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An epidemic of obesity and its health related complications are sweeping America.

Unfortunately, one out of three of us are part of this plague, and the number appears to grow daily. Despite an abundance of diet books, diet plans, home exercise equipment, and dire warnings from the medical community, less than one percent of dieters achieve sustained weight loss and many fail to produce measurable results in health improvements. In fact, research suggests dieting may be part of the obesity problem, rather than the solution.

The root of the obesity problem lies in our eating habits. Simply put, we eat too much saturated fat and refined sugar, and too little fibermost of this brought on by spending over half of our food budget on fast food in the form of greasy burgers and fries, gulped down with syrup-laden sodas. Let me give you two weight loss tips right here: (1) Stop using the drive-thru. (2) Stop eating refined and sweetened foods.

On a personal level, has your diet succeeded in changing your eating habits? Chances are it has not. A diet plan may tell you what and how much to eat, but it cannot settle your bodys craving for food, nor can it change your eating habits.

According to the Surgeon General, obesity causes over 300,000 deaths per year and doubles your chances of becoming diabetic. Obesity also increases the probability of acquiring other health related issues, such as:

Heart disease

Breast cancer

Asthma

Sleep apnea

Arthritis

Pregnancy complications

Depression

The statistics are frightening. The problem is real. But, there is hope. While the national statistics of obesity and diabetes skyrocket, you can defy the numbers. As you journey with me, it is my hope you will find the inspiration to achieve success with your diet.

Diets are personal, and what works for one person may not work for another. Amidst the din of conflicting and often confusing information about dieting, you must choose the path that is right for you. Your diet should not be drudgery, but should be a joyful process of self-discovery and mastery over food addiction. Each successful day represents a triumph, and each triumph gives you more strength and resolve to persevere. As Thoreau once stated We are all sculptors and painters, and our material is our own flesh and blood and bones.

Now is the time for new beginnings. Become a successful dieter, today. The clock is ticking.

I would like to speak to you metaphorically for a moment by comparing my body and eating habits to a steamroller.

When it comes to eating Im just like one of those steamrollers you see flattening the pavement at a construction site. Once that thing gets rolling, it takes a lot of energy to stop it. Likewise, once I start eating, I tend to binge. Everything in my path gets flattenedthat is, eaten. Steamrolling my way though the refrigerator seemed fun at the time, but looking back, I realize it was a recipe for disaster.

For ten years I ignored the growing bulge around my waistline and laughed as my pants sizes, and clothing purchases escalated with a regularity that kept my local Wal-Mart clothing department gainfully employed. But like a balloon, you can only fill it up so far before she blows. I had to find a way to shut the steamroller down before it ran me over.

Carrying the steamroller analogy a bit further, I knew if I could steal the battery, or somehow disable the starting mechanism, I could make it through the day without bingeing or grossly violating the rules of my diet. What I learned was that the best way to disable the bingeing steamroller machine was to not allow it to get started. That is, I recognized I was unable to stop eating after I started, therefore, I resolved to not get started to begin with. Dieting for me required cold turkey cessation of the snacking routine. I now limit my eating to scheduled meal times. I now eat three meals and two snacks per day. Its not easy, and it takes desire, dedication, and determination to succeed.

You know that.

But what you may not realize is that the benefits of being physically fit make the pain, discomfort, and hassle of dieting worthwhile.

Ladies beware. I dont mean to frighten you, and it just doesnt seem fair, but obesity is a killer. Not only does it claim over 300,000 lives per year, it also significantly increases your chances of acquiring diabetes and/or breast cancer.

One day I stepped on the scale and nearly passed out when I read the numbers: 270. I shook my head in amazement and whispered to myself, Congratulations Mr. Taylor, you are obese. For the next 18 months following that momentous day, I dedicated myself to a diet of three meals and two small snacks per day, and found a way to get some exercise at least five days out of each week. It wasnt easy, and yes, there were both good and bad days. Following the bad days I reconfirmed my desire to continue with my diet and refused to quit. In hindsight, I can see that the refusal to quit was much more vital to my success than the actual diet plan.

There are dozens, perhaps hundreds of diet plans available on the market today. You may even be working on one prescribed by your physician. In my opinion, any sensible diet that does not demand extremes in food limits, such as starvation diets, and emphasizes a well-balanced approach to reducing calorie intake and increasing calorie consumption (via exercise) is workable. If you have a specific medical condition, such as hyperthyroidism or diabetes, than of course you need to be working under a doctors diet, specifically designed for you and your condition.

The important thing, I believe, is for you to find a diet you are comfortable with, and that you can sustain as a way of life. Jumping from one diet to the next may be good for the booksellers and packaged food diet plans, but it is rarely effective in helping you to actually lose weight.

Here is the skinny on my weight loss, which you may or may not like to hear. Short of a specific medical condition, as I mentioned earlier, weight loss is a function of expending more calories than you consume. You can do this in any one of three ways:

1.Increase the amount of calories your body burns through regular exercise.

2.Decrease the amount of calories you eat.

3.Attack weight loss by both eating less and exercising more.

Every thing else you read or hear about dieting is a variation or elaboration of these three key points.

Additionally, I learned that successful dieters are patient dieters. It took ten years of binge eating and neglect for me to accumulate over 90 pounds in excess weight. But when I started my diet, I wanted the fat off immediatelythat Thursday would have been fine. Sadly, it didnt happen as I planned. It took 18 months of consistent, deliberate work. On a positive note, however, I felt the difference in my energy level and self-esteem within one week of diligently adhering to my diet. And as you will learn, its these small rewards of confidence and new energy that you will begin to feed on as you adapt to a new lifestyle.

There was no magical pill, ointment, food product, or ingenious piece of home exercise equipment that helped me along. In fact, I would still like my $39 back for that abdominal workout gizmo that tightened my love handles, but did not help me to lose a single pound. Make patience the first ingredient in your successful diet recipe book, and forget the gimmicks.

Ron Taylor hosts The Hersh Directory, Your Gateway To A Wealth Of Internet Resources. You can review his various articles and diet plans at: http://www.wealthsearch.org/page2.html

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