Why are people fat?

I've heard and read it all. Well, not all, but enough for me to realize that people are willing to chalk up their lack of weight loss to so much crap -- but not very willing to accept responsibility that in 95% of cases they've earned it, one bite of cheesecake at a time. I have heard that the reason people are fat is because they're drinking diet drinks and the aspartame is causing them to crave sugar. Also heard recently it's because we don't eat organic so the fungicides, pesticides, etc. are concentrated in our bodies poison us and so we cannot lose weight. There are other things I've heard as well that I am not remembering now for some reason.

Do I think there's an element of truth to these things? Probably. I mean it's better to eat an all organic diet and drink only water and organic milk, I'm sure. However, it really all does come down to something pretty simple. Losing weight (and maintaining it) is about eating less (the same number of) calories than you burn. It's not rocket science. Doing it the right way by eating whole foods and so on is the right way to lose weight, but even if you eat 1300 calories of cheeseburgers a day, you will lose weight. You won't be healthy, but you will lose weight.

Convincing people that their fat is not their fault can earn you a lot of money. It might even get people short term results, but it can ruin their bodies and metabolisms (Atkins anyone???). This is one of the reasons we're fat in the US. I'm a poster child, too. Trying to change it, but it's not always easy.

Oprah struggles with her weight, as you no doubt know. She has promised that if she ever finds the magic bullet -- that pill that will make you lose weight without ruining your body and without any effort on your part -- she will let us know. She has the money to try it all so I am not going to try that crap myself. With time and discipline, I can do this myself and it all boils down to a simple (yet tough) idea.