* This is part of a year-long 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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In another essay, I wrote about how diets “work”, at least in the short term, because they provide a structure and discipline to your eating which is often lacking.  If you get on a low-fat diet and follow that structure and measure what you’re eating, you will lose weight and bodyfat.  If you get on a low-carb diet, the same thing will happen.  You will lose weight and bodyfat.  If you do the Keto diet, then you’ll get results.  The same with Weight Watchers, The Zone, a Vegan diet, and Atkins.  All supposedly different, but all offering one main component that most of us are missing- discipline.
 
There was a famous documentary film made, called “Supersize Me” about a man who ate at McDonald’s for a month and gained a lot of weight by eating all that fast food.  It appears fast food would be the culprit, and it’s true that you can do better than most fast food.  But fast food isn’t the problem, a lack of discipline is.  There were other examples of case studies in which people who ate nothing but fast food and they ended up losing weight, instead of gaining weight, if they managed calories!  The common factor in these cases is discipline and structure. 
 
I’m not saying calories are all that matters.
 
I’m not saying you can eat whatever you want and still be healthy and lean.
 
I’m not saying certain diets aren’t better than others.
 
What I am saying is that diets help you focus.  If you want to lose fat, it’s an all-out war! But wars can’t be fought indefinitely because you will run out of focus and energy.  You only have so much focus and energy in each day.  If you are hyperfocused on food 365 days per year, you may not accomplish much else.  That’s why healthy habits over a lifetime are so important.  You want healthy eating to become automatic.
 
But let’s say you want to lose 20 pounds quickly.  Keeping in mind that you can only lose 1-2 pounds of fat per week at the most, aim for a 30-day period where you write down everything you eat.  Log it in to an online or smartphone tracking application or site.   Do it for 30 days straight.  Use any diet you like and that gives you enough energy to exercise.  I guarantee you that if you track your intake for 30 days’ minimum or preferably a little longer, 45-60 days, you will lose some fat. Shoot for about 20 pounds in 2 months. Then take a step back and relax and try to even out at that weight and evaluate your next move.  
 
Hyperfocus for a time, particularly on fat loss.  It’s not going to come off easy- remember it’s war!  Plan your meals for a whole month.  Block off time to do 30-60 minutes of exercise every day for 30 days and track your food.  You will lose fat if you follow the guidelines of practically any diet.  Two of my favorites are “The South Beach Diet” and Weight Watchers.  Pick your favorite, or try a new one, but to lose some serious fat, hyperfocus for a short time, a month or two and then settle back into healthy habits. Hyperfocusing and cycling through very short periods of intense fat loss can work well.  Just make sure you keep it off. 

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Read Next: Sparta vs. Bablyon

* This is part of a year-long 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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All diets work.   It could be the “Sugar-Busters”, the “Atkins” or “The Zone.” Some more recent ones I read about and heard about were “The Keto Diet” and “The Wheat Belly Diet.”  Diets come and go and usually come back around every few years.  Why wouldn’t they, consider they make millions for some entrepreneurial writer.  Do they work? 
 
In a short answer, yes, they do.  All diets work.  Which ones? All of them!
 
All diets work, and for that reason, I am not necessarily opposed to using them or recommending them. The major benefit of using one of these fad diets is that they give you some structure and extra motivation. Structure is critically important for most people, because most people lack discipline.  All diets can help you eat less, and thus lose weight and body fat, and so they do work in this sense.  Weight Watchers works for the same reasons- structure and motivation, with the added benefit using points and of allowing you to eat anything you like if you stick to your points.  It’s not really a diet but it’s my favorite.  
 
Just keep this in mind when you go on a diet.  If you don’t change your eating habits in the long-term, things will never change for you. So, go ahead and do a diet.  Jump on the bandwagon if you want to because the bandwagon often works, in the short term.  Just remember that lifelong success requires lifelong change.  Many diets don’t end up working in the long-term, not because the diet was that bad, but because the dieter went back to their old ways of poor nutritional quality and consistent overeating.  
 
Diet or no diet- eat less, eat better, and enjoy eating.    

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Read Next: The Top 10 Worst Foods You Can Eat

* This is part of a year-long 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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People often ask me if I eat meat.  I do.
 
It's not that I don't see and acknowledge the risks.  Higher meat consumption is generally associated with higher cancer and heart disease.  The risk is there.  
 
