| Jeff Novick, MS, RDN's 10-Point Checklist For Maximum Weight Loss Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit. Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches. Choose fruit for dessert. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood). Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy). Eliminate any added oil. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e. bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit. Don’t drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages). Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking). | 