Are they for real? Are they "real" people who have "real" results in weight loss? You just wonder. Well, to give them the benefit of the doubt, they may be real, but they are few and far in between. In the real world, unfortunately, there are millions who have fallen victims in the battle of the bulge. Not only are they frustrated in their futile attempts to lose weight, but they are also much worse off than they were when they began the process of weight loss.

Indeed, to lose weight is frustrating and futile. Seeing others' success and witnessing your own miserable failure is a devastating experience.

The problem of weight loss may look complex, but it is simple in reality. Your ancestors did not have a problem with losing weight. However, the problem may look complex nowadays because it has become insurmountable. Indeed, weight loss is difficult and almost impossible to many. As such, there are myriads of approaches to the problem of losing weight, resulting in an array of programs purported to solve this seemingly-insolvable complex problem of contemporary society.

In spite of medical advancement, man has yet to come up with a pill that can eradicate all weight problems. But we are getting very close to that: medical science has enabled us to do almost anything with our body system, such as stopping food cravings, eliminating excess fat, changing body metabolism, and decreasing appetite. To date, it has not come up with something that will guarantee weight loss permanently.

On the market there are innumerable programs telling you to eat less or not at all (fasting), to cut calories, to consume more or less fat, to exercise vigorously, to use food combination, such as protein and carbohydrate, among others. To name a few, you have the Atkins, the South Beach, the Weight Watchers, and even Cabbage Soup, Peanut Butter, and Ice Cream diets. The consumer is at a loss as to what to do with their weight problems. Some decide to give up totally, ignoring their weight problems, and continue with their current lifestyles and eating habits, while others pursue these programs diligently. Unfortunately, they all end up with more or less the same result: ultimate weight gain.

So, what is the problem with weight loss?

The problem is that we all want a "quick fix" to the problem of weight gain and weight loss. Worse, we want it right away. You could have a Botox injection a few hours before you go to a social occasion, and you would look gorgeous. But you may have difficulty in losing your extra pounds and fitting yourself into the dress you wish to wear on a special occasion, such as a wedding, a few months down the road.

The problem with all these fad diets and gimmicks of eating is that they only address the symptoms and not the causes. Most of them promote weight loss through loss of water from the body, while the body fat remains. So, once you resume "normal" eating, you are back to square one - at an unhealthy weight.

The problem with most dieting is that it targets only the physical side of eating.

But weight loss involves more than the physical body: the mental, the intellectual, the emotional, and the spiritual aspects of the self have to be taken into consideration. Weight loss is not just about your body: it is all about YOU - a unique individual. How eating affects the mind, the emotions, the thinking, and the attitudes to living may vary in different individuals. And that explains why some come out triumphant in the struggle against weight problems, while others emerge totally frustrated and disappointed.

Copyright (c) 2009 Stephen Lau