Many companies and individuals want you to believe that natural weight loss is difficult to achieve but it’s just a case of not eating as much, and having enough regular exercise; however, most ignore this recommendation. You would think this simple set of instructions should be easy to follow; however, currently 35 percent of Americans are unable to prevent being overweight! There are many reasons why you would want to lose weight once you have put it on, but what reason is strong enough to actually encourage you to do it, good health or looks?

But the fact is it is a whole lot easier to prevent putting on pounds than to try losing them later on. Subconsciously we all know that if we do not maintain a healthy food program for ourselves, we will start to add extra pounds.

Apparently even if you have lost weight with a calorie controlled diet, it doesn’t take long if you come off it to revert to your old ways and you can start watching the pounds go back on again. 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.

The problem is that weight gain puts a strain on the body’s ability to fight illness and many of today’s health issues are primarily affecting overweight individuals. 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.

A reasonable approach to natural weight loss is to stick to a diet that is high in complex carbohydrates and fiber, moderate in protein, and low in fat. A meal such as this would be something like a baked potato (complex carbohydrate), the fiber is vegetables and protein is a lean cut of meat.

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. Manufacturers have realized that there is a huge market for low-fat or even fat-free products but the propensity and popularity of these foods are not lowering the average weight of the nation.

One of the greatest delusions of the 1990s was that no fat meant non-fattening but the truth is you are often getting just as many calories from these foods; the calories are just not coming from fat. The term fat-free can be a trap if you start to believe that you can eat any amount of fat-free food when it is far better to respond to hunger with healthy snacks.

The subject of when to eat and how often can be contentious but the latest thoughts on the subject suggest that keeping to regular meal times and eating small nutritious snacks between meals may be the answer. Natural weight loss and body maintenance is a way of living, something we all did rather successfully not that long ago; it is not a craze that can be forgotten about when the next one comes along.