This information is too important to get second-hand on the web. Go straight to the source. Cosmopolitan magazine can be purchased at the checkout counter of your local supermarket.

Ugh. Article is bunk, and I really wish nutritionists and dieticians and their ilk would stop trying to convince people that they only need to eat something else to feel 100% better.

The most important thing you can do for your health -- and I'll tie this in to entrepeneurism in a moment -- is get some regular exercise. It doesn't have to be at the gym, for 6 hours a week, either.

I used to hang with a bunch of rock climbers. Some of them prided themselves on their dirtbag scavenging habits, and they ate some pretty gnarly gruel. But, they were fit. In many cases, they could have been models for anatomy lessons. Their health had almost nothing to do with what they were eating, and much more to do with the regular exercise they got.

So, if I'm having trouble getting focused, I'll go for a walk. I walk down to the local gas station for a soda, or the store for some groceries -- both about a half mile out is all -- and it gives me plenty of time to get away from the work and the computer and refocus a little. I get back to the desk, I feel a lot better, and I'm ready to roll on the next project.

Forget this diet crap. Go find an excuse to walk somewhere regularly.

"Their health had almost nothing to do with what they were eating" -- It's good to be young, isn't it? As you get older, the effects of what you put into your body become more immediate, even when you exercise.

Still, most diet advice is useless. Here's the only advice you need: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." Quoted from a NYT article: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/magazine/28nutritionism.t....

He's expanded that article into a book: http://www.amazon.com/Defense-Food-Eaters-Manifesto/dp/15942...

In it, there's a great heuristic for walking out of your local supermarket carrying food (as opposed to processed "edible foodlike substances"): shop near the edges.

Could not agree more. Although you will find, as you take exercise slightly more seriously, you tend to want to eat the right balance of foods (on the upside, you can also eat more of the good stuff - eg a nice big bowl of pasta after some training).

I have worked at home for quite a few years, daily exercise is now routine (I actually look forward to it). Difference to energy level, and general appearance is amazing.

The bottom line is our bodies are built for really hard physical work. They need it, at least a bit every few days.

Another oldie but goodie:

The Hacker's Diet - How to lose weight and hair through stress and poor nutrition - by John Walker.

http://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet

Amen. A great book that's been good motivation for me, if nothing else.

Someone's also helpfully put the tools that the book describes online at http://infohost.nmt.edu/~carmiac/whdt/whdt.cgi

Hmm.. I bet a suitably enhanced version of this would make a good YC startup.

I've actually been thinking about that. I was thinking of a more general personal metrics site, though. Weight, personal finances, freethrow percentage, whatever you want to track, give people the tools they need to track whatever needs tracked in their lives.

Figure it's worth jotting down in the "any other ideas" section of the app, anyway.

Only advice I have is tying to cut sugar out of your diet as much as possible. I never eat cookies, donuts, cake, sugared soda (only diet rarely), candy bars, sweet coffee, etc. I have a bit of a sweet tooth and even I can do it (it gets easy after a while). You can't get really fit without exercise, but at least without eating significant amounts of sugar you can prevent yourself from getting too chunky.

Sugar does not make you fat. Fat does not make you fat. Carbohydrates do not make you fat. Protein does not make you fat. Food does not make you fat.

The ONLY thing that makes you fat is eating more calories than you spend during a day.

Want to lose weight? It's easy -- eat less. Add exercise so you lose mostly fat and less muscle, otherwise you'll end up "skinny fat."

Heavily sugared food and drink is the easiest way to massively increase the number of calories you take in per day. It's also the easiest way to decrease it. That's all I'm saying.

I agree with that, I just don't want people here who are trying to be healthier to get the wrong info. It's something I see on a large number of sites I visit, so I try to clarify things like that when I see them. :-)

Apparently we've only been having the majority of our dental problems since the advent of processed sugar.

If this is something people still do, they did not understand a thing about healthy food at all.

Am I the only one here who wants to GAIN weight?

i think one of the best things you can do for your health is to pick up flyfishing.if you avoid fishing when it's too sunny.

even better:kayakflyfishing

Mistake 1: Dieting

I agree. To a point. You shouldn't diet to lose weight, but you should have a diet that gives you all your required nutrients. If your 'diet' only gives you stuff that's high in fat and sugar, you're going to get fat. If your 'diet' only gives you salad, you're going to get malnourished and waste away.