I don’t think that “excellent” is a synonym for “perfect” here, though.
A perfect diet would not include soda of any kind, but an excellent diet can include small amounts of empty calorie treats, provided the rest of your diet is balanced & very healthy.
5
About 4 years ago I completely overhauled the way I ate. I haven’t had fast food, packaged baked goods or sugary soda since. I have a lot of daily food goals (5+ servings of vegetables, 2+ servings of fruit, 100 grams of protein, a serving of nuts every day, between 1800-2000 calories a day, at least 25% of my daily calories from healthy fats, choose complex carbs - whole wheat pitas/pasta/tortillas, whole grain breads, quinoa, sweet potatoes, etc). I eat very little processed foods (Kashi waffles and Morning Star Farm veggie burgers aside) and cook dinner at least 5 nights a week. It takes a lot of planning and trips to the grocery store, but it’s habit now.
I go to the grocery store almost every day. I use one of those baskets instead of a cart. It just makes more sense to me to purchase perishables as needed. One of the produce aisle workers told me that my shopping habits are “very European”. Is that true? Do European food shoppers buy a few items every day?
Good, I think.
Three years post GBS & I still follow my surgeon’s requirements re: protein & supplements. I eat very little fast food (mainly chili from Wendy’s or beans from Taco Bell if I’m on the road & don’t have a lot of time). I do eat snack food sometimes, but I feel I eat very well generally speaking. Lots of fish/shrimp/seafood, red meat once a week (maybe twice). I try to get most of my carbs from whole grains if I can. I’m no saint, but I do my best.
VCNJ~
Be a little more wary at Quizno’s. Even that veggie sub has oodles of caloric fat because of the cheese and guacamole. I worked there for nearly a full year in college, and it was one of the worst temptations I had to keep eating well while surrounded by all that high fat stuff. You can do low fat there, but there’s only a few things that are relatively healthy, and that’s only as long as you pile it high with the veggies. Sure was tasty, though. 
I’m not certain how I’d weigh in on the OP scale. I eat lots of meat and fish. I love dairy. I enjoy most fruit and will eat it, like vegetables as it is seasonally available. I don’t bother to go out of my way to make certain that my components are balanced throughought the year. I like to eat seasonally. I prefer to eat my foods raw, or as rare as possible. Nashiitashii occasioanlly finds this habit irritating as she has to prepare a separate veggie dish for me if she wants to cook hers. I don’t consume a lot of butter, I prefer olive oil. I like breads and grains and consume them regularly. I will not eat anything with soy in it. I prefer to keep away from preservatives and additives whenever possible. I tend to eat a LOT usually around 3500-400 cal a day. I have a hard time gaining weight, am active and work out. Personally, I consider my diet pretty healthy. My downfalls are a fondness for juices, espescially sweet ones. I also like salty, crunchy snacks, but have managed to curtail that into relatively healthy outlets. I try not to eat a lot of fast food, but until nashiitashii moves up here in a few weeks, I usually forget to pack my lunch. :smack: I enjoy alcohol of any sort, but don’t overindulge in it at all. I prefer to have a drink a day, either with lunch or supper.
Is this a fair assessment for the average American? I’ve always understood the average American has a poor understanding of healthy nutrition, based on the fact that so many are in fact obese, who subsist on a staple of junk and fast foods.
Is it necessarily better to have a vegetarian/vegan diet and eat soy products as opposed to a well balanced omnivorous diet?
Deli type sandwiches can be pretty bad for you as well, not as mindnumbingly bad as McDonalds, but it’s really nowhere nearly as nutritious as it looks.
I’d say I was a 3-4. I eat a bowl of oatmeal every morning, get some supplemental Omega-3 twice a day. I eat 4-5 small meals a day, mostly home cooked, but not as much fruit and veg as I should. I do order a pizza maybe every one or two weeks. I drink about a gallon of water a day, if I can help it.
3.5 - Mostly chicken and fish for protein. Lots of water and veggies and fruit, no sweetened or dark liquids, no caffeine, no alcohol. But Saturdays were made for McMuffins or hamburgers. <hangs head in shame>
I’d punch in at about a 4.5.
I can’t remember the last time I ate fast food, and don’t really have any prepackaged stuff around either. Really liking to cook helps a lot. So does loving vegetables and grains though I had to substract a half-point for fruit consumption. I don’t dislike fruit but most of 'em are nothing I seek out. Apples, berries and the occassional kiwi about do it for me–and most of those end up in yogurt.
My major downfall? Cheese. I adore good cheese and so have to ration it carefully. Stilton, sharp cheddar, feta in fruity olive oil and thyme…sigh. Maybe next life, right?
I rarely eat red meat any more, or even much chicken. I love it; I just don’t eat it often. Adore all kinds of fish and seafood, though.
The soy thing? Outside of edamame as a snack, I leave prefab soy products strictly alone. I don’t like faux foods and have never found soy burgers, chicken, etc. anything but horrible. I’d much rather use Jefferson’s approach of “meat as a condiment”, i.e. limit consumption, but stick to the real, honest food. Obviously mileages vary widely on this one but no soy proteins for me.*
3, maybe 3.5. I actually like fruits and veggies, and I eat a fair amount of them, but I also eat a lot of crap.
I’m a solid 4. I think I’d actually be a 5 on this scale if I ate breakfast more often.
I’m prone to depression so I try to eat properly or else I start to feel low. My big downfall is that I’m not a big meat eater so I rely too much on dairy I think. But it’s good for my bones so I don’t nitpick too much. Also, I always like to have something sweet in the evening, preferably a piece of cake. I need to keep a little fat on my bum due to all the hard chairs in the world.