If you are debating which diet to try, consider asking yourself a simple question:
Could you eat this way for the rest of your life?
If the answer is no, move on. This is often the case for overly restrictive diets such as keto, carnivore, or vegan.
If the answer is yes, you’ve likely found the ‘diet’ for you.
Diets such as the Mediterranean Diet or DASH don’t capture most of the headlines because they are not controversial.
But these are the types of diets you can stick with for life.
Some people can eat a very low carb diet over the long haul, but most cannot — often relapsing and binging once they slip up once.
The key is to figure out what will work for you. Not for the next week. For the rest of your life.
There is no need to even label your diet. Instead, think about certain meals you can eat regularly without feeling deprived or hungry afterwards.
For me, it’s pretty simple.
Breakfast = Oatmeal (or oat bran), topped with walnuts, blueberries, and cinnamon
Lunch = Big salad with leafy greens (kale, arugula, spinach), other veggies (tomatoes, peppers, etc.), lean protein (grilled chicken, turkey, shrimp), some cheese and nuts, dressed with extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
Dinner = Lean Protein (chicken, fish, meat) + veggies (asparagus, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower)
Snacks = Fruit (apples, pears), nuts (almonds, cashews), light cheese
I can eat these meals (with slight variations) over and over again without getting bored. They fill me up, are nutritious, and taste good (to me, anyway).
I’ve experimented with just about every diet, but most don’t stand the test of time (even if they are ‘healthy’).
Don’t worry about what the experts say (even me).
Find the eating plan — or specific meals — that work for you day in and day out and stick with that.
A healthy diet only works if you can do it consistently.
What you do consistently throughout your life matters far more than what you do on any given day.
So figure out how you want to eat forever and start eating that way today.
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