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I think people can be healthy following many philosophies-it just depends on what works best for you and your family and what supports your goals. Some people eat paleo and do it serious justice. So do vegetarians. I'm personally a lean meats, veggies, grains, and good fats kind of believer. Minimal processed foods and limited junk. But I'm not going to wig out over a soda or boxed dinner sometimes, either, because sometimes you get short on time and you have to cut a corner. For me, this is what works. It's what supports my goals, what I do at the gym, the body I want, the way I feel, and keeps all my stats low, like blood pressure, glucose, etc etc. And I dislike the notion of removing an entire food group long term.

Healthy has to be sustainable for it to be healthy.

I kinda came to the conclusion that everyone's body responds differently... so to find what works for me, I kind of do an elimination diet of disputed foods. I cut out various food groups and see if I feel better or not. When I cut out dairy, I felt much better (ugh), but when I cut out other foods, I didn't notice a change.

I did greatly reduce red meat just based on scientific research, but still have it now and then as a treat. Just not as regularly as I had it before!

To me healthy means non processed foods cooked in a healthy way (ex: grilled not fried). Pretty simple for me!

I believe everything is ok in moderation so we eat eveything. I think my philosophy (or lack of) comes from the culture I grew up in. My hometown is known for its food There food is an experience not just something to eat and it's appreciated.

@blackbird: agreed. That's the philosophy in our house too.

In my family growing up, it was about eating the freshest produce possible and a wide variety of foods and textures. And not wasting food. Being picky was/is frowned upon pretty badly in Korean culture (even though you can't really help it in many cases), so I was always praised for being an adventurous eater and my brother was my mom's worst nightmare because he ate 3 things. Eating processed food or fast food was okay because we just didn't have it that often. We ate mostly homecooked, from-scratch meals. We always ate full fat dairy until I asked for lowfat stuff as a teen, but have since gone back to full fat dairy. We also always ate every part of the animal - fat, skin, tripe, innards, etc - and every kind of seafood imaginable. All the leftover bones and scraps were turned into broth for soups. My mom could take leftovers of something and turn it into a new meal the next day without us even realizing it. My mom also packed us our lunches except for days we really wanted what was on the cafeteria menu.

I've pretty much stuck to this philosophy of eating with the addition of paying attention to how different foods affect us and limiting those things. DH and I generally feel better when we eat whole grains and limit carbs in general and DH feels better without a lot of dairy and also has gout so we have to limit his dark leafy green and cabbage/broccoli intake. But outside those parameters, we just try to eat a little bit of everything in moderation.

For DS, its pretty amazing the kind of food he eats in a given day. My mom nannies for us 3 days a week, so that adds to his palate. Today, he's had grapes, blueberries, figs, watermelon, kiwi, and watermelon. Cheerios, yogurt melts, puffs, and freeze dried corn. He had a rice porridge for breakfast made from homemade bone broth and chopped up carrots and onions and turnip. For lunch he had miso soup made with homemade seafood stock, tofu, rice, and chopped up squash greens from our garden. Yesterday he had Italian pastina with arugula and pasture raised eggs stirred in, homemade zucchini bread, and homemade Larabar bites. He's still young, but I hope it sticks. My brother was an incredibly picky child but my mom's ways paid off in the end - sometime in college a bulb went off and he started to eat EVERYTHING and his a huge gourmand now.

Not going to restaurants or ordering take-out just because. We're vegetarians and generally eat pretty healthy but it's not healthy to get lo-mein and veggie fried rice twice a week, or french fries, eggplant parm, etc. There are a lot of ways to be a bad vegetarian.

I try to make most of our meals and use lots of fresh vegetables, limit starches and carbs, healthy proteins, etc.

To us, “healthy eating” means eating real foods, simply prepared. It means not eating too many things with ingredients I can’t pronounce. It means making choices to maximize the good about what I’m eating, and also the flavor of what I’m eating (so, no veggies cooked to death where all the nutrients are gone, no iceberg lettuce based salad which is the nutritional equivalent of crunchy water, eating things as in-season and locally grown as reasonably possible).

