* 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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The bottom line: Eating better requires behavior change, and behavior change is hard.  Understanding how change works and having a model will increase our chance of success.  
 
There are many varied theories on change.  Some researchers and anecdotal reports point to success with a “cold turkey” or extreme approach to a new behavior.  Other studies and empirical observations show a clear benefit to a gradual approach.  I know many people who just seem to change overnight with smoking or other bad habits, while others try and fail numbers of time before seeing lasting success.  
 
One of the more popular theories of change is the “Transtheoretical Model of Change” which involves 6 steps:

1. Precontemplation
2. Contemplation
3. Preparation
4. Action
5. Maintenance 
6. Exit / Relapse

(*source – NIH)
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​I prefer a simpler model which I developed over a course of 20 years of helping people change.  This is what I call The3.0 Solutions Model for Change.  It takes the simple number 3 and applies it to change, because 3 has a natural and easy geometrical fit for models, a motivational quality, and is also easier to memorize and thus effect outcomes.  3 is simple and works well for modeling things.  It makes change easier.  3.0 Solutions is a concept I am developing to help people with Nutrition, Fitness, & Wellness and this is the 3.0 Solutions Model for Change.  Our goal is to “become a pro” in the sense that we’ll eventually do what we need to do automatically in the end, after the initial stages of awareness and action:

Remember, models make things easier.  They give us a way to “frame” things and stay on track.  This is one reason the US military uses acronyms a lot, they’re easy to remember and use.  Memorize the 3.0 Solutions Model for Change and use it to help you eat better, and to make other healthy changes in your life. 

• Awareness
• Action
• Habit

 
To become a pro, learn more and become aware, take action and keep following through, and then finally you’ll have the habit in place and be a “pro” and you will do the things you want to do automatically.  Change is hard, but with the right model, you can do it.  

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Read Next:  Don't Give Up So Quickly


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* 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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Human nature is fascinating to observe and study. In some ways people are unpredictable but overall we usually act in accordance with the way we’re wired. We always look for shortcuts and ways to get around the discipline necessary to do something, particularly if it’s changing behavior.  
 
Eating healthy is hard because sugar, salt, and fat are addictive.  It takes work to stay on track.  There are no hidden secrets.  
 
Esoteric eating is a modern affliction, a convenient way to yo-yo through various fads and cult like eating regimens. I remember being criticized for eating at Subway by a follower online, saying Subway was “trash” and unhealthy. Apparently he, the casual observer, held esoteric knowledge of health that I the sincere student of health was not privy to. 
 
We live in an esoteric age. Special people have special knowledge, or so they think. 
 
Like the “chosen ones” of past generations, these esoteric health nuts, vegans, and aficionados of various gurus and eating systems see themselves as the “elect” and the “sanctified.” 
 
In theological terms, esoteric eating is similar to Gnosticism. Gnostics are supposedly possessors of special knowledge that others are not aware of, or haven’t been enlightened by.
 
Just as our religious nature without authentic expression has created a cultic worship of the self, consumerism, and the ever growing deification of the state itself, with neo-gnostic beliefs, much of this spills over into esoteric types of health eating practices - keto, atkins, zone, all organic, veganism, and even all meat diets. The same esoteric, gnostic beliefs pop up in the health and wellness field, and latching on to some esoteric belief system becomes a pseudo religion. 
 
The key belief in esoteric, gnostic health knowledge is this:
 
“I have discovered the “truth” about the best way to eat / exercise / live healthy and am a convert to this special knowledge.” 
 
Many people think they have found “the way” to eat. 
 
Ignore them. Ignore the esoteric eating habits of the enlightened, because this usually ends up being self - defeating at worst, and annoying at least.  If you want to become a vegetarian, fine, go for it because you might be better off.  But there are bigger things in life than searching for some hidden way to eat.  
 
