I've been on a restricted diet for the last 7 months while in pre-contest mode for a natural bodybuilding competition that's just 10 days away, now. And so I've been thinking a lot about food - in particular diets. Healthy diets, Supersize me diets, and everything in between.
I've come to the conclusion that there are 3 factors when considering your diet for the average person. Looks, Health, and Happiness. There is a fourth factor when considering athletes - and that's Performance.
My first point is that those 3 factors don't always play nice, and in fact, might be opposing goals.
On one hand, you have bodybuilders and fitness competitors who only care about looks - and they eat things that might be considered "unhealthy", such as pop-tarts, diet soda, splenda, etc.
On the other hand, you have people that only care about health - these people are your hardcore vegans, paleo dieters. But, I wonder if they are really happy with their lifestyle choices when their friends eat pizza or they miss out on eating birthday cake at their nephew's first birthday? Maybe they are happy, but me personally - sometimes I just want a balogna sandwich or a grilled cheese - and there's not much else that would make me happy besides eating those things.
Obviously you have the other end of the spectrum - people who only eat to make themselves feel happy, and then get depressed because they're fat.
The perfect diet lies somewhere in the middle of all of that.