We "won" a nutritional consult with a registered dietitian in a silent auction at my kids school. There was a pattern in her likes/dislikes and some of them surprised me. The main points were cutting out artificial sweeteners, trans-fats, sodas (diet or otherwise), and stuff like margarine (eat real butter). She was ok with my coffee consumption but said to never start the day with it. Instead I should drink water (filtered or bottled;not tap) with lemon to help raise the body ph. Fats are ok but should come from a good source (avocados, nuts, soy milk better than cow milk). Substitute a fruit smoothie for at least one meal so generally for breakfast, I make a frozen fruit smoothie with a scoop of protein powder. Also recommends a glass of red wine. I have lost about 15 lbs over 3-4 weeks.