Let's face it - we're F-A-T. As a society we've ballooned into the the largest in the world. With our instant gratification lifestyles, losing weight can seem impossible. But, there are ways to lose the weight without killing yourself or suffering from all those withdrawals symptoms that keep popping up to cause failure.

First, remember to BE PATIENT...I know you want to wake up tomorrow and be thin and tone - but let's get real - that's just not going to happen. However, you can wake up tomorrow with a new attitude and a new goal for your health and your weight loss.

The first thing you should do is GET ACTIVE. I don't mean you have to go out and run a mile every day - but you do have to get moving. Park farther away at the mall, walk the neighborhood after dinner, find creative ways to add a little more activity to your day. Find something you enjoy and try to keep at it for a half hour a day at least five days a week.

Make small dietary changes. Place healthy snacks in clear containers at eye level. Make healthy snacks more accessible and keep your junk out of reach. You should think about slowly eliminating the "junk" from your diet - but don't try to go cold turkey. Instead, reduce your calories by only 200 a day...that's just half a piece of cake. If you can't manage 200 a day, try every other day.

Design a step down routine that suites your lifestyle - You should increase your activity weekly, decrease your calories, and add healthy alternatives as often as possible until you've reached the calorie intake that will maintain your ideal weight. Once you've reached that percentage of daily calories, all you'll have to do is maintain until you're at your goal weight. You can find calorie calculators at countless online sources that will tell you how many calories you should be consuming at any given goal weight.

You won't get thin over night but you won't run the risk of gaining back everything you've lost. You won't suffer from withdrawals or binges because you won't be triggering your body's mechanism that makes you feel deprived. Not only that, your skin will have time to catch up and you wont have that "doughy" look.

Remember, be patient, be proud of your accomplishments, and be healthy.