From Whose Plate Are You Eating?

I wonder what you're really looking for when it comes to information about food. Are you looking for expertise? Reasons why you should/could eat what you love? A partner who is also making mistakes and letting you know about his/her journey?
I recently read the story of a very well known health leader who is also a young man. He bounced from following this guru to that guru and "my life and my health fell apart." His gurus were also simply experimenting and making serious mistakes with their health - which they later admitted. They thought they were doing the right thing at the time.
Many of my clients also believe they are doing the right thing or can figure out how to eat raw/vegetarian/vegan. I mean, it's just food. What's so hard about that, right? You've been eating it nearly all your life!
People love a good story and people love to know they are in good company. That's the immense success of 12 Step programs. And for some people, it works fairly well. Food addiction, along with codependency, are the most difficult addictions to endure. You can give up alcohol. You can not take drugs (I'm not saying it's easy, I'm saying you can live without ingesting them.) You can be alive without interacting with other people, but it's not much of a life. You cannot, however, live without food. So food addiction is the toughest and what I often hear is "I fell off the wagon when..." you were on vacation, at a wedding, under stress and many other situations which occur in life.
For some people, that's okay. Others are not content to be on and off healthy eating. They know that once they "fall off" they REALLY go off the rails and have a tougher time getting back on.
Are you looking for leadership or company?
At a recent health fair, I heard a very successful talk from a woman who scientifically proved the health benefits of drinking coffee, eating chocolate and drinking red wine. While most people were probably thrilled to learn that it's not only okay but NECESSARY FOR HEALTH to ingest these substances, at least one woman (who came to my booth - fairly distraught) was alarmed to learn she HAD to start drinking alcohol in order to be healthy.
Have a look at the bookstore shelf. There are books for the Chocolate Diet, the Bread for Life Diet, the Egg-Wine Diet. A very frustrated friend recently told me she's going on the banana diet. When people make declarations like that, I always wonder do you decide on a time period? What do you eat when you're done and how does that contribute to lasting effects?
Similarly, there is Weight Watchers, the Biggest Loser, NutriSystem, Jenny Craig and countless others... while Weight Watchers has a system that can be applied when you attend weddings and go on vacation....to my knowledge the others don't. So does one "finish" Jenny Craig? What happens then? Are there NutriSystem restaurants? People wonder how I have a "normal" social life, yet I can get a salad nearly every where I go. Or, in developing countries, fruit. I've traveled the world and eaten a vegan diet, often raw (some of my travels were pre-raw). Not a problem when it's a lifestyle.
So it's really just a simple question of what you're looking for. There is not right or wrong answer. When I began my journey, I wanted people with proven methods AND to find the right one for myself. There are several right, proven methods. I have a friend who follows one guru because the first time she saw him she loved his energy and declared "I want THAT!" At that time, to me, that person was bouncing off the walls and while he had great research, I decidedly did NOT want "that" - so you really have to notice what resonates for you. Um, no, what I mean is different from "the chocolate diet sounds good to me" LOL!
Are you looking for:

* a leader - someone who can provide guidance
* support - a group which can cheer you up as you find your way and forgive you when you make mistakes
* company - someone also on the path who you might emulate even when he/she makes mistakes -and then you can learn from those mistakes

It's really up to you. I do encourage you to choose wisely. What kind of success you expect to create?