What is a healthy diet anyway?

Have you ever looked at different diets, or ways eating, and noticed that there are many differing opinions out there concerning what actually qualifies as a healthy diet? No matter how you or I eat, there will always be someone out there who will tell you that you aren't eating the way you should. Eat more meat. Don't eat any meat. Eat at least 4 servings of grains per day. Grains are bad. All food should be eaten raw. Don't eat any fat...You get the point.

So who gets to decide what "healthy" really is? Is it this doctor or that nutritional professional? Ultimately I believe God is the one who determines what is and is not healthy because He created food, but we each have to take responsibility for our own health and figure out what our goals are regarding how we eat and care for our bodies. Once we know our aim we can actually make steps toward that goal. Without an aim or goal we will be stuck.

As I have walked this road of intentionally considering the state of my family's health, my aim has become more clear. What is my aim? Well, most basically it is to be healthy in so much as my body is working the way it is supposed to.With this goal, my plan of action in regard to diet is to get things out of our kitchen that have toxins in them and load our bodies down, and to get in things that are nutrient dense and life giving. I am not living 100 % according to my ideals. However, I am heading more and more in that direction with time. And when I consider whether or not to eat meat or grains or how to prepare foods, I always want to bring it back to my goals and whether eating a certain food fits within the scope of what I am aiming for.

What are your health goals or aims? Have you considered what it means to you to be healthy and how to best navigate toward those goals? Because when it comes down to it no person or diet philosophy can really tell you or me what it means to eat healthy or live a healthy lifestyle. They can give us very helpful information and guidance (I am all about researching and learning from other experts), but what if that person or philosophy is wrong? Will they suffer the consequences (good or bad) of the lifestyle we live? No, we will so it is important we figure out what we want and believe and make the choices that can help bring us there.