This is information from my running/health & diet blog. And I have mostly just left it as it was (except for just a few additions, in italics, up through the beginning of the April 19th entry that I'm adding today, Dec. 31, 2018- and I will do more editing, updating for my book later). 

HEALTH & DIET: (10 entries copied from my blog between Jan. 1, 2006 to 2011)
I should begin by telling you that I've kept myself in exceptionally good health and that I've been at my same 18 year old weight since I was 27. Although I didn't have the best eating habits when I was a child through about age 26, since then I've consistently done a 2-3 times per week, 1 hour plus exercise regiment (for almost 30 years as of August, 2011). During these past 30 years, I've also consistently tried to eat good foods and listen more and more to my body. So rather surprisingly, I actually weigh a few pounds less than I did when I was 18-19 years old at a little over 6' 1 ''(maybe 6' 2" earlier in the day), 168-172 pounds. Now, my slightly lesser average weight of 166 pounds fluxes between about 164 to 168 (lower in the summer and higher in the winter). This slightly lower weight is probably due to my doing less weight training than when I was 18, and I actually have a little less body fat now too.
Since 27 years old, I have always thought of myself as being 60% of my physical age (which at 56 now makes me 33 years old). This really does seem to be quite accurate in my case as my strength and speed really haven't seemed to change that much in the past 29 years (and even jumping is about the same as I can still dunk a softball without doing any additional jump exercises and even a basketball given several weeks of jump training). If you just think of wild animals in nature-- middle aged deer, tigers, birds etc. still stay about the same weight and are still about as fast as the younger animals (although maybe expending a little less wasted energy).
I have found myself to be more and more competitive within my age group as the years go by (and with very minimal training before events). Keeping your body consistently at it's best weight and shape through good health habits pays great benefits, both immediately, and years/decades in the future. It's the ONE decision/effort in your life that you'll always be glad you did!
In the next 9 entries, I will give you a great deal of details into the "secrets" I've learned over the years for maintaining a 60% of my age body and my 18 year old weight. Just knowing some of these truths will begin to effect a paradigm shift and change in your habits, ways of looking at food, exercise methods and your body in general.
Also, please go to my website at  www.allabouthappiness.com  


HEALTH & DIET: (Feb. 2, 2006)
I think it might be helpful for many of you if I discussed a little about "diets" and listening to our bodies. First of all, let me say, that although I certainly have spent time on things that were a waste of time, the one wise decision I made at age 27 was to make my health my number one priority (you only get "one car in this life", and you can't trade it in). As I mentioned above, I am 6' 1'', aprox. 166 pounds, and I have kept this ideal weight (for me) and continued a regular exercise routine since I was 27 years old and thoroughly committed to making health my number one priority NO MATTER WHAT (work included). As the years go by, it becomes more and more obvious that this was the wisest decision I ever made! Many experts claim that we naturally gain weight little by little as we age after about our twenties. I and a number of other health conscious people are proving this to be false. If we listen to our body's signal about when we're actually hungry and when we're full, our body will naturally keep us at our optimum weight (fo example, animals in nature don't gain more weight just because they get older, and the Japanese with their very healthy diet don't gain weight as they age either). 
Of course, this is much more true when the food we are eating is healthy- and the closer to organic the better because regular, non-organic food has many chemical additives and even pesticides on the vegetables etc. that dull our body's signals and functions. Especially this is true with almost all processed foods, many of which not only have unhealthy chemicals in them but actually have additives that unnaturally INCREASE your appetite. So I strongly recommend that you at least get yourself on a level playing field by eating foods that don't have these unnatural, harmful and even appetite inducing chemicals. So many people "live to eat, rather than eating to live". I too, enjoy eating, and infact, I never feel like I'm sacrificing. I usually eat until I'm full (although my "full" is probably 75% of what most people consider full), and I always go away feeling satisfied. I never think about food until I'm hungry and I never think about it after I'm full. This is the way it is in nature with animals too. They don't obsess and think about food when their not hungry and after they're full. My body has learned to feel completely satisfied when it gets to a certain fullness (which you too will naturally start to recognize as you learn how to think and eat this way). I thoroughly enjoy my food when I'm eating it, and in fact, I probably can taste and enjoy subtle differences and flavors much more than the average person. I can also get the full taste sensation and satisfaction out of much less salad dressing and lesser sweets etc.

