This article won't win me many friends amongst the hordes of grotesque, fat people in the USA.

So, if you're one of them - and I don't mean just a bit flabby but unashamedly, American big-time bloody enormous - then you're going to find as many crumbs of comfort in this article as were left in the bottom of your fridge the last time you shovelled the remains of that chocolate cake down your throat at three in the morning. So you can stop reading now if you're looking for another effort-free, magical diet or some words of support and understanding.

On the other hand, if you're willing to stay outside of your comfort zone for the few minutes it will take you to read this you may very well find that you'll make a decision to find out how to finally get rid of all the fat you're carrying around every day like so much excess baggage.

You're going to get angry reading this. That's ok - I'm already angry. Right now I'm angry that our western governments don't do more to share our surplus food with the millions of people in the world who end up starving to death each year It's not a cool enough subject to be a vote winner, I suppose.

No. I'm not asking you for any money. That's not the point of this article. But before you take a fresh look at the horrible state you're in, just pause for a moment and think about this:-

Did you know that every year in developing countries there are nearly 12 million kids aged under five who die because of malnutrition? You have to go back as far as 14th century Europe and the Black Death to find a mortality rate like that. And we wonder why anger and despair blight our world when there is so much hunger and hopelessness on the one hand and apparent callous disregard and plain greed on the other?

Alright. I forgot. It's somewhere else. It's out of sight. It's too big a problem for you to do anything about. But just take a good look at yourself will you? Have you been telling yourself and other people that you can't help being fat? Who are you kidding? I thought this was a free country. Who's in control of your life? Who's force-feeding you?

Let's get one thing straight; If you're fat you're NOT beautiful. Whoever said you were just wanted you to feel good about joining your local fat club where you can huddle together with other fat folk, each of you feeling pleased that you're not the only fat freak in town. That's assuming you can roll your fat down there under your own steam, of course. Maybe you're one of the people who are so fat that the demolition men have to knock down a wall or two to get you out of your house when you die (prematurely, of course).

'But I don't want to be fat. I keep trying all the diets.'

Yes. I can believe that. Pretending to lose fat is a multi- billion dollar business in the USA (and you ARE just pretending).

Health experts estimate that Americans spend somewhere between $30 billion and $50 billion dollars a year on dieting and that doesn't include; prescription weight loss medications, medically supervised fasting programs, or surgical procedures like stomach stapling. (Neither does it include the billions spent on weight loss at health clubs and fitness centers.)

The American Obesity Association reports that 60 million American adults are not just overweight, they're 'clinically obese'. That's a medical term for somebody who's buried within ugly heaps of blubber.

So you've tried every free diet program (and a lot of expensive ones too). You've been a member of a dozen different slimming clubs. You've had a free fitness analysis and read all the daily tips about losing weight. Your kitchen has a bookshelf thats sagging under the weight of all the slimming books you've bought. You understand about doing some kind of daily exercise (in theory, anyway). You've got a calorie counter and a protein counter. You've got a drawer thats bulging with different calculators. Lets see... theres a fatcalculator; a carbohydrate calculator; a fiber calculator; a heart rate calculator and a Waist/Hip Ratio calculator.

You avoid reading about personal fitness because you know you're far from fit and you'd rather not think about it thank you. You know all about Weight Watchers, eDiets, Atkins, and South Beach Diets. You've got books on the GI, low fat, low carb and blood type diets.

And still youre enormous!

Hang on a minute. I think youre missing a trick here somewhere, dont you?

Remember those two statistics we mentioned; 12 million starving children dying each year before they reached the age of 5 - and 60 million American adults being clinically obese?

Do you think any of the companies that sell weight loss programs would have much success in those parts of the world where people are starving to death?

So, if you've read this far, are you ready to do something about dramatically increasing your own life expectancy? Don't end up a statistic just because of apathy. Take action for yourself but also for those who rely on you and love you.

There's a lot of advice available on the Internet. If you have trouble finding it you're welcome to drop in to my website.