1. Losing weight should be part of a program to improve your general health. Don't be willing to do anything to lose weight that is not also health-supporting. High protein diets, diet drugs, caffeine, and stimulating herbs like ephedra, do not belong in a healthy weight loss program.

2. It is more important to place restrictions on what you eat than on how much. It is natural and normal to eat until you feel satisfied, and that is true even when you are trying to lose weight. The foods that you can most safely eat (and still lose weight) are juicy fruits and melons, succulent greens and salad vegetables, steamed green and yellow vegetables, and natural unrefined starches such as yams, squashes, and brown rice. Beans, too, belong in a weight-loss diet. Properly prepared, beans are not fattening. Plan a diet around these foods, and you do not have to restrict yourself to meager portions. Oil-rich foods, such as nuts and avocadoes, can also be eaten, but in restricted amounts.

3. Avoid unhealthy fats such as butter, margarine, mayonnaise, and most oils. Extra virgin olive oil can be used, but very carefully. Remember that one ounce of oil (about a tablespoon) contains over 250 calories, regardless of what kind of oil it is. 

4. Minimize animal products as much as possible, and that includes meats, dairy, fish, and eggs. Occasional exceptions are permissable, but don't be lured into thinking that loading up on animal foods is good for you. A healthy diet is plant-based.

5. Avoid refined carbohydrates, such as white sugar and white flour.  Even whole grain flour products should be avoided by those trying to lose weight. However, whole uncut grains, such as brown rice, can be eaten even if you are overweight. Nobody ever got fat from eating brown rice.

6. Eat a generous amount of raw food every day. Start the day with some fresh fruits or melons and then have at least one large raw vegetable salad every day. Raw nuts should also be included in the raw portion of your diet. However, the notion that you have to eat everything raw is extreme and unnecessary. Research has shown that some vegetables are more beneficial and more nutritious cooked than raw.

7. Exercise! But you do not have to split a gut. In fact, if you exercise too hard you will just burn glucose and not fat. Fat-burning enzymes work best when you workout at a steady, moderate pace. And, nothing beats walking. Set your body in motion by walking at a brisk but comfortable pace and keep it going. You do not have to run. If you are overweight, it is likely that you will hurt yourself if you run, so be content to walk. Bicycling and swimming are also excellent, but nothing beats walking.

8. Fasting is not a panacea for weight loss, and by itself it will not solve the problem of obesity. However, it can be an useful and effective tool. Fasting is not the whole solution but it can be part of the solution. Fasting gives a person momentum. It is very satisfying to see the pounds melt away quickly during the early days of a fast. But more important than that, fasting puts distance between you and your bad habits. Sometimes it is better to STOP everything for a while before you try to get it right. That break from eating during the fast makes a fresh start possible.  

By sharpening your sense of taste (as it does), fasting makes the transition to healthful eating easier. There is nothing like a few days of fasting to remind you of how good food tastes, including fresh fruits and vegetables and other natural foods.  

Fasting shrinks your stomach (not to an abnormal degree, just back to its normal size) so that you tend to be satisfied with less food after fasting. You will feel full quicker.

Fasting has been part of the solution for many overweight people, including me. I weighed 170 pounds in college, and my nickname was "Pudgy". Today, I weigh 132 pounds.