A woman sits on a couch and watches TV. A table in front of her holds a remote, a bottle of beer and a bowl full of chips.Too often we eat for all the wrong reasons: boredom, comfort, reward, depression, entertainment.

Here’s an old wives’ tale that can serve as a test: if you’re not hungry enough to eat an apple, you’re not hungry.

Eating well doesn’t have to be complicated, but it can seem confusing.

We hope The Friday Food Rule, adapted from Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual by Michael Pollan, helps bring simplicity to the daily decisions we all make about what to eat. The rules are based around the answers to these three basic questions:

1. What should I eat? Eat food. As opposed to highly processed products and edible “food-like” substances.

2. What kind of food should I eat? Mostly plants, especially leaves. A look at distinctions between real foods and how to make the healthiest choices.

3. How should I eat? Not too much. The manners, habits, taboos and cultural influences that surround our relationship to food and eating.

So that’s it. Just seven words: Eat food. Mostly plants. Not too much.

Nobody can follow all the rules, all the time. Think of them more as guidelines or modifications. Simply being more mindful of these tips, or choosing and following just a few rules that are new to you, can certainly lead to meaningful, healthy changes in your eating habits.

Good luck. And good eating!