Eat Well
Nutrition is the most over-complicated topic in health. Every year brings a new guru, a new miracle diet, a new food villain. Keto. Carnivore. Vegan. Fasting. The noise is deafening.
Here’s what decades of evidence actually show: The specifics matter far less than the basics. Every credible health organization, every large-scale study, every meta-analysis converges on the same boring conclusion: eat real food, mostly plants, adequate protein, not too much (American Heart Association, 2021, 2024).
The best diet is one you’ll actually follow for 20 years. That rules out anything extreme.
Objective
Build a sustainable eating pattern based on whole foods that supports energy, body composition, and long-term health. No calorie counting long-term. No forbidden foods. Just a reliable default that handles 80% of nutrition decisions automatically.
The Hierarchy of What Matters
Most people obsess about the bottom of this list while ignoring the top:
- Calories — Energy balance drives body weight. Period. See Calories vs Hormones.
- Food quality — Whole foods beat processed foods at every level. See Nutritional Density.
- Protein — Most people under-eat protein. It preserves muscle, kills hunger, and costs more calories to digest.
- Micronutrients — Fruits, vegetables, and variety cover this automatically if you eat real food.
- Meal timing — Matters least. Eat when it works for your schedule.
- Supplements — Fix verified deficiencies only. Supplements can’t overcome a bad diet.
If you’re not nailing1-3, nothing below matters.
The Protocol
Phase 1: Establish the Baseline (Weeks 1-2)
Track everything for 14 days. Not forever — just enough to see reality.
Use any app (MyFitnessPal, Cronometer, or pen and paper). The goal isn’t precision. It’s awareness.
Most people discover:
- They eat 20-40% more than they think
- Protein is lower than they assumed
- 2-3 foods account for most of their calories
- Snacking adds more than meals
Don’t change anything yet. Just observe. Awareness changes behavior before willpower does.
Phase 2: Fix the Defaults (Weeks 3-6)
Don’t overhaul everything. Change the defaults — the meals you eat most days without thinking.
Build 3-5 default meals that are:
- Whole-food based (ingredients you can name)
- Protein-anchored (30g+ protein per meal)
- Easy to prepare (under 20 minutes)
- Foods you actually like
Examples:
| Meal | Example | Protein |
|---|---|---|
| Breakfast | Greek yogurt + berries + nuts | ~30g |
| Lunch | Big salad + grilled chicken + olive oil | ~40g |
| Dinner | Salmon + roasted vegetables + rice | ~35g |
| Snack | Cottage cheese + fruit | ~20g |
The 80/20 rule: If 80% of your meals are whole foods, the other 20% won’t matter. Pizza on Friday won’t undo a week of solid eating.
Phase 3: Dial In Protein (Ongoing)
Protein is the most under-appreciated macronutrient:
- Muscle preservation: Critical as you age, especially paired with strength training
- Satiety: Protein is the most filling macro per calorie
- Thermic effect: Your body burns ~25% of protein calories just digesting them
Target: 0.7-1.0g per pound of body weight per day.
For a 170lb person: 120-170g protein daily. This is harder than it sounds. Most people eat 50-80g without trying.
Practical tips:
- Anchor every meal with a protein source
- Front-load protein (breakfast is where most people fall short)
- Lean meats, fish, eggs, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, legumes, tofu
Phase 4: Manage the Environment
Willpower is unreliable. Environment is reliable. See Environment Design.
- Don’t keep junk food at home. If it’s there, you’ll eat it. Remove the decision.
- Meal prep on Sunday. Batch-cook proteins and vegetables for the week. 60 minutes saves 7 days of bad decisions.
- Default restaurants. Know 2-3 places where you can eat well without thinking.
- Grocery list, not grocery browse. Shopping without a list is how processed food sneaks in.
What About Specific Diets?
| Diet | Works for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Mediterranean | Most people; strong evidence base | Can overdo olive oil/nuts (calorie-dense) |
| Low-carb | Appetite suppression; insulin resistance | LDL can spike; monitor lipids. See LDL Cholesterol |
| Vegetarian/Vegan | Ethical alignment; can be healthy | Protein and B12 require attention |
| Intermittent fasting | Simplifies decisions; some like the structure | Not magic; works through calorie reduction |
The meta-answer: Pick whichever pattern you’ll actually sustain. The best diet is the one you follow consistently for years, not the one that’s theoretically optimal for 3 weeks.
Common Traps
“Healthy” foods in unlimited quantities. Nuts, avocado, smoothies, dried fruit — all healthy, all calorie-dense. Healthy ≠ unlimited.
Diet hopping. Keto → carnivore → vegan → fasting → repeat. Each restart loses momentum. Pick one approach and give it 6 months.
Perfection or nothing. One bad meal doesn’t ruin a week. One bad week doesn’t ruin a month. The damage comes from quitting, not from occasional slip-ups.
Ignoring alcohol. Liquid calories add up fast. A “moderate” drinking habit can add 1,000+ calories per week.
See Health Anti-Patterns for more.
Cadence
- One-time: Track food for 14 days (Phase 1)
- Weekly: Meal prep session (60 minutes)
- Daily: Eat default meals; hit protein target
- Monthly: Check: are defaults still working? Adjust if needed
- Quarterly: Labs if indicated (fasting glucose, lipids, etc.)
KPIs
| Indicator | Type | Target | How to measure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole food meals/day | Leading | ≥2 of 3 main meals | Self-assessment |
| Daily protein intake | Leading | 0.7-1.0g per lb bodyweight | Track for 2 weeks, then estimate |
| Meal prep done | Leading | Weekly | Calendar/habit tracker |
| Waist circumference | Lagging | Stable or decreasing | Monthly measurement |
| Lab markers (LDL, glucose) | Lagging | In healthy range | Annual bloodwork |
| Energy levels | Lagging | Stable throughout day | Subjective 1-10 |
Failure Modes
| Problem | Fix |
|---|---|
| Don’t know what to eat | Build 3-5 default meals and rotate. Decision fatigue is the enemy |
| Protein too low | Front-load at breakfast; anchor every meal with a protein source |
| Meal prep feels like too much | Start with protein only. Batch-cook chicken or eggs once a week |
| Eating well at home, poorly at restaurants | Identify 2-3 default restaurants. Order protein + vegetables |
| Weekend/social eating derails everything | 80/20 rule. Enjoy social meals guilt-free if weekdays are solid |
| Emotional/stress eating | Address the root: sleep, stress management, mindfulness. Food is the symptom |
Related
- Concept: Nutritional Density (why whole foods win)
- Concept: Calories vs Hormones (the energy balance debate)
- Concept: Saturated Fat and LDL (managing cholesterol)
- Complement: Train Strength (protein supports muscle; exercise supports appetite regulation)
- Complement: Optimize Sleep (poor sleep drives hunger hormones)
- Anti-Patterns: Health Anti-Patterns (nutrition traps to avoid)
- Bridge: Meta → Health Bridge (systems make nutrition automatic)