Look around any community and one thing is very clear; Americans are gaining weight. Furthermore, those that want to lose are having a much harder time because of sedentary lifestyles and diets high in processed foods. Weight gain in the United States has skyrocketed over the last 20 years, and, according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC.gov), today almost 68% of Americans are over weight. Perhaps more alarming, about one-third of U.S. adults (33.8%) are obese and approximately 17% (or 12.5 million) of children and adolescents (aged 2-19 years) are obese. Obesity is a term used to mean something greater than just overweight and is most commonly calculated by using Body Mass Index (mentioned earlier). A BMI of 30 or greater is considered obese and 40 or above is considered morbidly obese. To determine your BMI, please refer to the following chart by the National Institute of Health: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/lose_wt/BMI/bmi_tbl.htm The health implications of obe
