Shopping with a list and shopping after a meal are two commonly employed behavioral weight loss guidelines designed to reduce food purchases and therefore food consumption. A survey of 596 female shoppers, which analyzed purchases on the basis of caloric value, failed to support either of these guidelines. Analysis of kilocalories (kcal) purchased indicated that overweight shoppers purchased more total kcal, with a greater percentage of their kcal coming from fat and correspondingly lower percentage of kcal coming from carbohydrates.