I haven't been looking forward to writing this section. I enjoy cooking and I like food, that’s not a good start. Please choose one of these sentences: food is fun; food is fuel. Most people, like me, think of food as fun. Let’s face it, every cookery program on TV and piece of food advertising you see incessantly repeats the mantra, food is fun! My problems start with not knowing enough about food, I do know about preparation and taste, but my understanding of nutritional value is, in my view, basic. There are certain obvious things I avoid, biscuits, fizzy drinks, chocolate and things like that, you know, junk food! I have avoided these types of foods for years, in an attempt to keep my weight under control. After all removing high calorie, highly available, and mentally high foods can do nothing but help. To a certain degree I’ve succeeded, but my weight has plateaued. But avoiding these foods does not negate the fact that my diet is not what it should be, and it is something I really need to focus on!
Diet is more than what you eat, it is the quantity you eat, it is when you eat, and it is mentally why you eat. The word diet, comes from a Greek word ‘diaita’, which means ‘a way of life.’ Too often we think of a diet as something we go on for a few weeks or months. We diet to targets, then once we’ve got there, it’s over, back to normal, back to the reasons you needed to go on a diet in the first place. I’m really going to state the obvious here, but we always eat food, everyday, all the way through our lives, eating is a way of life. Too often our eating is mechanical and instinctive. So long as we enjoy it and our stomachs are full, we give eating no thought. Some people have very specific diets, things like the carnivore diet or being a vegan, people buy into these as a way of life. They really think about their food and are very aware of what they eat. The best place to start with diet is simply being aware of what, when and how much you’re eating!
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