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I don't really know much about diet and nutrition...although I plan on learning more about the two. I have heard that diets don't really work, but a person has to change his/her lifestyle. For example, I live at home with my parents and pretty much eat what they eat...if they buy healthy good food, thats what I will eat. If my parents order pizza and chinese every otherday, that is what I eat. Otherwise I will go hungry. So my question is this...what foods should one just totally neglect to eat at all costs because they are totally bad for you...even if they have nutritional value they might still be bad? What foods should I avoid since I want to be in good health? So far I can think of these things:

White breads (containing bleached flower)
Fatty cheeses
Whole milk
candy
pastas (which kind?)
Things with trans-fat
Oily foods
Fast foods
things like ketchup, syrups...things containing fructose
juices containing a lot of sugar
SODA
Cake

all the things I love because they taste good...but I really want to eat healthy. I want to go and buy my own food or something I just don't know what to get.

Also, is three square meals a day enough for me? I work out 3 times a week so I think I should be eating more.

Hopefully we can all add to the list....lets discuss! :)

Here is a simple rule. If you can't kill it, or grow it and process it yourself, don't eat it. Your list isn't bad, but it is too general in some areas and too specific in others.

Avoid highly refined foods - sugars, syrups (corn, fructose etc), flour.
Pasta and bread isn't necessarily bad. Just make sure it is whole grain - and not the fake whole grain, either.

Cheese is good for you in moderation. The calcium and micro-organisms are good for your body.

Whole milk is great if you are trying to gain weight. If you want to lean up go with skim.

Olive oil is good for you. So is fish oil. Those with lots of trans fat aren't.

Most fast food is crap. Subway, isn't bad.

Stick with water, coffee and green tea.

You have to be careful when using subjective terms such as "healthy" or "good" because they can lead you to poor decisions.

For instance, white bread is not "bad." Its enriched flour is easier to digest which means it tends to spike your insulin more easily than whole wheat bread would. But this does not make it "bad," and by itself it will not destroy your health. The same goes for fatty cheeses, whole milk, and almost everything else on your list. In moderation, none of these things are totally bad. Although I can't remember ever reading anything beneficial about trans fats. That might be the only definite no-no on the list.

Carbs
Try to stick to complex carbs and minimize simple carbs. (Notice I said minimize instead of eliminate.)

Complex carbs:
Rolled oatmeal
Brown rice
Whole wheat bread
Whole wheat pasta
Regular (durum wheat) pasta -- this is a refined carb, sort of in between complex and simple
Legumes
Veggies

Simple carbs:
Sugars
Foods containing sugars (candy, cake, etc.)

Note: Although fruits contain sugar, they tend to be digested more slowly than refined sugar. With fruits and veggies, eat the rainbow. If you can eat a fruit and vegetable of every color, you're in good shape: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple.


Protein
Try to eat lean meats.

Lean beef (90% lean ground beef, sirloin,
Chicken
Turkey
White fish (tilapia, flounder, etc.)
Red fish (salmon, tuna, etc.) -- not lean fish, but full of Omega-3 fats
Egg whites

Fats
Try to get a good balance of saturated and unsaturated fat with some omega-3 fats in there. Most diets have far too much saturated fat already, so you probably don't need to go looking for more. Just try to substitue foods with unsaturated fats.

Fish oil pills
Flax seed oil
Olive oil

Try to drink a lot of water.


All things in moderation. It's really not as complicated as most people make it out to be. There's just so much fear-mongering going on over nutrition that it's ridiculous at times. People are scared out of their minds to eat certain things for fear that they will destroy their bodies.

Having pizza or fast food for dinner will not kill you. Having pizza or fast food every night for dinner probably will adversely affect your health.