The risk is also there playing football, snow skiing, and going out in front of 150 people to speak, but I did and still do those things too, because the rewards outweigh the risks.  Like many things, I try to take a reasonable approach to red meat, which includes mainly beef and pork, and less commonly lamb.  (By the way, based on my research, I'm not convinced that fish, turkey, or chicken are any healthier than grass fed beef.) 
 
I eat red meat, and if you really enjoy it, I encourage you to as well.  Eating is about nourishment and enjoying good company and sometimes you just want a steak or a burger.  
 
My grandpa was a cattle farmer, and growing up we ate the grass-fed beef from his farm quite a bit.  To give you an idea of how much healthier and different true grass-fed beef is from store-bought grain fed beef, they taste nothing alike.  They were so different that we didn't like it much as kids because it was nothing like what our public school served.  It wasn’t a fatty meat like what we got at school, so as kids we complained.  Grass fed beef is extremely lean and low-fat, with good flavor but little grease.  It's not as juicy, because it has much less fat, but it's healthier by a mile.  
 
This is what I do with red meat, and I recommend a similar approach:
 

• Unless you really enjoy it, just remove the risk and choose something else.
• Save beef for once a week, on the weekend as a reward.
• Choose a moderate serving size.  3-6 oz. steaks are enough and you can only digest so much protein at one time anyway. 
• Refrain from charring your meats, and ask for "inside meat" at BBQ places.  This will cut back on "AGEs" - Advanced Glycation End Products which I've written about and are unhealthy.  
• Hamburgers are often tastier and less expensive than steaks.  
• Cook hamburgers in a covered pan on a stove eye on low to medium heat with a small amount of water to steam them, which will cut back on charring and AGE’s.  
• I know burnt meat can taste good, but so can cigarettes, and we all know about smoking.  
• Choose organic, grass fed beef.  
• Each time you eat red meat, or any type of meat, eat plenty of fiber and vegetables to aid in digestion and to act as an antioxidant.  
• A great example of this would be choosing the Cole Slaw at the BBQ restaurant over french fries or chips.  

 
A good burger or steak sometimes, or some BBQ at a tailgate party can be a great thing, really topping off the week. 
 
Add some of these tips to make the reward healthier !
 

* This is part of a year-long 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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You may have never heard of phytonutrients, but you should know about them.  And once you learn how healthy they are for you, you'll be telling everyone. Plant foods contain many naturally occurring chemicals, and that's what phytonutrients are, natural chemicals which protect plants against threats like bugs, fungus, and other germs.
 
The amazing thing is that even though phytonutrients are there to protect plants, they can also protect you!
 
Vegetables, fruits, and other plant foods like whole grains, beans, tea, and nuts also have phytonutrients.  Unlike vitamins, minerals, and food nourishment sources like protein, fat, and carbohydrates, phytonutrients won't keep you alive, or provide vitamins, energy, or protein, but they do help prevent disease, act as antioxidants, boost immunity, and keep the body running well. 
 
Probably the most famous phytonutrients are carotenoids.  Eat plenty of orange, red, and yellow fruits and vegetables to get plenty of them. Pumpkins and carrots are two great sources. Lycopene is also a well-known carotenoid.  It is found in large quantities in tomatoes and tomato products, watermelons, and pink grapefruit.  If you have a pizza, on a cheat day, always order extra sauce!  
 
Other phytonutrients are ellagic acid, flavonoids, catechins, resveratrol, glucosinates, and phytoestrogens.  
 
Ellagic Acidis found in various berries and is linked to cancer prevention. 
 
Flavonoidsare found in a variety of plant foods, particularly green tea, which contains a flavonoid called catechin, and is a strong anti-carcinogen.  Apples, berries, onions, and kale are good sources of catechins too. 
 
Resveratrol is a phytonutrient found in grapes, grape juice, and red wine and has become quite popular in supplement form, due to it's association with long life. Be easy on the wine though.  
 
Cruciferous vegetables like cabbage, brussel sprouts, kale, and broccoli are all excellent sources of phytonutrients called glucosinolates, giving them a strong odor and flavor.  It is believed that the cooking process of glucosinolates enhances their cancer - fighting ability.  
 
Phytoestrogensfound in soy might also play a role as a cancer prevention, though I would moderate soy intake if your testosterone level is a concern, since phytoestrogens might depress the male sex hormones.  
 
It's so easy to jump on the latest fad, but eating healthy is one of the simplest things you will ever do, once you master a few basic concepts.   
 
Bottom Line:  Eat plant foods to take in phytonutrients, and to live longer and better.  

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