I try to limit my refined sugars and grains because I’m trying to lose weight and it works – paleo is a decent diet, but I certainly believe that in the literally tens of thousands of years that people have been consuming beans and grains, our bodies have adapted/evolved to process those items just fine. But, it’s easier to lose weight when you cut carbs, so I replace simple carbs with other options. I don’t think it’s healthier to do that longterm, and I don’t think there is anything inherently unhealthy about legumes or dairy.

I just strive to eat a mostly balanced diet: lots of fresh vegetables, lean proteins (meat, dairy, legumes and vegetable sources), good fats (avocados, olive and other oils, nuts, full fat dairy), more natural (and limited) sugars, better forms of carbs.

Above all though, having a healthy relationship with food and “everything in moderation”!

For my family our current healthy ideal is paleo (although we are falling way short since pregnancy/newborn phase). DH and I tried vegetarian, vegan and paleo each for a month. We did each in a healthy way: fresh produce, whole foods, grass fed meat. We didnt see any benefit with vegetarian or vegan. We tried paleo so I could prove that it wouldn't 'work' either. DH and I both dropped weight, my skin cleared up, and we just felt better. That was five years ago and I'm still a believer for me.

Different strokes for different folks though. Lots of people do really well as vegetarians.

Healthy eating for me and my husband is "everything in moderation ". It's his favourite motto for food. I think healthy eating is just trying not to eat processed stuff and stuff too high in salt, fat, or, sugar-but the bad versions of those things.

I'm a vegetarian and came out of the womb that way. I have never been bitter or felt limited by my parents' decision to raise us that way. I feel healthier by not eating meat and because I cook most meals my husband is a pretty much full time vegetarian when he is at home and not travelling for work.
My parents raised me in a moderation sort of way I suppose, where we definitely had treats (chips, cookies) but for the most part had homemade food packed with veggies. I think that's why I don't really care about pop or sweets as an adult, because I didn't have them a lot. I do crave salty snacks though, but I don't think that has anything to do with my upbringing, it's just my body.

I agree with people saying that cutting out a whole food group is kind of limiting. My family was discussing how people cut out all carbs for certain diets the other day and how it can help you lose weight, but isn't good for your body for the long haul. That's their opinion though, based on some people they know and some medical facts.

I try to keep gluten lower for myself because I notice my digestion gets upset if I have it too much so pasta is once every few weeks and I like to buy the gluten free stuff if I can.

Other than "everything in moderation" I think eating healthy means eating lots of fruits and veggies, drinking water, and avoiding takeout/fast food. As a large family we didn't get much takeout growing up because it was too expensive which probably contributes to why I feel it is best to be avoided.

I tried being vegan for a year in high school and I did it very badly and ate junk foods so I didn't get the benefits. But I really enjoy real cheese so I could never commit to a lifetime of cutting that out.

I think it's best to do what works for you and your family and suits your belief system! Because we all definitely have different views on what healthy eating entails.

Non-processed foods, plant based proteins, hormone free meats and fresh fruits and veggies!

I try to make as many meals as possible this way.
All in moderation I think is key

My idea of eating healthy means a balanced diet with appropriate portions, no snack food-isle items, and no sugary treats (except in rare occasions), no soda or processed fruit juice, no artificial sweeteners, no-fat free alternatives.

Eating locally produced, seasonal fruits and veggies is always a plus, as in buying pesticide-free ecologically friendly produce.

Having said all that: I don't eat healthy But I try when I can.

We shop the perimeter of the store. We buy in season fruits and veggies, minimal fresh meat, and whole fat dairy. I work next door to a grocery store so I shop 3x a week. At first it seemed $$$$, but as we started to eat better we started to need less to feel full (we were majorly overeating on processed foods).

Bfast is fruit and a yogurt.
Lunch is a salad. LO gets her own lunch.
Dinner is half a plate of cooked veggies and a lean meat.
Weekends are our cheat eat out days:)

@illumina: lol yep!

It's eating as clean as possible. Limiting the number of processed foods and eating out.

Before kids, we were super clean eaters.. after kids, we added in processed foods because it was quick and easy to grab something for them to snack on when we were out and about. We're trying to get back to clean eating now.

We eat "healthy". We eat minimally processed foods. Strive to eat whole foods. Stick to the perimeter of the store as best we can. We also generally eat 6 mini meals in a day rather then three large meals.