How do we really know if we are eating optimally for health?  Is it possible to really know? If so, how can we really, know for sure?  Today there are many voices chiming in to tell us what's the best.  Raw food, whole food or Paleolithic like caveman - whatever you can hunt and gather. Eat vegetables only... because meat has been laced with antibiotics and on and on it goes.  No need to be confused, many eating plans have benefits we can capitalize on to achieve great results. You Don't Know How to Get There Until You Know Where You're Going Goals are an important part of everything we do.  No matter if you're a strict goal setter or just planning out your day's activities, we all live by goals.  So, to know if you're eating your best, you need to know your goal for eating.  If your goal is to lose weight then you won't be eating your best if you're eating the same as you do when you're simply eating to maintain.  A marathon runner will have completely different goals depending on the training cycle.  If you've ever looked at what competitive bodybuilders eat then you know the eating goals are quite different than you and I.  Here's the problem, most people don't eat with goals.  They just find something yummy and chow down until they're overstuffed.  Set your goals including the portion size.  You'll eat at your best when you set some eating goals for yourself. Better Living Through Chemistry It's not rocket science, but a bit of chemistry goes a long way. One of the best ways to know if you're eating your best is to track the numbers.  When I watched television there was a commercial with a question, "do you know your number"?  It was a commercial about high blood pressure, the silent killer.  Although blood pressure is a critical number, there are many like it to keep tabs on. Weight and BMI for starters is a basic guide for goal setting above.  Regular check-ups with your healthcare professional can give you goals for the composition of your eating.  However, if you have high cholesterol, more specifically, your low-density lipoprotein (LDL) is high as an example and you make no adjustments in your eating habits, you've just wasted the time it took to get your checkup.  If you see these numbers as potentially adjustable through eating, then you've got a new goal set. WARNING: The Surgeon General has Determined that Eating too Much Can Kill You "Experts" Say In the 21 century we've come to the tipping point in national obesity and clinical weight related illness.  We've become a society feasting on fast food and high calorie drinks.  The fast food industry is trying to keep customers by attempting to add more healthy choices.  Sadly though, once we're in their selecting our food, only the resolute survive.  According to statistics, many choose the same high saturated fat meals as before. Regardless if we eat out or at home, we desperately need to eat less.  Multiple studies indicate that just a 5 to 10 percent weight reduction improves risk factors for disease.  For a 250 pound man, that's about 10 pounds.  Changing your volume of food takes some planning,  bringing us back to goals.  Many of our daily routines and habits for example...  a morning latte,  adds over 200 calories to any breakfast.  If you don't eat breakfast then a latte is a poor substitute and besides, breakfast is a good way to eat less.  We don't gain weight all at once and a steady plan of reducing amounts over time will show results.  By eating less for most of us, we'll be eating our best.