I've recently become disturbed to learn that, in our ever-ballooning society, there is a movement that's begun (and is growing) referred to as "fat acceptance.
"  "We're people, too!" they cry.
 "Everyone's plumper these days-- we should learn to love ourselves as we are, not try to lose weight!"    Although a good dose of self-esteem is essential for a full and happy life, being overweight is certainly not healthy, and accepting the health consequences that come from being fat is not advisable or natural.
 Lose weight.
 I say it flatly, I say it plainly.
 For a frightening majority of the people in our society, the presence of extra pounds is a bothersome reality that keeps them from experiencing the quality of life they could otherwise achieve.
  We've been conditioned to believe that losing weight is an uphill battle; something that we must focus on and struggle toward every day.
 We've been taught that, though the rewards of natural weight loss are fabulous, achieving it requires daily sacrifice and dedication to things we don't want to do.
  I'm here to tell you that it's not true.
 That lasting weight loss does not require starvation, calorie-counting, or particular attention to the combination of foods that you eat.
 Furthermore, I'm here to tell you that it's your NATURAL STATE to be thin and healthy.
 No matter how overweight you are, and no matter how long you've been that way, it is in your body's nature to be thin and, if you woke up tomorrow to find that you had dropped to your ideal weight, your body would find it perfectly natural.
  "Lose weight," I can hear you scoffing.
 "It's easier said than done.
 I've been trying to lose weight for years.
 Nothing works.
"   It's easier than you think.
 Let me explain.
  Storing fat is your body's reaction to being overfed.
 Your body tells you, through hunger pangs, when it needs nutrition.
 You respond to that pang by eating food.
 Your body takes what it needs from that food, excretes some of what's left over, and stores some in the form of fat.
 It's an age old cycle that we're all familiar with.
 It's a perfectly balanced, perfectly natural cycle.
  But what if something interrupts that cycle and throws off the balance? What would happen if the nutrition from the food you eat were being hijacked before your body ever had the chance to process it? I'll tell you what would happen: your body would continue signaling you, through pangs of hunger, that it needs nutrition, needs to eat.
 However, since the hijacker is stealing that nutrition before it reaches your system, it would be as if your "hunger signal" were stuck in the "on" position.
 You would, through violent cravings send by your brain, be directed to eat, eat, eat, because you are literally starving for nutrition.
 The rest of the cycle would continue: you'd still be excreting, and you'd still be storing fat.
 But your body would never get what it needed, and you'd keep accumulating fat.
The result would be persistent hunger, uncontrollable cravings, and consistent weight gain.
 Sound familiar? The hijacker is a parasite.
 Or multiple parasites, living in your stomach and digestive tract.
 Humans get them in a variety of ways: from contact with infected toilet stools, eating undercooked meat, ingesting unwashed produce.
 You could go your entire life without any symptoms of infection-- except the obscene cravings for foods you know you shouldn't eat, and the chronic state of being overweight.