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To understand why diets fail, and why so many are turning to weight loss surgery, we must take a look at what drives the average person. In other words we need to better understand appetites. There is a common thread that every overweight individual that I have ever met shares, including myself. We all share an overwhelming appetite for food.

On the contrary though, if a person is not overweight it does not mean that they do not have a driving appetite for food. Some individuals that I know have a bigger appetite than me, but couldn't gain any weight if they wanted to. They have an over active thyroid or metabolism that keeps them from gaining weight.

Then there are those that eat to live. I mean eating is almost a chore to them. They only eat so their stomach will shut up. I have a friend that is this way. It is very hard for me to understand sometimes. He almost gets frustrated at times because he has to stop what he is doing and eat. It totally blows me away!

I guess the majority of us those live to eat. We can't wait for our next meal. I say that this is a majority of us because the statistics prove it. Almost 70% of Americans are either overweight or obese. There will also be an expected 150,000-weight loss surgeries performed this year as well.

The drug industry also understands this because they are making billions of dollars on diet pills. A lot of these pills have are appetite suppressors. The only problem is they affect the hypothalamus, which has adverse effects on the body.

The other problem with appetite suppressors is they only affect our body's appetite. I don't really know of any medication that can suppress our mental or emotional appetite to eat. We mentally or emotionally crave foods that is why I said that most of us live to eat. Again, the stats show that billions of dollars a year are spent on weight loss products and different diets, yet we keep getting heavier and heavier as Americans.

So, back to why diets fail. Diets fail because they usually involve us excluding a certain type of food, or a certain food group. Such diets require the dieter to not eat this or not eat that anymore. These diets fail because they require us to fight our appetites.

Now, I am not saying we should give into our appetites. What I am saying is that we are addicted to food. This is the most severe addiction that I know of. Think about it, if you are addicted to anything else such as drugs, alcohol, or sexual desires, if you can break the addiction, you can live without ever taking another shot, pill, snort, drink, or sexual act. Now, when you are addicted to food, even if you were able to break the addiction, you would have to eat again.

Picture an alcoholics that has broken their addiction to alcohol, they have to go to AA meetings, and they have to vow never to drink another alcoholic beverage again. Since alcoholism is a disease they can never have another drink again for the rest of their lives.

Obesity is a disease too; however, those who have this disease just can't stop eating. We try to go on diets, and those diets always seem to fail as time passes. All it takes is one bite of a dessert, or bread, or whatever we were not eating, and our appetite kicks back with 1000% vengeance.

So, what do we have to do? We have to make a lifestyle change. We have to learn to eat well-balanced meals, we have to learn to control portions, and we have to exercise. On top of that, if you are a praying person, prayer is always helpful, and I am not talking about asking God to bless the feast before your indulge yourself.