If you are fat, seriously overweight or obese, do you know why? There are a variety of reasons like the portion size of food, size of your plate and mixture of food you are served. A healthy weight loss plan and advice from a health professional can help with your problem.

The obesity epidemic would be over if we only ate when we were hungry and stopped eating when we were full. That is common sense and the way society ate until we got off track and lost our way. Now we eat chemical laden, processed foods that are really not food at all.

How did you become overweight or obese?

You gained all of your extra weight and became obese when you made a habit of consuming more calories than you could burn off. You did not know if you were eating to live or living to eat.

You became fat because you diet was mainly processed foods and exercise for you was taking a break from watching TV to walk to the bathroom. There are more reasons for why you became fat or seriously overweight.

However, there are other factors that may include:

- The ability of your body to metabolize food diminishes and your body does not need as many calories to maintain your weight. That

- If you are a woman, you tend to be more overweight than a man because men burn more energy at rest than women.

- The factor of genetics; studies show that obesity tends to run in families.

- There are also psychological factors that contribute to your eating habits leading to obesity. Many people eat even when they are not hungry because of boredom, sadness or anger.

Illness can cause obesity as well; thyroid problems that slow down metabolism and depression. Some drugs such as steroids and antidepressants can cause unwanted weight gain.

You may become overweight because of overeating as well. Once you become aware of the causes of your overeating, you can fix it by resisting the temptations.

Avoid bringing tempting snacks into your home and place them on the table or in the refrigerator. Out of sight, out of mind is the rationale here. A great idea is to replace tempting processed food snacks in the fridge to fresh fruits and vegetables. That way, when you are tempted to snack, you will have nutritional snack foods as the first thing you see when opening the fridge door.

Also, eat slowly, chew your food well and do not hold your fork or spoon in your hand while chewing. Take your time, savor the food and enjoy. You will feel better for it and satisfy your healthy weight loss goal at the same time.

Promoting your Health and Wellness Experience goes far beyond the single issue of Weight Loss. For education, nutritional and life support information, check out our web sites for more detailed information.