Most of us, myself excluded, aspires to be thin especially so much so that they often adopt unhealthy practices which lead to bulimia or diabulimia. Here are some safe tips from FDA which doesn't involve consulting a doctor and can be done by you without external help.

Safe Dieting
Men and very active women may need up to 2,500 calories daily. Other women and inactive men need only about 2,000 calories daily. A safe plan is to eat 300 to 500 fewer calories a day to lose 1 to 2 pounds a week.

Moderate dieting such as suggested above can also protect you from yo-yo dieting. Yo-yo dieting or weight cycling is a repeated loss and gain of body weight due to excessive dieting which is bad for health.

Exercise 30 Minutes
Do at least 30 minutes of exercise, like brisk walking, most days of the week.

The idea is to use up more calories than you eat. You need to use up the day's calories and some of the calories stored in your body fat.

Eat Less Fat and Sugar
This will help you cut calories. Fried foods and fatty desserts can quickly use up a day's calories. And these foods may not provide the other nutrients you need.

Make sure your other foods that day are low in fat and calories.

Eat a Wide Variety Of Foods
Variety in the diet helps you get all the vitamins and other nutrients you need.

What FDA doesn't talk about is about increasing the metabolic rate to aid weight loss by strength training etc. because it isn't safe for everyone. Personally I am looking forward to starting my strength training regimen.