Concerning diets, no body ever loses weight permanently when they're on a "diet". As long as they feel they are on a diet they will feel they are sacrificing and at some point they will tire and give up. Then they usually not only gain back the original weight but add a little on top of that as well. A person MUST change their way of thinking about food. They must rewire their software. More on this later.
For now I'll just give you a few hints in starting to eat less food until your mind and body are trained to where it becomes automatic and natural.
Of course, you can drink more water during your meal to feel fullness sooner, but the better way (and better for the digestive juices to not get overly diluted) is to eat a lot of filling and low calorie vegetables at first. Then you can go to your main course and eat until your full. Also, eating with smaller plates and even smaller eating utensils can be helpful. That way you eat smaller portions but can feel that you are eating a lot more especially since you can even go back for a small second and still be eating less than you normally would have with a regular sized plate (of course, you can also just choose to put smaller portions on a large plate too if that works for you).
Also strategically placing just small amounts of butter or small amounts of salad dressings, syrup etc. on your foods is helpful. Your taste buds can only taste so much of these rich dressings etc. at one time anyway- and so 1/2 or even 1/4 of your usual amount can still actually give you the same taste sensation. THINK before you take your portions and don't do things so automatically. "If you do the same things you will get the same results".
On deserts you obviously will want to take even smaller portions with a small fork or spoon. Then really savor every bite. Tell yourself you can go back for seconds- which you may do, but you may also choose not too. Try to never feel like you are really sacrificing. Enjoy the process of really making your body healthy and sensitizing your dulled body signals. Think how happy your body and you will be. More in the weeks to come. 

HEALTH & DIET: (Feb. 6, 2006)  
I realized today that there are a lot of things that I probably take for granted with my normal health state that may not be normal for others. For example, most people think that one bowel movement per day is normal (I used to believe that too and occasionally even went 2 days or more). However, for the last number of years with all of the vegetables, fruits and grains we eat, 2 bowel movements in the morning have long been my norm (and sometimes an additional one later in the day). This is the way the body was designed to function. Also, I remember a number of years ago, back in my late teens and early twenties when I wasn't that health conscious, I used to always get very tired after meals and other times during the day. Since my late twenties and increasingly through my 30's until now, I seldom ever get tired during the day at all. My energy level is almost constantly at a great level. I haven't had a flue or fever for many years now and it's been several years since I had a real cold (I occasionally start to get a cold, maybe once or twice a year, but it doesn't catch, and at very worst only last a day or two). I hear that many people can't sleep more than 4- 6 hours a night. I always try to get at least 7.5 hours of sleep- and often 8 to 8.5 hours when I have time. Some experts say about 8 and 1/2 hours of sleep a night is ideal (I know when I don't have any deadlines, my body usually sleeps for about 8.5 hours). Like many of you, I can get by on 7 hours for quite a long while and even 6 hours for a few days when necessary- maybe I could even force my body to get used to that, but it's not natural for a healthy person that's sensitive to their bodily signals and needs- and there is probably some damage to the body. Anyway, maybe you can compare yourself to the above to see which areas you might need improvement in. More later.

HEALTH & DIET: (March 6th, 2006) 
First, a little anecdote: Because my 14 year old daughter had been talking about wanting to cut down on food and lose a little weight although she really doesn't need to, I recommended that she just cut out deserts until she was fully grown (another 6 months or so- at 15 years?). She already does much better than most teenagers. (This recommendation also has to do with the fact that we've always taught her that the healthier you can eat while your body is being formed during adolescents, the better body/car you will have for the rest of your life). 
Anyway, I had forgotten about it and she mentioned that she wanted to buy some Krispy Kreme donuts (a dozen variety pack because it had a couple of the types she wanted). I kind of reluctantly bought it and then started looking forward to trying 1 or 2 of them (we usually end up throwing away about 1/2 of the sweets we buy anyway- sometimes it's just nice to buy some sweets and feel satisfied and then just throw the rest away). However, as we walked to the car, Shanon remembered her commitment on cutting out almost all sweets until 15 and asked me if I would just throw them away. My first reaction was no, we just bought them. Then she said "I'll pay you $10 to just throw them away". I then told her I thought that was good that she now didn't want to eat them and I had a good idea to just give a couple to Shanon's grandparents and I'd eat 2 and then Shanon would only have to pay $5 as the dozen donuts only cost $7.43. However, Shanon insisted I just throw them away as she knew it would bother her knowing everyone was eating them. And she also said she didn't think it would be good to give out sweets to our loved ones anyway. I then said, OK, good idea. We agreed and I threw them away and Shanon paid the $10- so I told her for fun I'd use the extra $2.57 to pay her or someone else in the family not to eat sweets when they were eating more than they really wanted to. 
In the above type of situation, most people would think "what a waste" and would certainly eat a few donuts themselves and give the rest to others- which is fine I guess. But it is an equally good or better option to just throw them away if you decide you can do with out--- and why give unnecessary sweets to your loved ones that they would be better off without. I think one of the big contributors to peoples' eating too much is the mentality that they have to eat everything on their plates- many of us can remember how we were scolded when we didn't eat everything on our plates......"think of the starving people in --------- and how much they would love to have that food, don't waste it!" type of ingrained thinking.Things should always be looked at logically and decided by what is MOST important. Although it is usually a good thing not to waste or throw away something you just bought, your health is always MORE important! And money should be used wisely and creatively to better your situation or your health. In this case Shanon decided that her health and her goal was more important than $10.

