According to statistics, approximately 75% of Americans are overweight while about 40% of Americans are obese. These are staggering figures. People who want to lose weight and reach optimal health will likely feel overwhelmed and confused when it comes to figuring out where and how to start. After all, there are literally hundreds of weight loss plans out there — Atkins diet, South Beach diet, the Zone…you name it. Add to that, there are many conflicting information regarding which of these weight loss plans are the most effective. Can you see just how difficult it is to decide which to pick?

You may have tried countless of diet plans and met little or no success. It's understandable that you'd feel frustrated, angry, overwhelmed, and a little too desperate to try anything and everything you can get your hands on. You're in the same boat with a lot of people. Many forget that the diet that worked wonderfully well for their buddy may not necessarily work for them. And it isn't because that particular diet is "bad", but because their body had a whole different reaction to the diet.

There is a way, though, too shed off those unwanted pounds in a fast, easy way, and no, you don't have to deprive yourself of food or count calories. However, before you start on any diet, you need to understand the role that genetics plays and the reason why it's hard for some people (including you) to lose weight when it looks so easy for others to shed off the pounds.

Before you start on a weight loss diet plan, understand that every person's body build is different from each other. There are people who are short and stout, and there are others who are tall and thin. There are people whose hips and shoulders are big, while there are people who are short but muscular. Blame it on genetics — our genes determine our body shape and natural build, the same way the genes determine the color of our eyes, hair, and skin.

There's good news, though: genetics don't determine whether or not you're going to be fat. Genes simply determine your body shape. All tall and thin women can't have the figure of Tyra Banks. All big and muscled men can't expect to look like The Rock. What you can do is aim for the ideal weight for your body shape and work toward achieving that weight.

There are many reasons people are overweight. Below are 11 of the most common ones:

1. Slow metabolic rate – Overweight people have a much harder time burning off the calories from the food they consume. Because of this, their body ends up storing the fat.

2. Emotional eating – People who are on a constant struggle with their weight tend to eat whenever they're under stress or when they're going through an emotionally tough time in their life.

3. Hormone imbalance

4. Consuming food in very large portions.

5. Consumption of "diet" food items (e.g., low fat, sugar free, low carb, fat free)

6. Toxin build-up.

7. Late-night eating – This causes food to be easily converted to fat.

8. Growth hormone susceptibility – Growth hormones are injected into animals so they can grow bigger and more quickly. Thus, most of the meat and dairy we consume actually have residual growth hormones. When our body takes in these hormones, it can cause the body to respond by increasing its fat storage.

9. Skipping breakfast.

10. Diet-hopping – A lot of people hop from one diet to the next. Doing this actually adversely affects metabolism and makes it even harder for the body to lose weight.

11. Ingredients in food – Many of the food products you'll find in the market today are full of unhealthy ingredients.

7 Things to Help You Lose Weight

1. Drink a full glass of water the first thing you wake up. Drink either bottled water, distilled water, or filtered water; avoid tap water.

2. Eat a huge, healthy breakfast, preferably 45 minutes or so after you wake up. Go organic: bananas, apples, rye bread (no sugar) tuna, yogurt, tomatoes, peppers, carrots, raw honey, smoked salmon, etc.

3. Spread out drinking at least 8 glasses of water a day.

4. Take a walk for an hour every day. It can be a leisurely walk, and preferably done outdoors. If you have a treadmill at home, take advantage of that.

5. Don't eat after 6pm.

6. Perform a candida cleanse. Candida is a yeast overgrowth in the colon and it can trigger many health problems. Check your local health food store for a candida cleanse. You can also check online.

7. Perform a colon cleanse. Cleanse your digestive system. Many overweight people feel sluggish. In most cases, it's because they have an unhealthy colon.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbN8CWsGR3g