Diets; what to eat and what not to eat

Since puberty I've been relatively obsessed with weight, diets and my looks (looks being my body and the amount/lack of fat/muscles covering it).  As a teenager I was twice as dramatic as I am now so instead of choosing a healthy way of staying in shape (not that I had to think about staying in shape, being a gymnast and training 5 times a week)  I chose a rather unhealthy way for both body and soul.  The way I "chose" is unfortunately a way many young girls take and some recover while others are not as lucky. I'm not going to waste space or time writing about how my self destructive diet developed or how I got over it. 

Today I eat and I like it. I wouldn't say that my eating habits are totally normal but a stranger would not find me odd at the dining table. I am still very aware of what I am eating and I'm always trying to find the diet that suits my lifestyle and it's hard. 

I can understand how people get confused about what to eat and what not to eat. The amount of tricks and tips out there are so numerous that there is no way of getting to know all of them, and the annoying part of it is that they are all so different. Which one is right? Who is more reliable: a doctor, a nutritionist or a personal trainer? I get lost in the whole lot. One day someone says that eating fruits and veggies is the best way of staying in shape and even loosing those extra unwanted pounds, the next day another someone says that it's meat that we should focus on. How can it be that experts have not agreed on this matter; we all have the same anatomy, our physiology doesn't differ so dramatically that one person should eat something completely different from the next (obviously I am talking about healthy individuals who are not suffering any diseases that require special diet needs). 

Lets look at some examples:

a) Diets that consists mostly of meat or fish. The explanation is rather...well to me it's a bit off: The cave men got most of his energy from animal source. Well, reality check; it's 2011 and we don't have to go out for a hunt and hope it will last for the next week. And it is very likely that our digestive system has undergone some changes during the last million years with changed diet.  It is also believed that the "cave men" did indeed eat fruits and vegetables as well, since hunting didn't always go as wanted.

b) Raw food diet. I have never fully understood that. Don't get me wrong, I dont cook everything that finds its way to my fridge, I am fully aware of the fact that boiling veggies results in the destruction of enzymes. BUT and it's a capslock but, because today we are (unfortunately) faced with a huge risk of developing foodborne diseases caused by undercooked/unprocessed food.  Raw food can be cooked...up to 40°C which is an optimum temperature for the growth of many live threatening bacteria. Seems rather stupid to me, I mean to risk ones health like that...and I really don't get the whole idea behind it. If you do, please fill me in on the details. 

So, that's that. It's hard today to find a suitable diet. Every day we are introduced to a new magic trick to lead a healthy lifestyle, to loose that flab of the tummy, to get a bikini bod for summer. Every day some scientist found out that this or that is harmful and makes us fat or that this or that trace element is the key to a perfect body. I can go through a whole week changing my mind every day about which new lifestyle I should follow; tomorrow I'll start drinking green tea, tomorrow I'll stop eating bread, today I'm going to start ...blablabla. 

I eat a little bit of everything...or that is my believe. And when I say everything I mean everything except for meat. I haven't had it for more than 12 years and I see no reason starting up now, perhaps I will later in life but as it is now I don't miss it at all. Surely I can be annoying when it comes to food; I dont want suger in my oatmeal, I cannot deal with too much oil when cooking, white bread is not welcome in my grocery bag, I can only drink milk if it's in my coffee....(nothing major).

A little bit of everything is the key. It's silly to rule out the good stuff; like chocolate, wine and quality cheese. Of course one has to have some limitations and it's actually those limitations that make the "bad stuff" so much better. After a week of good food behavior it is so great it to sit down with some wine, chocolate (candy) and just enjoy......I can't wait for friday!