The Journal of the "American Medical Association" states that over 324,000 people a year die from illnesses directly caused or worsened by obesity.

According to the "Journal of Health Affairs", being obese increases health care costs by 36% and increases medication costs 77%.

The Centers for Disease Control states that obesity is linked to: some forms of cancer, type II diabetes, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, coronary heart disease, congestive heart failure, sleep apnea, gout, osteoarthritis, gallstones, strokes, infertility, complications of pregnancy, and depression.

According to the U.S. Surgeon General, obesity will soon take over as the #1 cause of preventable deaths behind tobacco use.

So, how do you get the weight off and keep it off?

Almost all nutritional experts agree that the fad diets do not work. Yes, you may lose a large amount of weight, but you will not keep it off. The problem, especially in the United States is that we are a "I want it Now" society. People want to lose weight that it took them years to put on in a matter of weeks.

When you see the advertisements in the supermarket magazines such as "I lost 20 lbs in one week you must realize that this is physically impossible without cutting off a limb!

Figure on an average weight loss of three pounds, anymore than that is exceptional.

You must be on a balanced nutritional program that you will be able to maintain after losing the weight and the biggest secret which is hard for people to realize is that you need to eat less portions, but more often. The optimum is to eat every 3 hours.

While it is possible to lose a good bit of weight with just proper nutrition you will realize better results by adding exercise to your program. It only makes sense, the more calories you burn the more fat you will lose.