Everybody is so obsessed with losing weight at lightening speed that they neglect what consequences there might be for their health. They also fail to recognise that short term weight loss solutions almost never work in the long term.

People don’t actually take the time to stop and ask themselves ‘how can I lose weight safely’. They become caught in a cycle of attempting one crash diet after another and in the end only gain more and more weight. They suffer depression, anxiety, frustration and give up again and again. This is detrimental to both people's mental and physical health.

I find this totally understandable because we are so brainwashed by media advertising. The media push thousands and thousands of quick fix cures in our faces. This means many of us believe this to be the only way to weight loss success. And the word safe never comes into it.

However, none of these solutions actually work. Teas, coffees, meal replacements, soup diets, extreme calorie cutting, pills, potions and many, many more do not look at the true root of the problem. They are completely unhealthy too. They promote unnatural eating habits and periods of extreme calorie deprivation. There is no way that can be considered beneficial to health.

The true root of the problem is the person’s current day to day eating and exercise habits. And if these issues are not addressed then nothing will really change. The person's health will continue to deteriorate and their weight problem will not go away. The only way to true sustained healthy weight loss is through a program of healthy eating and a little light exercise.

I know that is boring but unfortunately when addressing many issues in our life it is the boring answer and the one which requires more effort that is usually the true one. If you focus on eating for a healthy body and doing some light exercise your body will naturally come to a healthy weight.

So how can I lose weight safely?

Losing weight safely involves going back to basics. This means more fruit and vegetables, more lean meat, and absolutely no processed food. Our lives have changed over the last fifty years too. Most people’s jobs now involve sitting down all day. They are burning no calories. The combination of not doing any exercise plus eating low nutrition, high calorie, processed food means many of us have gained weight.

So how can I lose weight safely with exercise?

Exercise is an absolute must. Don’t panic I am not talking about gyms or running. That is the another quick fix thing that has been sold to us. We have been sold the notion that you need to go to the gym five times a week and take yourself to near passing out from exhaustion to loose weight. This is another media perpetrated myth.

Walking. Yes, walking is one of the best ways to help shed unwanted weight and then maintain the body that you want. I walk every day and maintain a very healthy body weight. This was not always so. But now that I walk every day and follow some simple guidelines to my eating I am healthy and I am the correct weight.

To sum up. When asking ‘how can I lose weight safely’ I would say stop eating any processed foods, start eating many fruit and vegetables and take some light exercise. It is that simple.