Managing Weight and Overall Health

Food choices are among the most effective ways within personal control to manage weight and positively influence overall health. However, since food preferences are so ingrained and subjective, people are more likely to maintain nutritious dietary choices if they learn how to make the foods they are accustomed to more nutritiously, rather than changing to a diet of nutritious foods they have never tasted and may not like. This involves learning healthier cooking techniques, more nutritious substitutes, new foods, and the effect of different ingredients on taste.

Furthermore, as diet is the overall pattern of eating and not any single meal, a healthier diet can be achieved in different ways. One may improve overall diet by incorporating calorie restriction through short-term fasting, by following a low-fat diet, by following a higher-fat Mediterranean diet, by choosing moderately improved choices for all foods eaten, or by combining some Spartan-like, drastically improved meals with some traditional, non-improved meals. More critically, one should pick an approach she or he can maintain over time. Knowledge of food and preparation methods enables one to make those choices.