Many of us Americans are impatient people. We decide we want something and that means we have to have it NOW. This explains the reason for the average credit card debt being close to $9000, people over-extending themselves to buy bigger and nicer cars than they can really afford, and so on. The same theory holds true for losing weight.

New Year's is just days away as I write this and people are going to be making their resolutions. Of course, the most popular one, year after year, is losing weight. People decide for whatever reason that they need to lose weight, usually for the sake of their looks and not to become more healthy. They expect to lose 20 pounds by February 1st because there are hundreds of products out there that say it is possible.

People spend millions of dollars a year on FAD diets. What is the hottest diet of the year, Adkins, South Beach? People join Jenny Craig or Weight Watchers and spend money on their food, because the programs only work with their food. How convenient! So, are they telling you that you will need to stay on their diets/programs for the rest of your life or you will get fat again?

I could fill this article with numerous statistics and facts to show you why it is important to lose weight. There is the ever popular heart disease, increased risk of cancer and many more. The problem is, people know why they should lose weight and don't need the stats to explain it. The most important thing they need to realize is, they need to do it for themselves.

We are put on this Earth with only two guarantees, 1)life, 2) death. While we are living we need to maximize what time we have. Our body is our biggest resource and our biggest tool in life. People take better care of their cars or furniture in their homes than they do their bodies. Cars and furniture can be replaced, a human life cannot be.

So now you have decided to take your health seriously. Which diet, out of the hundreds, do you chose? The answer is none of them. A healthy life is not about diets, it is about changing your lifestyle. It is about common sense. It is about putting down that bag of Doritos at 10 pm for that late night snack. It is about exercise. It is about the combination of a sensible diet and exercise. If you do change your lifestyle and eat better and smarter, along with some moderate exercise, you will lose weight and become healthier. And, you will do it cheaper than if you splurge on the latest FAD diet. If all these diets were so good, why don't they stick around long? The answer is, someone out there is trying to make some money off people by convincing them they have the cure for losing weight. They have the best diet, or some magical fat burning pill, or some belt that you wrap around you that burns fat. Don't waste your money on these schemes designed to make someone else rich. You will need your money for the new clothes you will have to buy when you lose weight.