Step One: The Precision Excision of these items:

■■ Sugar in all its forms (except a little honey or maple syrup)

■■ Artificial sweeteners

■■ All-purpose, refined white flour

■■ Any packaged food made with high-fructose corn syrup

■■ Anything with sugar among the first five ingredients on the label

■■ Anything with ingredients that don’t sound like food

■■ Anything made with refined white flour, including pasta, bread, bagels, pretzels, muffins

■■ Anything made with soybean oil, vegetable oil, or hydrogenated oils

■■ Soft drinks or any sugar-sweetened beverages including energy drinks, sports drinks, sweetened teas or coffees

■■ Anything made from refined grains, like hot cereal (even unsweetened), instant or microwavable oatmeal, or anything else not made with whole grains

■■ Powdered flavored drinks

■■ Breakfast cereals, sweetened or not

■■ Any food with MSG

■■ Any food with soy-based protein

■■ Anything deep-fried like potato chips

■■ Anything that includes preservatives, flavorings, colorings, or thickeners

■■ Any butter or fat replacements

■■ Any yogurt containing sugars or fake sweeteners

■■ Any frozen dish containing non-food ingredients

■■ Anything white—rice, bread, potatoes (except onions, cauliflower, daikon radish, or white fish)

■■ Skim milk or any non-grass-fed or nonorganic dairy