Gather info about as many plans as possible and see what resonates with you—the pros and cons of the last several blogs may give you a place to start your research. It may be useful to keep a food journal for a few weeks and note how you feel both physically and emotionally during and after the foods you eat. Food sensitivies and/or allergies often can be signalled by headaches, short temper, heart racing, cravings and overeating of the foods to which one is sensitive—which can lead to excess weight. Keeping a log can help you notice patterns and reactions—remember that food-based reactions can take 12–48 hours to occur, so you may have to look back a day or two to determine the culprit.

When it comes to a healthy base diet, I have a simple approach which I call the 1-2-3-4-5 plan:
1 serving of essential fatty acids each day—a heaping tablespoon of ground seeds (flaxseeds or chia seeds are a great choice) or have a tablespoon of cold-pressed seed oil (such as flaxseed, hempseed, pumpkin seed, or grapeseed).
2 servings daily of lean protein in the form of beans, lentils, quinoa, eggs, fish, poultry or lean meat.
3 pieces per day of fresh fruit such as apples, pears, bananas, berries, melon or citrus.
4 (or fewer if trying to lose weight) servings per day of whole grains such as rice, millet, rye, oats, wheat, corn, quinoa, whole grain breads, or whole grain pasta. A great choice is a sprouted grain bread like Ezekiel bread.
5 servings per day of dark green, leafy, and root vegetables such as spinach, kale, watercress, carrots, sweet potatoes, broccoli, green beans, peas, peppers.

Lastly, don’t be so inflexible that you end up being isolated and unhappy. If you eat healthy most of the time, you can occasionally go off plan once in awhile without “falling off the wagon” entirely.