I have a few posts in the pipeline about healthy pantry items, things I eat when I eat out in restaurants, foods I avoid eating in quantity, and I often write about specific things that I eat. It really doesn’t matter, though. Lower your caloric intake, increase the quality of the food you eat by preparing it yourself, stick to your calorie budget, and you can eat pretty much anything you want. With moderation.

For example, tonight I’m making country spare ribs, sweet potato, and roasted brussels sprouts. I’ll have one 4 oz rib, no sauce, half of the sweet potato, and one cup of brussels sprouts. That’ll come to about 500 calories, or a bit less than a third of the 1,800 budget I’ve set for myself. Maybe you need a higher budget and can have two ribs. Maybe you don’t like brussels sprouts. Maybe you’ll think my dry-rubbed pork is too dry, or you like it sweeter.

If you don’t tailor your diet to your own tastes you’ll never be able to keep up with any particular plan. I advise keeping it varied and not eliminating any entire food groups as I like variety and novelty in my diet. We’re always making dishes we’ve never made before, and if you grow tired of one culture’s cuisine there are innumerable new things to try. I tend to adapt a lot of recipes to make healthier versions of them (yet another post or two) but once you’re more mindful of your eating and conscious of what you can avoid to lower the calories in most dishes (hint: reduce the fat, sodium, and sugar) it doesn’t take a centrifuge and laboratory beaker to make dinner (although I do at times wear goggles and a lab coat while cooking).