[roughly]

Diet's super important, but I feel like it's such a giant friggin' thing in our society that it's hard to put that at the top of the list. I subscribe to the "make a change that feels tractable, live with it for a bit, do it again, repeat" method for personal improvement, and I feel like if I'd tried to tackle diet first, I would never have gotten started.

Agree with the water, though - I've always got a big water bottle next to my desk.

[guiambros]

Agree. A good first step is to learn about how food chemistry, and how your body processes it.

I lived my whole life with barely an understanding of the macronutrients, wrapped in popular wisdom: eat enough fiber, protein is good for you, be careful with carbs, sugar is bad (but you can't avoid it).

I also casually dabbled with some fashion diets, experimented with apps for counting calories, and grew up with plenty of wrong and harmful advice (fruit juice is healthy, honey & cereal as a healthy breakfast, etc). Nothing really stuck.

I never understood why sugar is bad, or what's the difference between fiber and carbs (aren't they both plants?), what happens in your body when you eat carbs, or what the heck are calories anyway?

It was only when I read more about how your body processes food and the impact on your glucose levels that things started to click for me. I also got a CGM, and started seeing the direct correlation of the spikes and crashes with mood, cravings, motivation, post-lunch slump, headaches, energy levels.

It has also completely changed my relationship with food. I started eating more, lost weight, and my glucose levels are significantly lower (and, more importantly, I know exactly how to control it). Also have a bit more energy, less cravings, no post-lunch slump.

There's plenty of resources out there, but the three that helped me were [1][2][3], and a Dexcom CGM (but that's totally optional).

[1] https://www.amazon.com/Glucose-Revolution-Life-Changing-Powe...

[2] https://www.amazon.com/Glucose-Goddess-Method-Cutting-Cravin...

[3] https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000QUEHNU/

[seoulmetro]

Diet is the easiest thing on that list of 5 things in all first world countries.

It's just that people refuse to engage with a simple diet. All you have to do is start to cook for yourself and it's done, your diet is solved by the required meats, vegetables and carbs you get in a basic home cooked meal two times a day. Even if it's reheated.

[sourdoughness]

I know what you mean, but not strictly true. I cook everything from scratch - the most processed ingredient I use is probably a can of whole tomatoes or occasionally a pack of pasta. I’m a good cook, I think, and it’s easy for me to make our meals, but I do like things to taste good, and I no doubt add more butter, olive oil and cheese to things than is strictly healthy.

[seoulmetro]

No one is going to get fat from adding proper amounts of fats, sugars and salts to their home cooked meals provided they are average in the first place.