10 rules of nutrition

To my non-expert but skeptical eyes, this is a pretty good article from io9: The Rules of Good Nutrition (That Absolutely Everybody Agrees On)

Points 1-7 even have citations! Citations! To journal articles!

Anyway, there are two points that I just want to highlight:

3. There is No Perfect Diet For Everyone

Bottom Line: The best diet for YOU is the one you get results with and that you can stick to in the long term.

and

9. “Diets” Don’t Work, a Lifestyle Change is Necessary

Bottom Line: Adopting a healthy lifestyle is the only way to ensure long term weight loss and a lifetime of improved health.

These are the things that have really been driven home to me over the last three years and my own continuing adventure in weight loss. People tend to push particular diets, because they’re fads, because they’re trying to sell you something, or often even just because it’s worked well for them so they think it should be a cure-all. It never is. You have to find a mix of foods that work for you to keep you fueled and healthy.

And more importantly, you have to find that mix that you can sustain and live with. It’s easy to go on a diet and make yourself eat shit you hate for like maybe a month, and then it’s all over. You have to like what you’re doing, or it’ll never work. You have to do changes that you can stick with permanently and be happy.

Because if it’s not making you happy (in the long run, there will always be fucking miserable days) then why the hell are you doing it?