HEALTH & DIET: (March 23rd, 2006)
I guess I should tell you that although I didn't exercise for over a week and obviously wasn't burning nearly as many calories as I usually do, I didn't gain any body fat (just a little water weight which quickly came off when I exercised). Usually people will feel like they want to eat as much as they did when they were exercising or even if they hold back they feel like they are sacrificing because they're thinking they want to eat as much as they usually do. This is just mistaken, "fat mind thinking" and not being in tune with your body's signals which tell you when it's actually hungry and when it's had enough. Your body will naturally NOT crave as much food when you don't exercise. You won't get hungry as much or as often (UNLESS you let your thinking convince you otherwise). The one problem you might encounter, is again, the residuals of eating lots of processed foods and the appetite inducing chemicals. These can make you feel hungry when your not.
Since I seldom eat processed foods, and also keep chemicals out of my body by mostly eating organic certified foods, I don't have those unnatural hunger cravings. And I never think about eating until I actually feel hunger pains...there are plenty of other things to think about and why torture yourself. Just think about and thoroughly enjoy eating when you're actually eating. 
During this past week of no exercise, as always, I just ate when I was hungry and stopped when my body told me enough. I never felt like I was sacrificing. This is very natural for me, but I just realized that my staying the same even with a large change in the amount of calories I was burning is probably not so natural with most people and that this might be insightful to many people who eat more by their thinking then by really listening to their body. I also do not gain weight even when I've been on week-long cruises with all of the food that's available- most people say they gained 3-5 pounds. (However, I must admit that on cruises, with the great and variety of foods they have, I do continue to exercise in the on board gym so I can continue to eat as much as I usually do, and enjoy all of the large and frequent varieties of meals).
In order to be able to feel and be able to trust your bodies signals, you must first get it sensitized to where it really knows when it's hungry and when it's full. This is done by more and more stopping the thinking of "I want to eat" or because it's noon or I want to/have to eat all of this etc. Instead one must more carefully feel and respond to their bodies signal that it's truly hungry or that it's full (knowing when you're full is the most important which can save you even if you started eating when you weren't really that hungry).You should also make sure that the vast majority of foods you're eating are not processed or junk foods because that kind of food masks your bodies signals and can actually makes you feel hungrier than you are. Good foods are natural or much closer to the natural state (not processed and the closer to raw and fresh, the better. And of course, we should eat a balanced diet that has lots of nutritional value including some protein (along with reasonable amount of carbohydrates and even fats) and also with naturally occurring vitamins, minerals). I will tell you more detail about my typical meals later. but I'll just mention briefly now that it includes at least 12 organic vegetables, brown rice or wheat bread, various fruits, small amounts of nuts and even occasional eggs and a little organic meat and often some raw milk... and I do eat a little junk food and I occasionally eat out, but about 90% of my food is very healthy food. Eating healthy like this allows your body to function properly and send you the proper signals without being overrided by all of the appetite inducers and other chemicals that hinder our body's immune system and even slow down our metabolism. I believe these type of foods in and of themselves can actually cause your body to burn more calories too (and I will look for research on this as I've found over the years that the evaluations on nutrition, diets etc. I've made, even before seeing any research, have always been later proven out (like when I heard about the low carb and even low fat diets, and strongly said I thought they were artificial, far from nature and probably not healthy, which has been proven since). Obviously, you should also try and exercise if you can too- especially building up muscles which will be burning more than average calories for you even while your asleep.

