If people are looking for alternative approaches to weight loss, I would consider simply buying a blood glucose monitor. They cost about $100 on Amazon or less and test strips less than $0.50.

The thing that makes it alternative is that it sets you up to be reactive rather than prescriptive. A lot of people end up rebelling against prescriptive rules for eating and then fall off the wagon in frustration.

The Blood Glucose monitoring approach is to see what spikes your blood sugar on the idea that higher levels are more likely to lead to reduced insulin sensitivity which often leads to more of the calories you eat being stored as fat. I just take the measurement first thing in the morning.

I find that how I eat shows up in my morning BGL and so I can be a little bit more reactive. If the level is high, then I need to pull harder on some of the levers that day.

This way of thinking also sets you up to have a better personal sense of what levers matter. For me, pasta is much worse than chocolate chips. What really flips my levels though is two high carb meals in the same day.