The best way to loose weight is to focus on effective and natural weight loss through a reduction in calories and increase in physical activity. You would think that would immediately put all those specialist diet companies and the whole industry out of business but that is not the case as over a third of Americans are overweight. Of course, once you are overweight, you usually want to trim down for a whole lot of reasons, some related to health, others having to do with looks.

The hard thing for people to understand is it is easier to maintain your natural weight than loose extra pounds once you have put them on. This is something that all of us know deep down, that if we do not watch what we eat and how much we exercise, then we are doomed to an overweight future.

It has been shown that even when overweight people enjoy eating low calorie foods, the majority become bored and end up putting the weight back on because they slip back into previous ways. Natural weight loss is possible though and it can be done before you get stared at in the street or cause others problems because of your weight.

There is a large number of health conditions associated with weight gain and the greater the increase in body weight the more that problems occur. The annoying thing is this isn't rocket science, mankind hasn't always been this heavy and we certainly aren't born that way so it means we need to maintain a natural, healthy weight.

Maintaining a natural weight loss regime means sticking to low fat meals that are high in fiber and contain complex carbohydrates with a moderate amount of protein. You have probably had a meal like this in a restaurant; a baked or jacket potato with fresh vegetables and some meat, as lean as possible but it wouldn't have gravy or butter on the potato.

Dietitians also say that the body has a capacity to retain dietary fat more than calories for regular foods so weight gain is more likely. Another problem is the obsession with fat free or low fat foods that food manufactures are stacking the shelves with which despite their popularity are not stopping the problem of obesity.

What people fail to understand is that it isn't just fat in their food that is making them put on weight, it's the quantity of food they consume and the calorific content of it. Weight control methods ensure you avoid the fat-free products but suggest you eat healthy and nutritious snacks if you are hungry.

Schools of thought differ on this subject but many nutritionists agree that eating smaller meals with a snack every 3 to four hours or between meals could be beneficial providing main meals are not missed. This is a subject that will continue to be debated for some time but natural weight loss is possible and should not be looked upon as a lost cause.