HEALTH & DIET: (April 19th, 2006) 
Concerning the importance of taking care of the body: It always amazes me how most people make their body/health a 2nd, 3rd or even lesser priority in their hierarchy of values and efforts (surveys show that a full 2/3rds of all American adults now are overweight!) and so many of Americans have all kinds of health problems, from high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels to sugar diabetes,arthritis and heart disease. Yes, health is a value. What people spend their time and effort on is what they value.
Most people claim to value family and health but few actually back up their words with sufficient time and efforts. Most people's real value often seems to be making money and maybe watching TV or other supposedly enjoyable activities. Enjoyable activities are appropriate when we've taken care of our other higher priority values. Making money is certainly important in allowing us to take care of our self and families. However, with honest evaluation, many people would see that making money has become an obsession and the motivation for making it and often making more than is even needed, has gone far beyond just trying to provide for the family. Now, back to the body/health as a lesser priority in most peoples lives... Consider the amount of time and effort most people put into making their dream homes/retirement. Compare this with the time and effort they put into making their dream bodies (at least for their age). Which is more important? having a dream home (often times more expensive than can really be had without a lot of stress) or having a dream body that is very healthy and in shape? And consider this- You can repair or replace your home (and you might even lose it because of bad finances etc.) but if you're body starts falling apart you can't replace it, and if you lose it to really bad health it's basically game over! "If you don't take care of your body, where else are you going to live."
So which do you think is most important for a person's happiness and well being? How many wealthy and even super wealthy people are there who have houses/finances far beyond their needs but poor health. How much of one's wealth would a billionaire give to reverse sugar diabetes, chronic arthritis, cancer or other debilitating health conditions? I heard, from a well known purported healer/speaker, about a wealthy Japanese business man who totally devoted himself to making money- some questionably, and amassed a huge amount. He was still only in his 50's and on his death bed with cancer he told this well known purported healer that he would give him all of the money and stock certificates he had underneath his bed if he could restore his health (there was over $25,000,000 worth). The healer analyzed his condition and said "you have used your superior intellect and spent great effort in amassing an amazing amount of money, unfortunately you haven't used any of this intellect and effort to take care of your health. There is nothing I can do for you now!" As obvious as this is, people continually strive for wealth at the expense of their health. You only get one body/car in this life! Once you've ruined your health you can't trade your body in for a new model. You're stuck with it! and no amount of money is going to replace it. Your health/body is the one area you don't want to gamble on!
It's the one investment you can be sure will pay you great returns and the one investment you know you will be glad you kept investing in (with time, effort and money). No one has ever regretted spending effort on taking care of their health, but many have regretted time and effort spent on other areas and investments. 
This in a "NO BRAINER"!! 
Your body/health has got to be your number 1 priority every day! The older you get the happier you'll be that you made it your number 1 priority/value. And the older you get the more you'll regret if you haven't been taking care of your health. It absolutely WILL catch up with you and all of your preparations and efforts towards a good retirement will have been in vain as you won't have a body that can enjoy it. Having read this I hope that many of you will at least raise their body/health priority up considerably from where it is now. I guarantee you won't regret it and be very happy you did. I also guarantee you will regret it if you don't prioritize your health. If you're not doing it, immediately start to eat better and exercise regularly AND don't forget to try and get sufficient sleep and reduce stress where possible. Don't just resolve to do it. Do it! and Do it NOW! "The weak indulge in resolutions while the strong act!"

