A common interest with our Dad has been FOOD. Dad has always been the one to try out new dishes and identifying the tiniest taste modifications to enhance the flavor, whereas our Mom likes to keep her food as simple as possible and stick to routine items. So, ultimately we as kids got the best of both the worlds.

One of the favorite Mantras of my Dad which I have been hearing always is 'Anything in excess is bad'. This Mantra is very simple yet extremely effective. It could hold true is most of the scenarios and help in making a sound decision. At least it has helped me quite a lot of times.

Now when it comes to food, this holds true every time. Our body is an exceptionally complex machine which carries out millions of tasks and processes in a balanced systematic manner. It communicates with us with signals and reactions to help us gauge the best for us. Let's take food for instance. When have slightly more than usual or in one word, over-eat, the body signals with possible reactions such as acidity, flatulence, nausea, etc. 

When we get to know that something is good for us, we tend to accumulate. For instance, walnuts are immensely loaded with nutrients and benefits. This does not imply that we should be consuming only walnuts or having more of it will definitely help our body. Even good or great foods will be harmful if not monitored. Consider another example of shedding some weight. A general tendency is to follow a strict diet and/or exercise routine till the target weight is achieved and then fallback to the usual. This cycle continues and is not beneficial for our body. There are many such cases where we tend to go overboard and lose sight of the bigger picture.

Our bodies are designed in such a way that there are multiple safeguarding procedures to accommodate changes and deviations. These safeguarding measures are tolerant up to a certain threshold only and modify themselves with age. Hence when it comes to our health and diet, this thumb rule is the most helpful and effective strategy.  

So, the next time you start exercising, dieting, meal planning, etc. keep this in mind and proceed further based on this basic check.