Through trial and error I have found that if I want to lose weight I have to have AT LEAST 1,000 calories a day. Why isn't this ever mentioned any where? You hear a lot about cutting your caloric intake, what not to eat, some pretty weird stuff to eat but not that you can simply eat reasonably and lose weight! I have simply increased the volume of food (reasonbly well balanced) kept the calories to under 1,200 a day and I've lost over 30 pounds. This has taken several months but I'm not on a diet, just using common sense. When I reach my goal weight I will simply increase the calories to what it takes to maintain that weight. I'm almost there, another 8 or 9 pounds. BTW, exercise has played no part in this as I have some medical problems that prevent that. I simply stay as active as I can.