42 ways to combat obesity (some more feasible than others)

1. Quit pretending that food is the culprit. That's like saying women are the cause of population overgrowth. 

2. Recognize that eating the food is the problem. 

3. Eat less food and drink less alcohol.

4. Now that trans-fat is passé, don't worry about what kind of fat you eat. There are nine calories of fat in every gram, no matter what kind of fat (oil, butter, lard, etc.) When it comes to obesity, it's the quantity of fat, not the type of fat. A dozen cookies made with oil have just as many calories as a dozen cookies made with butter; they just don't taste quite as good. Have one cookie instead of six, and do it only every few days. Too harsh? 

5. Stop thinking that fast food restaurants are the problem. They are just trying to make a gazillion-dollar living. 

6. Recognize that all fast food restaurants basically serve junk food because that's what people like. 

7. Don't eat fast food or junk food. 

8. Do you even know what junk food is? It’s more than candy. Anything processed (now called ultra-processed), almost all packaged food, anything from a convenience store or fast food restaurant, single portion items, all sweet drinks, all candy, gum, and most anything from a vending machine (ah, the old days when one could buy an apple from a vending machine!). 

9. Set a good example for your children: don't turn your home into a warehouse of junk food. 

10. Eliminate all sugar drinks, including fruit juices. Drink water or milk instead. Skim milk is best—good protein, no fat. At least limit soda pop to one per week (No, I'm not kidding). I suppose diet pop is ok. 

11. Teach the kids early so they can carry on healthy practices. Parents dropped the ball a long time ago when it came to nutrition, and society has written parents off as solutions to the problem. 

12. Institute weight limits for people, not luggage, on air planes. Or charge by the pound.

13. Be creative: eat rice, and with the leftovers, make rice pudding. Milk, cinnamon, raisins, sugar, vanilla, some cardamom if you have it, and cook until soft. Good with cream and a splash of brandy, but we're getting off track here. 

14. Exercise all the time. 

15. Sleep with fewer blankets: lose weight through shivering. 

16. Choose your parents. 

17. Quit eating between meals. 

18. Eliminate entire meals occasionally. 

19. If you do eat between meals, make it an apple, carrot, or some nuts. 

20. On the other hand, consider a candy bar as your entire lunch now and then. It satisfies the junk food thing without the other calories. 

21. Eat lentils. Cook them in water or chicken broth. Enhance them with some bacon, or butter, or sautéed onions and carrots. Cheap. Healthy. A little salt and pepper.

22. Eat a plum or apricot and keep the pit in your mouth like a hard candy for an hour or two. 

23. Learn to make everything from scratch. One time I asked some visiting children if they would like waffles for breakfast, they were dumbfounded, saying "but we don't have any!" They only knew ultra-processed packaged waffles. I was talking about waffles from flour, baking powder, soda, eggs, salt, milk, and cooking oil, or something thereabouts. 

24. Become French. They're all skinny. Or maybe they just don’t like junk food. 

25. Create a new industry: the household food consultant. North America needs you! 

26. Then sell the company to an international food chain for millions of dollars. They will take it worldwide the way the tobacco industry ostensibly teaches about the bad effects of smoking. 

27. Quit thinking that someone else is going to change your eating habits for you. It's you and your own family who must kick-start this effort and keep it going. 

28. Don't cater to the kids. They only want sweets. Or they call themselves vegetarians but don't eat much other than noodles and junk food. If they are hungry enough though, they'll eat healthy food and over time learn to like it. You will too. 

29. Be a concerned, knowledgeable parent, in charge of what food gets served in your home to your younger kids. The older kids, about 12 and up, are already lost causes. 

30. Make lunches for your kids to take to school. They won't eat them but in time they'll remember your good example when they try it on their own kids. 

31. Make your spouse a lunch to take to work. He/she won't eat it either but it may lead to fewer double martini lunches followed by sex. 

32. Eat with someone when you can. You might eat less if someone's watching. 

33. Eliminate desserts entirely until you have lost the weight you want, and then minimize them indefinitely forever. 

34. Breast feed your baby. 

35. Quit going to fast food restaurants entirely. Eat at home. 

36. Quit watching television altogether. Except for the World Series. 

37. Ban all food advertising, except public service educational ads. 

38. Always do the right thing if you know what it is. 

39. Don't eat low-fat versions of any processed food—they just double the sugar content to disguise the lower fat content. 

40. Learn about food. There's healthy cheap food out there: fresh produce and grains—they're inexpensive and healthy: rice, barley, carrots, cabbage, sweet potatoes. For protein: ground beef, nuts, dried beans. Eggs! 

41. Buy fresh, buy small. 

42. _________________ (for you to add one).