HEALTH & DIET: (June 25th, 2006) 
After telling people about the dangers of SYNTHETIC vitamins (which also apparently includes increased cancer rates, enlarged arterial walls etc.) I then recommend that everyone try and eat as big a variety of vegetables and fruits etc. as possible in order to get as many vitamins and minerals as they can (also to try and eat mostly organic like we do, to avoid the pesticides etc. that they put on the crops and hormones etc. in milk and meat too). We then tell them to not take any vitamins at all if their only choice is synthetic ones, but if they do take vitamins, they should take the whole food ones. Like I always say, "You only get one body (no trade-ins) in this life so you better take very good care of it!!- AND, what good does it do to have a Million dollar house when you have a "2 bit body" (25 cent body). In this life, health has got to be number one or you've really got your priorities messed up!!! (and yes, you are NOT a truly successful person).  That's why, I always eat as much variety and organic food as possible, and exercise regularly- along with usually taking a whole food vitamin/mineral supplement 2 to 3 times a week on the days I do my vigorous weight training and floor exercise routine, and also to make up for the lack of minerals and vitamins in our foods from the depleted soil. Also I should mention that I don't think it is wise to take any supplements every day because there may be a tendency for the body to rely on that supplement and utilize the vitamins, minerals etc. more easily than regular food to where it might become a little lazy when digesting regular food. I don't know this for sure, but I recall reading an article to that effect several years ago and decided to error on the conservative side. For any other types of medications etc. I think it's fairly well proven that if you keep taking it for a while your body will start to depend on it (like high blood pressure medications etc.). Your body can then go to the point of almost no return where you have to take that medication for the rest of your life because the body loses the ability to perform that function that the medication is now doing (and with all the bad side effects). 

HEALTH & DIET: (July 7th, 2006)  
TIP- Always remember that just forcefully suppressing your desires and refraining from overeating and eating bad foods, or other addictions, is a difficult and usually losing battle. You should SUBSTITUTE a superior activity for the one you're trying to remove. For example- when your about to indulge in your bad habit, pull out some reading material (magazine, book etc.) that your excited to check out, a game (cards, video, celphone activity), call someone, go for a brisk walk, work on a fun project, accomplish something you've been wanting to do, etc. etc. Just train yourself to first, do something different than the bad habit when the urge first comes- you can even tell yourself that you can still indulge afterwards- then, maybe you will but maybe you won't- and even if you do, it may be less indulgence than you would have done at first. ALSO, remember to compliment yourself and enjoy even small accomplishments as you slowly but surely develop positive habits and ways of thinking (more about this in the next HEALTH & DIET).
Health and Diet tip: (this entry is copied in from June 2008-- this is the last of the Health and Diet tips on this blog-- if I add more I will inform at the beginning of the blog).

HEALTH and DIET: (June 21, 2008)
Over the past few years I've been somewhat surprised to have occasional comments on my skin being smooth and healthy looking for my age. Actually, I haven't been as good as I might have in staying out of the sun- and I've had some pretty good sunburns. However, at least the last several years, I've tried to build up before spending longer times in the sun. So my skin isn't as good as it might have been, but I guess it is better than average.
The thing I believe has really helped (despite the sun exposure) is NOT using any skin care products, including lotion. In fact I rarely even use soap (or just small amounts). I mostly just wash well with water (except for washing my hair with a quality shampoo every few days). Keeping chemicals off the skin is probably the best thing you can do to keep the skin looking young and naturally moisturized etc. So try and avoid lotions and even sunscreen which they're now finding don't seem to help in preventing skin cancer any more than those who don't use it- probably because of the chemicals in the sunscreen. If you must use soap, it's probably better not to overly scrub because this can mess up the natural balance of helpful skin culture bacteria. 
Also, don't become extreme in avoiding the sun completely. You actually do need a little sun exposure for vitamin D and even to help in bone density maintenance. At very least, do as some doctors are now recommending, and get some direct sun on your legs.

