Even though obesity and being overweight is something that can strike anybody from around the world, there are still many countries that have extremely low percentages of their population who actually might suffer from being overweight.

Is it because of the foods that they eat, the region that they live in, or is it just plain genetics?  All good questions and definitely something that can attribute to a persons overall health.  However, the simple answer is the foods that they don't eat!

Many people and their individual cultures still believe in the wholesome goodness of home cooked meals consisting of fresh soups, stews, salads, home baked breads, desserts and more.  A lot of it has to do with tradition, family values and of course, expense.

But, the one thing that is missing from many of these traditional meals is processed foods or prepackaged meals.  Modern technology has been able to increase food production and manufacturing to supply a growing population.  However, even while food production is cheaper and manufacturers can produce more of it, the cost of it is actually making you fat!

Take a closer look at your meals and the items that you purchase from the grocery store.  How much of the food stuffs that you buy and use for preparing your meals is nothing more than processed foods?

I wouldn't go as far to say that processed foods are killing you like some people say they are.  But, one thing I do believe is that much of the processed foods today are helping people to be overweight and keeping them fat.

Of course, there are a multitude of other reasons why people are overweight and struggling to lose weight as well.  Some of these reasons can be due to medical conditions, while other reasons can be a mixture of psychological and personal choices.

No matter what the reasons may be, if you continue reading around the internet with subjects concerning weight loss, eating healthier foods is the primary path.  You will also notice that an increasing amount of information, resources and programs are being provided for people trying to lose weight by having them incorporate more healthy eating habits into their life.

Obviously, this means a lifestyle change, which includes your diet.  It's usually said that old habits are hard to break and this applies to food as well.  Eating certain foods for years and then trying to eliminate them totally from your diet can sometimes take longer than expected.

I found that it was easier to work on one or two food items at a time.  After I feel comfortable not having a particular food item in my diet and not craving it as well, I simply move on to another food item.  

I haven't personally reached the stage of eliminating most of the processed foods from my diet, but I can comfortably say that less than 30% percent of my meals are from processed foods.  For me, that is huge and something that is proving to work while improving my health and losing weight.