Weight loss has turned into an industry, but it is really nothing new.

The weight loss industry has been profitable since the 1800s – or maybe even earlier.

If you need proof that the weight loss industry isn’t new, consider the story of Bernarr Macfadden as told in “Mr. America.”

Most weight loss plans have been recycled over the years. The benefits of an all-milk diet and the miracle of a high protein diet aren’t new.

At some point, we decided that eating less is not the answer to losing weight. Instead, we’ve decided that, in order to lose weight, we need to find the foods which cause us to lose weight.

This concept must work so well because it fits with today’s addiction to purchasing and consuming. Unless you embrace the minimalist way of life, taking things away is just not something that fits with our lifestyle. We would rather add to our lives.

We would rather believe that grapefruit juice helps us lose weight better than apple juice does. This may make us good consumers and it may make our taste buds happy, but it doesn’t actually make us any leaner.

In fact, we keep consuming, and, as a population, we keep getting bigger.

My solution is to limit the amount of food you purchase outside of the grocery store. Instead of worrying about which green tea to buy or which type of grapefruit you should eat, instead of deciding whether to use cream or coconut milk in your coffee or which fast food is “healthiest,” just don’t buy anything extra.

If you have a grocery budget, give yourself a non-grocery budget as well. For many of us, it’s the extra, mindless things that add up – on our waistlines and in our bank accounts.

We’ve learned by reading Eat Stop Eat that, just because you’re hungry, that doesn’t mean your metabolism is slowing down or that your muscles are breaking down. If you’re hungry, sometimes that simply means that you really want to eat.

The next time you really want to eat, don’t get a snack or stop at the coffee shop unless you’ve included that in your non-grocery budget.

Don’t get caught up in counting calories or trying to eat the “right foods.” If you want to reach your weight loss goals, you have to gain control over how much you eat. Try measuring how much you eat with your wallet. This is a realistic, effective approach.

If you can avoid buying extra food for an entire month, I’m sure you’ll see a significant reduction in your weight. Eating less is the most effective way to lose weight.

Try this approach with a positive attitude. Realize that, if you don’t buy extra food, you won’t feel sluggish, your workouts will not be effected, and your stress level will not rise.

Purchase only your normal groceries and your budgeted “extras.” You can still eat all the foods you normally eat, but you’ll be letting your budget set a limit on how much you consume.

If you try this, you should get a leaner body and a fatter wallet.

I am sometimes asked, “How much should I eat on the days I’m not fasting?”

I don’t like complex equations used to count calories, so I have a simple approach to this dilemma.

Eat normally – that is, don’t fast – for two weeks.

Weigh yourself on the third and fourth days. Calculate the average of those two numbers. Weigh yourself again on days 13 and 14, and calculate the average of those two numbers. (Remember to weigh yourself in the morning before you eat.)

If your weight went up more than three or four pounds from your starting average to your final average, you’ll know you’re eating slightly more than you need to eat.

If your weight stayed approximately the same, you’re eating the right amount.

If your weight went down by three or four pounds, you have room to add more food to your life.

This technique is very accurate for men, but women should allow themselves four pounds from their starting average because of the way their body water levels change throughout the course of a month.

This exercise works well for individuals who have lost considerable amounts of weight through fasting and who need to determine how much food they should be eating based on their new weight.

The Eat Stop Eat lifestyle allows you to truly take control of how you eat.

When you have gone without food for 24 hours a couple of times, you start to understand the real reasons behind why you eat, what you eat, and when you eat.

Sometimes hunger isn‘t what causes you to eat. The real culprits are usually habits and emotional connections.

Remember that, and you can create a big difference in the way you eat – all by making small changes.

Think about coffee for a moment.

When I first began fasting, I realized how much I loved coffee with cream and sugar. (I drink black coffee during my fasts, but I don’t like it!) When I began fasting, I also learned how much I craved coffee. I usually drank two or three cups per day.

I soon realized that this was a perfect opportunity to make small changes for big results.
In the beginning, I drank an extra large coffee with two creams and two sugars – which contains about 280 calories.

I slowly weaned myself down to a large coffee with one sugar and one cream – about 110 calories.

After about a week of drinking large coffees with one sugar and one cream, I began to realize that I wasn’t enjoying my coffee anymore – so I switched to two creams and one sugar – about 180 calories.

That did the trick.

Because of one small change, I was able to reduce my calorie intake by 100 calories, two or three times per day – saving myself between 1,400 to 2,100 calories per week without cutting out any of my favorite foods.

This, in my opinion, was much better than trying to stop drinking coffee all together. I enjoy my coffee, and cutting it out of my daily diet would have been punishment. Weight loss and healthy eating plans should never be about self-punishment.

Besides, I probably would have only lasted about three days without drinking any coffee at all, so it would have been a futile punishment as well.

Small changes bring big results.

We’ve probably all asked ourselves why we eat so much at one point in life.

After all, most of us don’t have the bodies we want to have because we eat too much.

Some answers to the question make it sound like it’s not our fault. We can blame it on hormones like ghrelin and adiponectin. Other answers, such as a complete lack of will-power, make it sound like it’s all our fault. And many other answers lie somewhere in between.

Here are five little-known reasons why you might be eating more than you need. Some of the answers are blunt, but they need to be considered.

1 . You are thirsty. Many times, thirst can be mistaken for hunger.

•    Quick fix – Drink some water. It can’t hurt.

2. You are covering for something. Be honest. We eat because we need the stimulation. A person who is about to go skydiving for the very first time won’t step off the plane and think, “Gee, I could really go for a muffin right now.” If you find that you constantly need to eat, it may be time to look at your life and ask yourself if you’re bored with your job, your relationship, or your friends. If you give yourself more stimulation, you might eat less.

•    Quick fix – When you eat, stop and ask yourself whether you’re hungry – or whether you’re just bored. If you consistently answer that you’re bored, find a different way to pass the time.

3. You are trying too hard to be healthy. In reality, if we ate all the foods we’re supposed to eat, we’d be overeating. Even if you’re following a low-calorie diet, the calorie count easily sneaks back up on you when you throw in some almond butter, goji juice, coconut oil, or an organic-fair trade-wheat grass shake.

•    Quick fix – Ignore “super foods.“ If you want to try a new food, replace an old one. Don’t just add it to your diet.

4. You are being mindless. Have you ever sat down in front of the TV with a full plate of food, and then, before you knew it, you reached for your plate, and it was empty? Chances are, you – not the cat – ate the food without even realizing it.

•    Quick fix – Don’t eat in front of the TV or computer.

5. You’re paying too much attention to your pre, during, and post workout nutrition. I know the theories and the “science” behind the claims that eating during, before, or right after your workout can be beneficial, but if your goal is to lose weight, those meals could be keeping you from reaching your goal.

•    Quick fix – Cut back on your “around workout” meals and see what happens.