What side of the health/weight loss argument do you sit on?

I try to be low UPF, my breakfast lunch and dinner are all home cooked meals.

I also start each day with a Starbucks protein coffee because I struggle to get my protein in otherwise. It's all about balance isn't it

I don’t eat much meat, I just don’t like it. Prefer fish.
I just try to eat as well as I can, I know sugar is the main problem for me. I had an eating disorder in my younger days…

Would have been much more invested in “diets” back then.

What do you mean by sides and spectrum?

My view is that people need to eat what is healthy for them in terms of weight loss and what works for them

Eating for weight loss is very different to eating for health. There are foods that I cant enjoy freely when trying to lose weight but want and need to eat when maintaining for my health

I also try to exercise for health but thats not good for me weight wise as it makes me famished, s its a difficult balance.

I try to avoid UPF where I can but I'm not evangelical about it. We are experimenting with a new bread maker and enjoying the results, so I'm definitely eating more bread lately! Doing dry January as usual. Need to work on drinking more water.

We have chickens and a v. large garden so a lot of home grown fruit and veg. I'm taking a bee keeping course this year so eventually we'll have our own honey. I'm toying with the idea of raising a turkey each summer for our Christmas dinner, but that is a step into proper homesteading territory that I'm not quite ready to make just yet.

I keep getting adverts for weight loss drugs on my social media. I have been taking an active interest in natural and whole foods over the last year since the UPF interest, follow people like Chris Van Tuleken and Rob Hobson, google lots about increasing fibre in our diets and how to cook certain ingredients I'm new to, and social media tracking seems to have translated that to wanting to lose weight. I don't need to lose weight.

I say this as a meat, fish etc eater - science is firmly on the side of plant based. Very firmly. See Colin Campbell, Dr Christopher Gardener work at Yale. Longevity, heart health, cancer reduction etc etc. Your 3 eggs a day habit even has its own set of research showing it’s not long term healthy.

there are people who have eg Sibo, where to cure the overgrowth of bacteria a short term ‘carnivore diet’ deprives the bacteria of the carb they want. But it is short term.

but if we’re talking weight loss, nothing easier and more effective than something like the human being diet or bright line eating, both of which are zero simple carb, high veg, high protein diets (could be animal or plant)

This.

I'm broadly in the eat as whole and natural as possible, avoid processed food as much as possible. Try not to eat too much sugar (or any added sugar - fell off that bandwagon over Christmas but decided going back on it today); plenty of protein, vegetables, good fats. Some carbs but trying not to eat too many (but we have a bread maker so I eat bread at the weekend but it's homemade and I know exactly what is in it).

Am trying to eat low / next to no sugar, processed food. More protein and vegetables. Low alcohol.

Spectrum?
I struggle to find an opinion & my social media isn't about those topics. My end of the spectrum (how many dimensions does a spectrum have?) is struggling to give a rats arse what other people do.

I don’t tend to get food things come up on social media as I don’t really search for anything. Mines all fashion and travel.

I’m in the whatever works for you, no one size fits all camp.

I try, in a vague sense, to live a somewhat balanced lifestyle without overthinking it. I like delicious food and drink and don't intend to give any of it up - to me food in particular is a source of joy, not guilt. I refuse to have a complex about it. I basically got into exercise so I could eat whatever I wanted without thinking about it, and that's worked for the past 15 years. I also discovered that exercise is somewhat addictive, especially when you see physical results, and you end up making healthier choices all round (for example, not drinking alcohol because you have a run planned the next day).

I say "eat what I want" but while I love tasting menus, cheese, cakes and so on, I eat very little processed food - all home-cooked. That's due to preference and taste rather than self-denial.

I don't think about weight at all. I've never owned scales and haven't actually weighed myself since I was a teenager. I've never been on a diet. I can tell if clothes begin to fit less comfortably, I can tell what I look like in the mirror, I can tell how healthy I feel and I can react from there. If I've had a week of boozing and eating rich food I'll probably follow it with a quiet week eating vegetable-heavy meals - again this isn't due to guilt or self-denial but because it's what my body and mind want.

