I know for a fact that at some point you have been on a diet. I also know that you at some point ended that diet. Any reference to dieting brings up awful memories of failed attempts and misguided attempts at weight loss.

Why I ask? Why? The truth is, dieting is not a longterm approach. They are all short-term, which ultimately leads to no results.

If you think about it, in order for someone to gain weight, you have to live a lifestyle that caters to gaining weight - whether that be from excessive eating or lack of physical activity. The weight doesn't just jump onto you overnight. It may take years of poor habits to get to your current level.

If it took 5-10 years to pile on all that weight, it won't just fall off in a single week or even 12 weeks for some. There lies the answer, if it took a certain lifestyle to gain weight, it's going to take a different lifestyle to take it off. It's a change in lifestyle, not a quick fix diet. Being in shape should be the result of how you live every day.

If you fix the habits or actions that have caused the weight gain, you can cause the weight to come off automatically. Cleaning up some daily habits will often do the trick. For example if you drink 1 can of soda every day with your lunch - exchange that for water. Just that one simple change added up over 1 year will result in a 16 pound difference. Add 30 minutes of physical activity 3-4 times a week and there's at least another 12 pounds each year.

Maybe it's the glazed donut at work 3 times a week - 12 months later there's another 11 pounds. These are simple conscious actions that you take throughout each day to make a difference in the long term. A great habit is to just drink water all day long - not only will you get the benefit of hydration you'll also skip the extra calories from soda, fruit juices and coffee mocha delights.

How about switching to skim milk instead of 2%, while that may not be for everyone, it's just an idea of how simple taking away a few calories here and there can be. Take 1 year, and week by week, improve upon your current habits with nutrition or physical activity. By the end of the year you will have seen significant results, all from those very slight changes. Losing weight doesn't have to be restrictive or obsessive in any sense of the word. It all comes back to what your lifestyle is like, that's what will ultimately determine what your weight will be. You've most likely read of someone who had surgery or some form of weight reduction procedure. Often times they just gain every bit of the weight back, they got their quick fix, but in the end their lifestyle just puts the weight back on.

Lottery winners get their "get rich quick" scheme, but in the end, many of them are just as poor as they were before they had won their money. They're original lifestyle catered to that style of living. Although they got a lucky break with the winnings, their habits of spending, attitudes toward money and no savings ultimately put them right back at where they started.

If you're just looking for some miracle pill or fat-burner plus, I advise you to realign your thoughts on weight loss. Losing weight is a process, not an event. I bet you would like to maintain your weight once you get there. Dieting means you will eventually quit that behavior and most likely rebound back to your previous weight. This continues in a cyclical fashion, just like a yo-yo, going up and down and up and down. Weight loss is more than just a temporary fix, it's a lifestyle change. Be like a rock, when a rock is dropped it just drops, and stays down.