So I started a nonprofit organization today. It's called: FATLOSS (Foundation for Altered Thinking on Lifestyle, Overweight & our Sedentary Status). I finally got fed up with hearing people talk about weight loss in a way that makes it all too clear that they don't know what they're talking about.

I've decided that "weight loss" or "losing weight" are dirty words. They just don't give the full picture of what becoming a healthy individual really means. WIll weight loss be a byproduct of becoming healthy? In most cases, yes, but when the focus is on weight loss, rather than attaining a healthy lifestyle, people are setting themselves up for failure.

Case in point 1: I was talking just yesterday to a woman who is genetically thin; however, her body fat percentage is surprisingly high. She is a "finny." A skinny person whose overall health is affected by the fact that she carries too high a percentage of fat. She may not need to lose weight, but she does need to concentrate on making life changes that will improve her overall health and decrease her body fat percentage.

Case in point 2: My mother was saying just this week how excited she was about her "no carb" diet, that she'd already lost 4 pounds, & that stuff like cake (we were both eating cake at the time) just didn't fit with this diet. I lost it. My own mother has no clue. First, there's no such thing as a no-carb diet. It's impossible. And Second, diets don't work. They may achieve results, but if they are set up in a way that isn't sustainable over the long term (i.e. they deny you the occasional slice of cake), the dieter is destined to fail in the end.

Case in point 3: I know lots of active, healthy people, who by the books would be considered "overweight," or even "obese." My dad, for instance. The man eats healthfully and rides his bike MILES upon MILES each week, but he is a big guy. I don't know what his body fat percentage is, but I feel confident that he would be considered "healthy." Weight just doesn't give the full picture.

So what does this have to do with my nonprofit? I want to promote healthy living rather than weight loss. I want to promote body fat testing rather than weighing. I want to stop hearing personal training clients who at one point in time couldn't even do a single sit-up, and can now do 20, complain about not losing the weight they wanted to lose. The weight will come off, but if that's all a person's concentrating on, they're missing the big picture.

Is there something that gets to you? Do you wish there was something about society that would change? Then it's time for you to do something about it! Go start your own organization or join someone else's. If we all strive to make a difference, perhaps things really will change.