If you are like most Americans, chances are you have tried at least a couple diets that were supposed to help you lose weight. And you may have found one or two that did help you lose the weight fairly quickly only to find the weight come back on after you returned to your normal eating habits.

Obesity is a problem nowadays. But it doesn't really have to be. There are some simple changes that you can do in your diet that will help you not only lose the weight fairly quickly but also keep it off. I have thought about selling this information but it is so dead simple that I would feel like I was robbing someone by taking their money.

This hub details a simple diet plan that will work for just about anyone who is ready to make a lifestyle change and get back their figure that they had in high school. Plus, the bigger payoff is the energy that you will have as well you will be staving off a lot of future diseases by following it.

Are you ready?

People absolutely amaze me. They want some sort of quick fix to their weight problems and are willing to try virtually anything for it to work. Hence, why we have grapefruit diets, soup diets, cereal diets, low-carb diets, no-carb diets....you get the picture. However, the one thing that they don't understand is that if you eat sensibly...ie. high fiber, low calorie foods...and avoid the foods that are known to be bad...ie, high calorie, low fiber foods...then chances are they will lose weight.

Part one of this diet....and the most important part of this is to go organic. If you can't do anything else, I strongly suggest that you in the very least limit your animal protein to organic meat. Before you write me off as some super health nut freak (which I am, by the way...but for a reason), let me explain myself....

Animal protein is not a bad thing. I am not a vegetarian and eat meat. However, there is tons of research out there that would absolutely amaze you in terms of the food we are feeding our food.

For instance, in most cases, the American Beef and Poultry Associations are nothing more than assembly lines and the hormones and steroids that they feed our food is designed for profit potential with little regard to either the life that they are taking nor the consumer really in mind.

And because of this, whatever our food is eating eventually means we will be eating it as well. The sheer amounts of chemicals and antibiotics that go into commercial livestock is very troubling and a part of the reason why I think that we, as Americans are fat.

Now one of the most common responses to me when I suggest an organic diet is the cost of buying organic food versus the regular food you would find in the grocery store. The health benefits of going organic simply outweigh the cost associated with them.

For example....

• Did you know that some farm raised fish are genetically altered to be transgendered, and are loaded full of hormones and antibiotics as well as toxic dioxins that were banned nearly three decades ago?
  
• A grass fed cow contains far more nutrients vital to your body than a grain fed cow....additionally, a grass fed, free range cow is less likely to carry e.coli bacteria than a grain fed cow.
  
• Chickens are often fed arsenic to help kill parasites and bacteria....5 Years ago, children as young as 8 were developing pubic hair and breasts in Brazil- the hormones added to chicken was believed to be the culprit.
  

The second part of this diet will be a bit harder than simply incorporating organic meats, fruits and vegetables into your diet. Most of our diet these days consist of refined sugar, refined flour, chemicals to enhance flavor and make food look better and preservatives (to extend the lifespan of the food), In addition to this, we have injected vitamins, minerals and other things into our food (like Total cereal) which otherwise wouldn't be there.

Your body has to process this and because it has to process chemicals and other things that we wouldn't eat in its natural state, it puts more of a workload on the liver and kidneys than it would normally.

For example:

• Sulfur is added to dried fruit to keep it fresh and soft....
• Formaldehyde is added as a disinfectant to frozen vegetables...
• Sodium Nitrates are added to lunchmeats which may have a link to stomach cancer.
• Artificial Sweeteners (which I will discuss in a second)...

Become a ingredient label reader.  If you see dye's, long chain chemical names or anything that you have no idea what it is, then don't buy it.  If a food has an additive in it, healthy or not, don't eat it.  Processed foods are almost impossible to avoid but should be limited in your diet.

The majority of the time, I eat organic meats and lightly steamed organic vegetables.  It is a simple diet but it works well for me and as a result, I tend to stay fit and trim.

Oh man, now this is the final step and will probably be the hardest for anyone who wants to follow this diet word for word.  The problem with sugar is that there are simply way too many names for it.  Sugar suppresses the immune system, adds empty calories to our diet and is pretty much good for nothing from a nutritional standpoint.  It is the cause of a variety of common diseases today and is linked to everything from diabetes to gout to cancer.

Artificial sweetners like splenda, equal and sweet and low are just as bad if not worse as our bodies aren't designed to process the chemicals in them.

Refined breads are pretty much the same thing.  While many people will argue that breads and otehr refined flour products have been a staple for most of world, understand that in the grand scope of things, we, as human population, haven't been eating bread since the dawn of time.  The fiber you get in breads such as wheat bread is good, it doesn't have the same punching power that you could get in fresh vegatables, nutrient wise (and most vegatables have more fiber in them anyway.

I do eat sweets from time to time.  However, I try to keep my sweets natural, like things made with raw honey or high grade dark chocolate.

While chances are you are looking at this diet plan and thinking that this is not a rationale diet if you are a busy American, I will tell you this.  The reason you are fat or overweight and have health issues that involve diseases and ailments that are just now becoming common is because of the food you are eating.

The food industry, like all industries, are not here because they are concerned with your health...they are here to make as much money as they can.  If this means adding additives and preservatives to your food in order to cut costs, incorporating arsenic into a chicken's diet or feeding hormones to fish to cut down the time it takes to reach maturity, they will do so.

If you can't do anything else, change your diet to eating organic meats.  You will be cutting a lot of added toxins out of your body which in turn will not overload or stress your liver and kidneys.

Will you lose weight on this plan?

You betcha.  When I started this diet 4 years ago, I was roughly 20 pounds overweight.  For the first 2 weeks, I lost an average of 5 pounds per week.  I dropped the other 10 pounds within the month.  If you are grossly overweight, expect a bigger drop daily.

The main benefit of this diet plan is that it incorporates a healthy lifestyle into the plan.  Sure, you are restricting foods but you aren't restricting the good foods. 

Think about it.