Stick to the basics. There is no special knowledge. The truth is the truth. Be cautious, but reasonable.  If you don’t know the effect of a supplement don’t take it. Eat less than you burn to lose weight. Focus on plant foods, fruits and veggies, for most of your calories. Eat plenty of fresh food. Wash your food. Eat fish, nuts, and healthily unprocessed meats. Eat whole grains and slow digesting carbs. Fast a little. Enjoy eating. Drink plenty of water, preferably filtered. 
 
Don’t join a cult movement containing supposedly hidden esoteric knowledge because it doesn’t work over the long term. 
 
Aim for balance and eat well day by day instead. 
 
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Read Next: Models

The US justice system was founded on a principle of “innocent until proven guilty.”  This was imperfectly enforced but generally held and even improved over the years.  Recently, things have taken a darker turn.  “Show trials”, very common in the Stalinist era in Russia, have made their way into American life.   These show trials may happen on college campuses, maybe through the media, or maybe even in the judicial system.  The point is to humiliate and destroy your opponent in a show trial, not to seek justice.  
 
The world has always been a dangerous place, to varying degrees, and even now modern life comes with risks. It pays to be careful because danger is still there. One lack of insurance, one tragic miscalculation, one day of bad judgement, one un-pc word in the wrong place, or being too wrapped up with the wrong person can lead to a lifetime of regret.   Boundaries are important, I’ve learned this the hard way.  My favorite writer, Nassim Taleb says that being successful in any endeavor is largely about taking small risks and avoiding ruin. Major risks are there in the form of people you encounter too.  Some people are hell – bent on causing trouble. It’s better as Taleb says in his book by the same name, to become “Antifragile.” Who controls your life?  Are you anti-fragile?  The people you can’t criticize are the people who have power over you.  Set healthy boundaries.  
 
There are negative, and destructive, and yes even evil people out there.  
They hate you for who you are.
They don’t want you to succeed.
They take joy in your pain.
They are petty, bitter, manipulative, and narcissistic. 
They are jealous.  
They don’t want to cooperate, they want to suck the life out of you.  
 
I don’t care who you are, there are people in you encounter in life who you should avoid.  These people really exist, especially now.  
 
We live in an ideological age. As Russell Kirk says “ideology is political religion.” Ideology blinds people to reason and ties them to tribal instincts and emotions.  Ideology is driven by pure emotion and communicates with rhetoric (emotional communication) not dialectic (logic).
 
Are you in, or are you out? 
 
Certain cultural influences in the US are pushing a type of monomind ideology and this way of being and thinking has infected the culture like a meme- a sociological virus. It’s so invasive that it’s become what the Italian theorist Gramcy called “common sense.” Dr. Frank Furedi of the University of Kent has brilliantly written about this quite a bit too, on the culture of fear, fear-mongering, and the “call-out” bullies in the culture of offense.  People are afraid, and for good reason. There are people out there looking to get you, especially if you work or are dependent upon a large bureaucratic organization.  If you have a family to support, it’s even more perilous.  
 
So why does it matter to you?
 
Some people you just need to avoid. They can make your life a living hell.
 
Don’t be paranoid but be real. Set boundaries.  Some people are toxic.  Spend time only with people who want the best for you and who celebrate your accomplishments.   
 
People consumed by ideology are not interested in a debate or discussion. At best, they want to call names and attack people, at worst they want to lie, cheat, and ruin people’s’ lives, possibly even through physical harm. 
 
Ideologues, sociopaths, and emotional vampires may be a small minority of the population but they’re out there. Avoid them at all costs.
 
Avoid them at work, in your personal life, and in public. If possible, don’t allow them into your organizations. Ideologies are pathologies to the host. They must be avoided or removed from the host or they will suck the life out of it. Their power play is manipulative. They pose as victims and appeal to the host’s sense of decency and goodwill. Beware. 
 
Don’t argue, don’t explain, don’t apologize.  You more than likely did nothing wrong.  
 
If you’re stuck with them at work, avoid them or nod along as best you can when they start rehearsing their memes and empty platitudes. When topics come up and you can sense a trap, then gracefully bow out.  Don’t ever be alone with them and document all your communication. 
 
Some people you just need to avoid. 

