, or “Frankly my dear I don’t give a damn.”  This is what these professionals are known for.  I want you to be like them and become a pro.  I want you to be someone who eats excellent- tasty and healthy.  Be known for eating well.  
 
Pick a few “go-to” meals that are:

• Easy
• Healthy 
• Fast

 
It’s better to eat a varietyof foods for the vitamins, minerals, and nutrients, but on the other hand it’s easier to maintain weight and eat well over the long haul if you eat predictably.  This means eating a lot of the same things repeatedly.  
 
Here are some examples of my “go-to” meals:

• An apple with a handful of nuts, for an afternoon snack.  
• A turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread, with lettuce, pickles, mustard and tomatoes, and a banana for lunch.
• Oatmeal with an egg or two for breakfast, followed by a small cup of blueberries.
• Al dente (hard-cooked) pasta with olive oil and canned tuna and some olives for dinner. 
• Grilled chicken breast, sauerkraut, and steamed carrots for dinner.
• Brown rice with lemon juice, baked salmon, spinach salad.
• A protein smoothie with whey protein, blueberries, cocoa, and almond butter.
• Sardines with pickles, a sliced tomato, and peaches for desert. 
• Greek Yogurt with sliced almonds and a couple of raisins or strawberries.  

 
These are a few of the quick, healthy, and easy meals I have repeatedly.  There are a few more, but you get the drift.  I suggest you get about 10 of these in your arsenal and just get in the habit of eating a lot of the same things every week.  It’s so much easier to eat healthy that way.  
 
You’ve heard of “to-go” meals, but switch to “go-to” meals…..they make a huge difference!
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By the way, I created a new infographic model of the mental health benefits of exercise, www.scottgodwin.net/models.htmlThe Movement & Meaning Model.  I really like the way it turned out.  It's on the site, but I've included it here.  Please share with anyone you're trying to inspire!

Religious fundamentalists on one hand and secular fundamentalists on the other talk past each other. The rest of us try to get on with our life and get out of the way, but it’s unfortunate the two cannot come to a reasonable consensus.  Most people in the US have some sort of religious faith, and most people are rational and reasonable and see the value in scientific inquiry.  The secular fundamentalists “won” the battle a few generations ago, but they don’t seem to be holding back as they march on towards “progress.” Though they can offer no rational justification for their own behavior, other than power, they seem to want to discount any person with sincere religious beliefs or dogma from the public square.  
 
The intolerant minority, which Nasim Taleb has written extensively about in his new and excellent book, Skin in the Game, usually win out in any debate.  So, the minority of secular fundamentalists won out in the decision back in the 1960s to remove prayer from school.  The large majority either wanted it or were agnostic about it, but the tiny vocal minority pushed things that direction.  And the country’s sense of ethics and justice has been on the wane ever since.  An intolerant minority is dangerous to a country that purports to be tolerant.  
 
At the very center of the debate between science and religion is something that most people overlook.  Both are true, but in different ways.  Even if you believe in direct revelation from God, you can also believe in science.  
 
Science offers a way to study the way things are. Religion tells us how to act. 
 
This is important, because the most brutal and barbarous totalitarian regimes of human history were atheistic.  Mankind has not proven himself to have “evolved” or “progressed” enough to not need God, no matter what the secular fundamentalists say.  Religious truths are not the same as scientific truths, because they justify ethics. They cannot be examined in a laboratory and provide a strong basis for a culture.
 
We did not really have science the way we think of it, until about 500-800 years ago whereas our religious stories go back in some cases 1000s of years.  To deny that science has a valid claim on truth is idiotic, but it is equally as idiotic to deny religious truth also.  
 
Religion answers questions about:
 
Why? 
Why are we here?  
What should we do?  
How should we act?  
What is the human condition? 
Who are we? 
How do I belong?
 
I’m always amazed when I read a magazine like Fast Companyhow many new technologies are being developed all the time, for things like healthcare, technology, and energy.  On the other hand, when I read the story of Adam and Eve and Roger Scruton’s brilliant commentary on the subject / object distinction, or about Cain and Abel, or Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, I am amazed how real and true religious stories really are.  
                                                        
Scientism is another risk, which is making an ideology out of data.  Data is just data.  What is important is what’s done with the collected data.  I get bored with scientism.  I get bored knowing that if you eat this or that, you will live an extra month, or that chewing gum may cause cancer, or that soy eaten 3 times per week raises your estrogen. Or that there is now an Iphone 17 that has a virtual app for this or that.  So what? Eventually, we can get so bogged down in means that we lose sight of ends. Scientific observation is good, but we always need to circle back to first things.
 
I say we call a truce. Let science observe, study, and learn about the world.  Let religion speak to us about who we are, how we should live, and what we should do.   Hold strongly to scientific and religious dogmas if you choose, but most of all, be tolerant of those who see things differently.  The world will be a much healthier place if we do.

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Read Next: 52 Weeks to Eating Better than Ever