Comment by Nevermark
> Too much of anything is not healthy.
You have lost me. I said a healthy diet you love.
So critiquing me as suggesting anything that is not a healthy diet seems odd.
A healthy diet can be created many ways, all involve a lot of variety.
But it can be convenient too. If you find the right mix (for your own tastes) of “superfoods” as a foundation. I.e. hummus, mixed greens, mixed berries, a mix of nuts, a mix of seeds, sardines, salmon & tuna (but not too much), eggs, etc.
If your fridge, pantry, and eating habits cover all your basic nutrition multiple ways by default, then adding a variety of other healthy foods can be done very spontaneously without any need for planning.
I know, it took me a few years, and a lot of iteration, but it would be hard to beat my diet.
Even my snacks are up there, like edamame, chocolate in moderation, fresh veggies, high protein low sugar ice cream, etc.
Achieving healthy autopilot is the point.
In formal theory, it would be called a proof by contradiction when extended to an extreme.
Even with the "right mix", if you eat 5x the amount your lifestyle and body and mind need, you ain't ever going to lose weight or get to a healthy state. Obese people are (usually) obese because they eat too much, not just because of the type of food they eat. Heck, today both keto and vegan are considered "healthy" and they are on the opposite end of the spectrum when it comes to diet choices.
I am basically arguing that, to an extent, it's more important how much you eat, vs what you eat. Again, this is all comparative (eg. eating McDonalds burgers for the rest of your life is "healthy" compared to not eating anything at all, but that's a useless distinction).
Plenty of people in the past have eaten "unhealthy" (white bread, fried meat and vegetables) yet didn't have an obesity or health problem, because they countered that with a balanced activity (physical work) and mental load (shared responsibilities).
So my point is that you should reach that "autopilot" on the amount of the food you get, and then you can be pretty liberal in how you achieve it (obviously, don't have chocolate for breakfast, lunch and dinner). I do agree getting to the autopilot is where you should put your effort to.