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Read Next: My Super Simple Philosophy 
 

* 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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The organic food business is a multi-billion dollar industry.  When I was growing up in the 1980s, I had never even heard of organic foods.  But somewhere around the late 1990s, organic food commercially exploded and doesn’t seemed to have slowed down one bit.  One of the largest publicly traded grocery stores, Whole Foods, which is owned by Amazon, markets themselves as an organic health food supermarket.  There are also chains such as Sprouts and Fresh Market that sell quite a bit of organic food.  Even Wal-Mart, Publix, and Kroger offer ample amounts of organic food.  So it’s not hard to find, at least in grocery stores.

There have been many books written on the subject of organic gardening, and the ills of the food industry.  The corporate industrialization of the food business, has undoubtedly had positive and negative effects.  No one is going hungry, for the most part, which is obviously good.  We live in a country where overnutrition is much more of a problem than undernutrition, so we are fortunate in that regard.  But industrial farming has it’s downsides.  With non-organic industrial farming there are concerns about:

•    Pesticides
•    Herbicides
•    Synthetic fertilizers
•    Sewage sludge
•    Bioengineering
•    Hormones and antibiotics
•    No grazing land or access to the outdoors for animals
•    Bland taste of industrial foods
•    Possibly greater risk of bacteria in industrial foods

For a food to be labeled organic by the USDA in the US, it must be free from the preceding list of characteristics.  US law requires products labeled as organic to be 95% organic ingredients.  From the research I’ve done, these factors are legitimate concerns and organic foods, because they are harvested later do tend to taste better.  Organic food has definitely been shown to contain less pesticides.  And you don’t have to be a tree-hugging hippie to want an animal to not be treated cruelly.  But there are downsides to organic food as well:

•    Higher cost
•    Increasingly common but still less accessible
•    Research on long-term outcomes is murky and difficult to prove conclusively
•    Plants have natural toxins which are higher in organic food

Do I need to eat organic?

Despite the downsides, I think it makes sense to eat some organic foods.  I recommend following a middle way, where you select certain foods which are organic, if you can afford them.  Like many things when it comes to eating, taking a balanced approach is best. 

Some simple recommendations

1.    The most important thing is to eat healthy, and to eat less.

2.    If cost isn’t a factor, on the whole it makes sense to eat mostly organic food. Pesticides, herbicides,  and hormones and antibiotics collect in the environment and we end up ingesting these things, which can’t be good in the long run.  A prudent and healthy approach is to be conservative about taking anything like those kinds of chemicals into your body if you can help it.  I have written about this concept many times, and it can be summed up the phrase Via Negativa – or literally, “subtracting.”

3.    If cost is a factor, or you just are not that concerned about eating organic, try to avoid the foods highest in pesticides.  These lists are easy to find online, but a guideline is to consider whether you will be eating the peeling.  If so, choose organic.  

4.    If you want to take in more Omega 3 fatty acids, which is always a good idea because they are the healthiest fats, choose organic meat, dairy, and eggs.

The following is a list of foods highest in pesticides.  Try to avoid, minimize or wash thoroughly:  

•    Peaches
•    Nectarines
•    Apples
•    Sweet bell peppers
•    Celery
•    Strawberries
•    Potatoes
•    Pears
•    Grapes (imported)
•    Spinach
•    Lettuce
•    Cherries
 
These foods are low in pesticides, and some on the list may surprise you:

•    Broccoli
•    Cabbage
•    Bananas
•    Kiwi
•    Papaya
•    Sweet peas (frozen)
•    Pineapple
•    Sweet corn (frozen)
•    Avocado
•    Onions
•    Asparagus
•    Mango

Be aware, be intentional, but don’t obsess.

Don’t obsess over it, but it’s worth considering adding in more organic foods off of the list of “dirtier” ones.  For full disclosure I eat mostly organic meats and dairy, and I can tell a big difference with much better digestion than with non-organic.  Be wise, and be reasonable, but don’t be obsessive about organic foods.  There are bigger problems in the universe.  

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Read Next:  20 Minutes to a Stronger Back and Core