Growing up, any time I left food on my plate, I was reminded of times of depression and war, when food was scarce and I would have considered myself lucky to eat the crust off a piece of bread. Well, times have changed. Even with the economy down, most of us are spoiled, with access to unlimited food at our fingertips. No wonder people were slimmer back then!

I guess it's only natural, then, that someone would come up with a diet based on the principals of rationing and poverty. The Ration Book Diet has a few simple principals:

• Eat things that would have been available in early in the century -- fresh, unprocessed foods like fruits, veggies and whole grains, as opposed to junk food and convenience items.
  
• Limit 'rationed' foods, like meat, sugar, butter and cheese.
  
• Cut down on car use too -- gasoline was rationed as well. Doing so will benefit the environment, not to mention your waistline.
  
• Cut down on waste. Find ways to use extra food in other meals. For example, if your fruit starts to turn? Use it in baking.
• Click here for more rationing tips.
  
  

Makes sense -- what do you think?