HEALTH and DIET (Jan.18, 2010): 
The fact that I've even including my little 1 mile walk as part of my exercise in a past blog shows how little I actually even go for a walk or get any exercise besides just what I'm publishing on this blog of my usual 2 times a week routine. It's rather amazing, but the body can maintain a relatively high level from just 2 exercise routines a week and hardly anything else. Though, having said this, I really would like to get out and use my legs more in playing tennis, basketball, skiing etc.
 This may not be fully backed up by science (yet?), but the following is my experience and my current conclusion concerning shorter, more intense training as opposed to endurance type of training: To me, just walking has never really seemed like any exercise at all-- it seems far too low stress to really be doing much to improve the body's fitness (unless you're really in terrible shape). As I'd mentioned, in a previous post last month, I went on a 6 mile plus hike for the first time in about 6 months (having never walked more than 1.5 miles during that time, and usually only once or twice a week), and yet, I was able to easily out do all of the other hikers in speed and ease (admittedly, most of them were a older than me, but all were seasoned hikers and a few were younger than me too). The only thing that I eventually felt just a little was from the uneven path and rocks etc. that we traversed where my legs weren't quite use to the angles. 
What is important here, is that higher, short intensity workouts will not only increase your muscle strength and speed, it will also make it much easier for you to do long endurance type of walks, jogs etc. (even thought you may never do any long endurance training). In fact, I believe my short, but relatively intense 2 time per week training center exercise and weight training do much more for me in easily accomplishing a long hike (or jog) than actually training by doing long hikes or jogs a few times a week. Another example of this is when I was in my early 40s training for running and only worked on 400 meters and less (seldom ever running more than a 400 meter and usually just running 100 to 200 meters). One day, out of curiosity, I just ran a practice 800 meter by myself and ran and broke my personal best time of 2:10 minutes (about 10 years earlier), and this was during practice without the benefit of the adrenaline and competition that an actual race provides-- I probably could have cut off another 3 to 5 seconds at a track meet and with sufficient rest before). 
So just running the shorter, more muscle quickening workouts had actually done more for me than the longer months of training I had done 2 of the training years before when working out for the 800 meter and the mile (and in all 3 of these occasions, I had only worked out a total of about 2 months AND this last time, I was probably spending less overall training time). So, in conclusion, once you get in somewhat reasonable shape, I would suggest that even in preparation for hikes, and longer distance running, you should do a lot more of the short, quick intensity training than just the long, slower endurance type. Basically, your legs get used to running at faster speeds and so jogging and longer distance runs seem slow and easy to your legs (which is the reason you don't necessarily have to even practice walk or run the full distance of your eventual distance goal).
Of course, if you are into some more serious running competition, I would advise you do a little of the distances you'll actually be running, but just put a lot more emphasis on the shorter, quicker, more intense training.

HEALTH & DIET (June 20, 2011)
I just read through my last few years of comments above and realized that I'm even more healthy now then I was in 2006. Interestingly, I've actually gained a few pounds of muscle recently through increasing some of my weights with a couple of additional exercises-- and I still have no fat. So I'm now weighing in at an average of about 169-170 pounds.
When I think back of my health in 2006 at 51 years old, I was definitely in great shape. But now at 56, I actually have even a better body, am just as quick, and maybe a little stronger and more flexible and probably sleep even better.
The slight improvements come from just doing a little more stretching on a daily basis and adding a little more to my exercise routine. Besides the obvious difference in increased weight training (like the aprox. 500 pounds I now do on my leg presses), I will try to measure my improvements in actual competition like running and soft ball throw etc.
I should mention again, there is a positive mentality that's important for maintaining or even improving your body in mid age. I actually believe that I will continue making improvements until I'm 60 years old, after which I will maybe finally admit to having hit the midway mark and beginning of decline. Even if this isn't totally true, it is a powerful mindset and helps one to make it into a "self-fulfilling prophecy" of staying young. Note: I'm now almost 64 as I review these notes. At about 60, I began thinking of myself as 50% of my age. Now, at almost 64, I am still in as good a shape as I was back in 2011, and my running times are starting to prove that again. 
 
PS There is just one area where I'm doing less at 56 years old, the stationary vertical jump. Right now I can only do 26 inches (just enough to stand below the rim, jump straight up off of both feet and touch it). When I was more motivated in jumping (and doing a few jumping drills) at the time my 14 year old daughter was on the high school basketball team in 2006 (and I occasionally helped and coached her), I was able to jump almost 30" or 3-4 inches above the rim from a stationary jump. Of course, with a run into the rim I can usually jump several inches higher... My highest stationary vertical jump was around 34" (7 or 8 inches above the rim from a standing jump) in my early 40's when I was able to jump over 11 feet high with a running start. I do plan to get back to at least that level at some time in the next year or two probably just before basketball season begins.


** The following are just some casual, email communications (below) with some of my family. As with the above, these are my opinions, and the following cases are not necessarily researched that much (just some of the thoughts I offered).

See "High Good Cholesterol Tied to Longevity in Men" below. I think this kind of backs up my belief that whole milk is probably better than skim milk (and more natural too-- of course, raw is the best).

I think all of the special diets are just gimmicks and often bad for your health, like the low carbohydrate or high protein diets etc. I think we should just eat our food in the way it naturally occurs and without processing it or putting chemicals on it. Just lower the portions, and smartly eat the lower calorie and filling parts first (like vegetables)-- then eat the higher caloric parts-- and then you can eat til your full and not feel like your dieting. But, first you must get back in tune with your natural bodily signals-- one of them is being able to feel when your stomach is full and not go beyond uncomfortable.
** Some more comments below from a few emails I've exchanged on health with my family.

