There’s an old saying: “The simplest solutions are often the best solutions.” This is very true when it comes to diet and exercise.

There is a multi-billion dollar industry around diet and nutrition because most people get it so wrong and look for an easy way to lose weight. They will gladly pay good money for solutions that are only mildly successful, at best. There are patches, powders, pills, shakes, microwaveable meals, mail-order meal programs, and other products all sold with the promise of improving your health and assisting with weight loss. Unfortunately, these are all largely for-profit schemes to make people money. Surgery? Not needed. Even for the most obese, the simplest solution would work as well, but it takes a lot of discipline and perseverance. How can I say with such certainty? Because I was morbidly obese as a 5’7” man of 48 who weighed over 312 lbs. 12 months later, I weighed 202 lbs (that’s a 110 lb loss), and nearly 20 months later, I weigh 165 lbs. My lowest weight at one point within the past month was 161.8 lbs. How did I do it? With the simple solution: diet.

I’m not talking about a low-calorie or low-fat diet, either. I’m not talking WeightWatchers or any other commercial diet plan. What I did was a Whole30 followed by adopting The Paleo Diet. These are both free, and although you can buy books about them, it’s not necessary. Whole30, Paleo, and Keto are all free and science-based diets that have demonstrated ability to help people get healthy and lose weight. The best part: you don’t need to pay anything to anyone to do it.

The basics: eat meat and vegetables and avoid pre-processed foods, food with added sugar, anything with grains, soy, or dairy. It’s simple.

I didn’t say it was easy, because for the majority of us, the sugar addiction we have and are likely unaware of is very hard to kick. Physically, getting away from sugar manifests withdrawal symptoms similar to any drug withdrawal. It’s hard to get past, and many fail in the beginning because of the flu-like symptoms. These typically last less than a week, though, and once past them, people report an increase in energy levels and a much clearer head, free of cravings and non-stop hunger.

If someone has to explain to you why their product is needed, to give you reasons why their product is necessary for you to get healthy or to lose weight, they fail the simple test. If they try to tell you that their product will do what other products can’t do, they are again failing the simple test. If they promise results that require the use of their product, they fail the simple test.

Eat meat and vegetables. Cut the sugar, grains, soy, and dairy. Simple.