Broccoli or a banana?

I love food. As most people do, I realize.

I was once explaining to someone how I think about my daily food intake, and she acted like it was a new idea.

The food pyramid, people, has been around forever. I eat whatever I want to, because my body has become accustomed to a balanced diet. It craves the balance, and I feel sick if I don't provide it.

When I am hungry and thinking about what to put into my body, I think, "Have I had fruit today? How many? What does it make sense to eat right now?" If I haven't eaten anything green yet, I better eat something green.

And that's how it goes.

There is no need to diet whatsoever. All it takes is some time to make sure your fridge is stocked with fruit, veggies, dairy, whole grains. Of course, you can have a dessert. You need to have some fat in your diet. I fully believe ice cream can be counted as a dairy. Add some fresh fruit to it, and it'll be even healthier. Don't eat unsubstantial, high calorie potato chips, but rather those amazing root chips - the Terra ones that have sweet potato, red potato, and etc., etc. Yes, they will have some fat. That's okay! I also love the Food Should Taste Good brand of chips - the multi-grain chips are so good.

Also, there's a time and a place for fat-free/low-calorie items. FREQUENTLY, these items will just make you eat more because they DO not satisfy you. Examples...ice cream normally falls into this category, chips, and sour cream is just gross fat-free. Occasionally, I'll do lite cheese, but cheese is definitely good for you. It drives me crazy when people eliminate it from their diet.

Do NOTS: white bread (donuts, muffins, bagels), white tortillas, white rice (though I don't always follow this), and I'd also stay away from white sauces (but the big ones are listed first).

And REMEMBER: There is NOTHING wrong with a hamburger every now and then! (A good quality one...we aren't talking McDonald's here).

As an aside: Olive oil is good for you! You need to be cooking with olive oil!