More information for our family's health- and concerning this article: From what I've read, carbohydrates (including fruits) are digested quite quickly, largely within an hour or two. So I don't really think eating them with or right after a meal would hurt that much in getting the nutrients into your body before they supposedly "putrefy" like it says in this article. Again, back to natural.. I think the body was made to eat various foods at one time and I don't think you have to be that particular about when you eat. Just eat when your hungry, drink when your thirsty, go to the bathroom when nature calls, and go to sleep when your tired and get enough sleep (but first become attuned to when you really are hungry-- you may be just thinking your hungry rather than your body actually being hungry. So for most overweight Americans, it might be good to take a drink of fresh water, or just a low calorie vegetable or fruit, and then wait until they really have the hunger signals before eating a full meal. Also, when you feel a little energy surge, maybe take a quick break and walk or jog on the tread mill or ride a stationary bike for a few minutes (remember when we were kids, we'd get up and run around when we had energy-- this is natural and is following our bodily signals). I will think more about this article, and possibly at least eat some fruits at the beginning of the meal. I already occasionally eat a little fruit when I'm just a little hungry and don't have time for a full meal. I've recently heard of so many people just stopping the medications they've been on for months or even years-- and after a few weeks of withdrawal type symptoms have gone on to be much better off, including one of our renters. So many people end up having sooo many side effects from the medications that their lives end up being a living hell and some of them finally get to the point where they think it's worth the risk of possibly even dying from stopping the medications rather than living that low quality painful life (but interestingly, contrary to their doctors fear-mongering telling them they'll die if they stop, all those I've heard of have ended up being fine-- I've heard this from at least 3 people in the past several months). Why in the heck wouldn't one want to check into a possible natural cure before plunging into a medication that you KNOW is going to just mask the problem, unnaturally mess up your body and definitely have side effects. By the way, just remembered another one: Mom was recommended to take a medication for low bone density a couple of years ago. I strongly told her not to, and so she ended up just taking some calcium tablets. And she's been fine (but I'll bet she'd be having all kinds of side effects if she'd followed the doctors recommendation)... Oh, just remembered another one: Last year when Kaori was in Tokyo, and ended up going to the doctor for a bad lingering cold, and was recommended to start taking a permanent asthma medication saying that she already had it and had no choice (after she'd been working a couple months on the apartments which had apparently worn her down and couple with a bad cold she had). I strongly advised her to just get some rest and try and recover naturally, which she did, and of course, she's fine now. I really think in many ways, the drug industry is as bad as the Tobacco industry, and I believe in maybe 20 or 30 years people will look back on it and so many people's over reliance on medications as tragic and hard to believe (oh, I guess we could already say that now). Anyway, smile and take a deep breath and enjoy your fabulous views. I'm going to go do that right now. Love, your bro, Edward Of course, there are some good and even necessary drugs. But they are far, far, far over prescribed (a direct result of the BIG money and industry etc. In Kaori's case, they actually told her it could be quite dangerous if she didn't start the prescription because her cold was bad and they said she already actually had asthma and this would prevent her from having a very potentially dangerous attack with her cold.  In Moms case, I'm quite sure they mentioned how dangerous it is with low bone density and dangerous falls you might have and the difficulty of recovery etc. Even with anti-biotics, often it ends up killing the person as it did with our next door neighbor in St. George. Here in America, they think everything will end in some major way or death (as with ear infections), but in Europe they always just let the ear drum burst and the bug take it's course-- and they have much better results and quicker cure times than we do with all the anti-biotics we give and not allowing the eardrum to burst naturally. Your case may have been different. A lot of this is case by case. But in general, I think drugs are ridiculously over-prescribed and overly relied on. Everyone wants a quick fix and are not willing to bite the bullet and take care of the problem naturally (even with depression which I just heard research on that said diet and exercise actually are as effective as medication in a large percentage of the cases AND the recidivism rate is less when worked out naturally... look at Mom and how she handled her challenge and went on to buy a Schwinn bicycle and got daily exercise and practiced positive thinking. And all the super bugs that have been spawned. So often times, the person just has to finally let their own immune system take care of the problem too.