Shorter version – Just the steps

Skip or delay breakfast. This is called intermittent fasting. If you have adrenal issues, fix that first.

You can replace breakfast with Bulletproof Coffee. (recipe)

Critical diagnostic: Do a one month elimination diet to identify food sensitivities. I created a checklist version you can download for free. This is not optional for the restoration of wellness.

Eat 5-9 servings of healthy fats like avocados, pastured egg yokes, olive oil (not for cooking), avocado oil, coconut oil, MCT oil, raw macadamias, raw almonds, raw hazelnuts, raw walnuts, grass fed butter, grass-fed red meat and fatty fish like wild-caught salmon. One tablespoon of butter or oil is a serving.

Eat 4-6 servings of protein. A serving of protein is usually about the size of the palm of your hand.

• Beef, Bison, Lamb – Pastured (100% grass fed and grass finished) and never administered antibiotics or growth hormones.
• Poultry – Pastured, free range, never exposed to GMO feed. Chicken fat is high in omega 6, so best to limit to only one or two servings per week.
• Eggs – Same as poultry. You want pastured eggs. It’s easy to tell by looking at the yoke color. Pastured chickens that ate bugs and worms produce eggs with deep orange yokes.
• Fish – Wild caught (Farmed fish are generally fed GMO feed.)
• If tolerant after the elimination period, grass fed and cold pressed organic whey
• 1-2 cups of homemade bone broth each day

Eat 6-11 servings of veggies. Organic produce is best when you can. Be sure to eat veggies with healthy fat because many of the vitamins must have fat present to be absorbed.

Eat enzyme-rich lacto-fermented vegetables, fruits, beverages and condiments (probiotics). Sauerkraut and kimchi are fantastic sources that are inexpensive, but be aware that heating kills the good bacteria. The probiotic that will work best for you is highly personalized. Pay attention to how you feel after you take them. Also, be prepared to adjust occasionally as the populations in your gut change.

Eat a serving of fruit (berries are best) or starch (like sweet potato) only at dinner. The goal is to limit fructose until you are no longer insulin resistant. If you are already lean and athletic, more fructose from fruit is fine.

It’s possible to have cravings after the elimination weeks while following the diet perfectly. Usually, this is due to eating a food you are intolerant to or that has quality issues (like moldy or overcooked and oxidized). Cravings can also be caused by environmental toxins that kick your liver into overdrive and use up glucose that would otherwise be available to your brain. This happens with exposure to things like a coworkers cologne, hand soap, gasses given off by new carpeting or paint drying. When this happens, snacking (on healthy real food) is encouraged. It’s not a failure. Hunger and cravings are data to learn from.

Supplements:

Before every meal

• Digestive enzymes containing ox bile (vital if you have had your gallbladder removed). When your body isn’t well, it doesn’t produce some digestive enzymes very well and it’s helpful to supplement, at least until things start working properly.
• Adaptogen herbs help you adapt to stress. These were used by Soviet olympic athletes and classified top secret in the 1980’s. But now we know how helpful they can be.

Early in the day

• Vitamin D3 – Unless you live on the equator, you’re probably vitamin D deficient. Vitamin D3 is the kind you want. It’s fat soluble, so always take with fat. Shoot for 1000-2000 IU if taking magnesium but more may be necessary. Vitamin D levels should be checked with a blood test. I take my vitamin D in the morning with my Bulletproof coffee.

Before bed

• Magnesium Glycinate or Pico-Ionic Magnesium – Don’t take with fluoridated water. According to the Weston Price Foundation, magnesium binds with fluoride to form magnesium fluoride, “a nearly insoluble mineral compound that ends up deposited in the bones, where its brittleness increases the risk of fractures”.

Other tips

Filtered water is highly encouraged. I recommend a Berkey water filtration system with the additional fluoride filters.

When you feel hungry, drink purified water, black coffee or tea.  Coffee is not recommended after 2pm so sleep is not effected.

Check out my Food Facts to help you identify which foods fit your needs the best.  All the food I recommend can be purchased at the grocery store or on Amazon.  The stores where I find the most selection are Costco, Harris Teeter, Wegmans, Aldi, Earth Fare and Whole Foods.

I have a post that gives over 50 ways to make healthy eating more affordable.

For recipes, Google: “Paleo recipes”.  My plan isn’t strictly Paleo, but the overall principle to only eat what you can grow or kill is common to both.

Be sure to add and enjoy plenty of grass-fed butter (Kerrygold brand is probably the easiest to find) and sea salt. Grass fed butter and salt are on the food list, but I want to highlight them because they make food taste fantastic and promote health.  Don’t make the mistake of buying standard butter instead of grass fed butter.  Grass fed butter is anti-inflammatory and promotes health.  Regular non-grass-fed butter is inflammatory and promotes disease.

It does not matter how many meals you eat.  Eat when you feel hungry.  Stop when you feel satisfied.  Don’t snack unless you are hungry, to allow insulin levels to fall between meals.

Aim for 50-80% fat, 5-30% carbs and 10-30% protein. There is no one-size-fits all, so you will need to experiment until you find what makes you sleep, think and feel your best without cravings.

I used to track calories, but have come to find it more harmful than good over the long haul. It gets in the way of learning to pay attention to signals from your body like hunger and cravings.

The Wellness Repair plan is very close to ketogenic, but the carbs will be higher than the typically recommended limitation of 50g per day.  I’m going for a mild ketosis that is achieved in the morning by adding C8 MCT oil to coffee.  Standard MCT oil will result in ketosis also, but takes longer.

Avoid foods from cans, cash register receipts and storing or consuming food from plastic storage containers.  These items expose you to endocrine disrupting BPAs. But BPA-free plastic can be worse, so it’s best to just avoid plastic as much as possible for food storage.

Your waist measurement is a reliable sign that you are losing fat.  Your clothes should start to fit more loosely. You will notice a visual difference after several weeks.  Don’t fixate on the scale reading because it can fluctuate several pounds just with water and bowel activity.

If after the first two weeks, you find yourself with low energy, food cravings or poor mood, this is a giant clue that something is wrong.  You may need to do one or more of the following: eliminate another food you are sensitive to, reduce exposure to chemicals, sleep more, train less, tweak your carbs up, drink more water or replenish minerals like salt or magnesium.  It is also possible you would benefit from more extensive testing from a certified functional medicine practitioner.

If any food or supplement makes you nauseous or sick in any way, please listen to your body and stop it immediately!

I recommend not picking a goal weight as weight loss is only one byproduct of health. This is not a temporary project that changes when your skinny jeans fit. It’s really about establishing new habits that are so wonderful, you’ll never want to live without them. The goal is simply to feel better today. If you feel better today, awesome! If not, it’s data. This is a sustainable model that will make it easy to keep the weight off.

Planning and preparation is key!  As an example, you can cook enough hard boiled eggs or grass fed ground beef for an entire week all at once.  In the case of ground beef, I will portion the meat out into glass containers and put a couple in the refrigerator.  The rest go in the freezer for later in the week.

Try to get 7-8 hours of sleep per night.  Sleep will help you burn fat.  Not getting enough sleep can result in storing fat. If you have trouble with sleep, you may be over-training or under-eating.

Get plenty of direct sun on skin between the hours of 10 AM and 4 PM.

Walk in the woods whenever possible.

Keep your cell phone away from your head as much as possible. Also minimize proximity to other transmitters like bluetooth and wifi devices.