Basically I'm in my 40s and I feel the fittest I've ever been, with the best abs I've ever had. I also absent-mindedly ate a whole round of camembert last night with no guilt. I feel like what I'm doing is working.

I also attach no judgment to weight. I enjoy having visible abs and toned arms and feeling like my body can do so much, but I'm also aware that aging exists and this won't last forever. If I get plumper in 10 years, so what? My self-worth isn't tied up in my weight.

I think the best thing you can do for health is increase fruit and veg. Include healthy fats, whole grains and some protein but the basis of your meals should be plants. We’re all eating far more protein than we need and far too little fibre, which is why bowel cancer is on the rise.

I’ve just been on a diet and lost 11 kg in WeightWatchers. I’ve done it before. I switch to eating lean meats, lots of protein and fruit and veg and I drop bread, with the odd rye sourdough. I swap out full fat for lower fat, although I don’t like doing this.

Now I’m at goal weight, I can up my points/ calorie intake and I’ll do it by swapping out low fat for full fat and more olive oil and avocado. I’ll still eat healthy.

My diet is lots of protein, eggs, vegetables and fruit. Full fat Greek yoghurt. Water, red wine and black tea. I hate sweet and/or fizzy drinks.

This all sounds very worthy I know; unfortunately I also have a huge weakness for sourdough bread, croissants and cinnamon buns.

I eat mostly plant based, low fat, lots of fruit and vegetables. I track protein to make sure I'm getting enough - if I'm not i'll add in a vegetarian protein source (eggs, cheese).
I'll eat lean meat occasionally but would prefer to avoid.
I sometimes eat processed food like vegan sausages or a vegan burger.
I eat loads and loads of veg.
I eat potatoes, rice, pasta etc.

I'm not a vegan. But when I cook for myself it's generally plant based. I eat very very little meat.

I see mostly vegan recipes on Insta!

I am slim, bordering underweight, which I think is mostly genetic.

I get 'normal' recipes come up. Possibly because I sometimes use a search engine to find recipes (e.g. quantities for making pizza dough) but I don't know.

Also meal box deals...not sure if that's the time of year or because my friend sent me a code and I looked once.

I am a slightly obsessive person (anxious) so I think if I tried any sort of 'diet' (even one to put on weight) it would become an issue for me. As I am very slim it's more important to me that food doesnt become an issue that I focus on too much. Instead I just try to do little things like upping fruit and veg, rather than move away from any of the traditional nutrition advice.

I need protein for muscle building and carbs for long distance running. I track protein to make sure it's high enough and only track carbs during a long distance run/race.

I still drink alcohol but less, try have some fruit or vegetable every meal. I won't cut out protein powders or energy gels and am not averse to a protein yoghurt or pudding. I try to stay within my calories and keep up the exercise.

I don't sit on any side, I do what I need to do to lose weight without losing my marbles.

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

That's Michel Pollans summary of decades of research on food and health and it seems to work out fine. I'd add in - do some exercise too.

Not sure what you’re asking.

I keep my weight down by fasting at least 18 hours daily (sounds harder than it is as I never eat breakfast and tend to eat lunch late), I count and restrict calories Mon-Fri and eat what I like at the weekend. I avoid UPF and try to eat high protein with not too many carbs and very little sugar.

I don’t overthink it. I mostly eat and drink more or less whatever I want except for once about every two years where I realise I’ve gradually put on half a stone or so over the preceding two years and do a carb-free low calorie crash diet for a month to get it off. It’s dull but it works, and then I can go back to eating and drinking more or less whatever I want. Rinse, repeat. Though ultimately I start off slim and just get slimmer, I just prefer not to carry the extra half a stone, and I acknowledge that crash dieting probably isn’t a sustainable approach for people who are overweight and have a lot of weight to lose.