The number of dieters who gain back their weight loss within 5 years can be up to 97% a U.S. government report revealed in 2005. Yet the estimated spend on diet related products for 2008 is $50 billion in the USA alone ! So how can such a massive industry be so unsuccessful in their aims ? Unless of course you were a cynic. A cynic would think that the true aim of the diet industry is not to help you to lose weight, but rather to keep selling you the latest fad diet pill, potion or book. The internet has over a billion pages/sites devoted to weight loss as well as thousands of companies promoting diets, exotic teas, plant extracts, pills, potions, books and a myriad of other fad diets. The simple truth is that none of us wants to be "on a diet". Eating is an enjoyable part of life and the thought of sitting eating a diet bar whilst the rest of your family and friends are tucking in to a barbeque and ice cream etc is just plain cruel.

The simple math behind losing weight is that to lose 1lb in weight we need to reduce our calorie intake by 3500 per week. Oh dear, that is an horrendous statistic. However, there is no need to panic. 3500 calories per week is equal to 500 calories per day. That figure seems a bit more manageable. A brisk walk for 30 to 40 minutes burns approximately 220 calories. Drinking 8 glasses of ICED water per day (not diet drinks), burns up to 200 calories per day. whoa, now we only need to cut out 80 calories per day (approximately 1 slice of white bread) and we will lose 50lbs in weight over the period of a year. In doing so we haven't spent a dime on diets, exotic foods, gyms. Nothing. Nada. So whats your problem guys ?

The problems as I see it are 2 fold.

Firstly, we all want want instant results. We want to lose weight NOW. The targets we set are so high and so unrealistic that our chances of success are slim - the only thing that is at the moment ! - and our chances of maintaining the weight loss in the long run are less than 4% !

Secondly, the foods that we are expected to eat whilst we are on a diet are so far removed from what we normally eat, there is no way that we can keep eating it in the long run. We have been eating our normal diet for so many years that our eating habits have become entrenched. So what is the solution I hear you ask........

If you want to lose weight, you need a plan. You need to be realistic in your goals. Most importantly you need to WRITE IT DOWN

If you set a target of "I want to lose 20lbs this week", your chances of success are miniscule and the chances of damaging your health are high. Also, you need to break down your overall goal. "I want to lose 20 lbs by christmas" into more manageable, weekly targets. For example, this week I want to lose 2lbs in weight. I will do this by cutting out cakes and biscuits, and i willl go for a 45 minute walk everyday. Remember the math ? To lose 1lb in weight requires you to eat less or burn up more than 3500 calories per week.

I have from time to time done a fad diet to kick start a weight loss programme. In my case I want to lose a lot of weight in the 1st few weeks whilst I am highly motivated. This works for me, but each individual is different and the usual disclaimer of check with your Dr first is especially true if you are trying to lose a lot of weight in a short space of time. I then have a week of taking things a little easier on myself. I recently lost 18lbs over a 5 week period. It was not too difficult, but I was motivated and I had a 2 step plan.

Step 1, to "kick start" my weight loss I spent a few $'s on an e-book that helped, fatloss4idiots. I aren't going to pitch it other than that, It works and it wasn't so hard to do. If you want to lose weight relatively quickly then this is the least painful diet I have found. If you like the look of it, give it a try (if you order via this article there is currently a 50% discount offer). If you don't, just keep reading I have some free tips below that are working for me. Having said all that, after 5 weeks I grew bored. lets face it none of us wants to be on a diet for the rest of our lives.

After my initial success at losing weight quickly I moved on to step 2. By this time I was feeling great, lets face it to lose a stone and a half in just over a month works wonders for your self-confidence, but I needed to make sure that I didn't do the normal thing of putting it all back on over the following few months. Since then I have been losing weight at the more realistic rate of 1 to 2lb per week. In total it took me 3 months to achieve my overall target.

From the initial stages with the fatloss4idiots program to step 2 I was slowly but surely changing the products that we were buying in the weekly shop. A few less ready meals, biscuits,cakes, sweets, crisps etc. More, fruit, fresh vegetables, bottled water etc. I initiated a "no junk during the week" rule- the kids loved it (NOT) ! Lots of my friends started to ask how I had managed to lose weight and more importantly keep it off, so I started to do a web page (which just keeps growing and growing) ! If you have a look at the following page http://www.wanttoloseweightnow.com/20-tips-to-lose-weight.html it goes into far greater detail as to how I achieved the results that I wanted, with just a few tweaks to our old dietary habits. Apart from the $39 cost of the fatloss4idiots book, I have spent nothing. No fancy foods, pills, potions, supplements. Nada. As I said at the beginning of this article, the diet industry is seen by many as only being interested in your wallet. You do not need to spend money to lose weight, you just need to make a few changes to your lifestyle. A little less junk food and a little more exercise goes a long way to the fitter, healthier you. Good luck with it.