I grew up in the Deep South. Most of my family members are morbidly obese and have diabetes. I avoided this by spending hundreds of hours reading and thinking a

I grew up in the Deep South. Most of my family members are morbidly obese and have diabetes. I avoided this by spending hundreds of hours reading and thinking about nutrition. Here are my ground rules for healthy living: 1) Drink a lot of water everyday. 2) Calories are the most important baseline measure that affect your weight. 3) Walking for 20 minutes a day will give you 90% of the exercise you need. Go for a walk after lunch with your colleagues! 4) Don't trust food scientists, including ones that work for the government. They are paid to sell more food. 5) Putting vegetables on pizza doesn't make that pizza healthier. It may make it "less unhealthy". Think in terms like that. 6) The more synthetic a food is (i.e. the more processed it is), the more unhealthy it is. Human evolved to eat a certain way -- remember that. Use olive oil, real butter, etc. Eat whole fat everything. 7) Eat a lot of vegetables. Don't eat a lot of red meat. Yogurt is really good for your gut. 8) If you're going to eat something unhealthy, embrace it! Acknowledge that you are treating yourself. 9) THINK about your diet. Evaluate how you feel. 10) Look at your body in the mirror more than you step on a scale.