There's a great deal of weight-loss advice out there.  Thousands of books, online websites and forums, and people everywhere who will tell us exactly what to do. 

I like to keep an open mind, and as part of my Diet Hobby, I choose to access and analyze a great deal of that information. However, I totally agree with the following Facebook post which was made on 9/30/13 by Kate of This is Not a Diet - it's your life.

"First, people will tell you it's easy: JUST eat real food and move around a bit and you'll be thin!

But if you do that and you're still not thin, they'll start in on all the nuances of what you are doing wrong. Well you're eating too much sugar. Too much fat. Not enough protein. Wrong kind of fat. Wrong kind of carbs. Not starch, fiber! Not saturated fat, unsaturated! Oh no wait, not unsaturated, saturated! No fruit!! More fruit. 1 banana a day. Never eat bananas. No sugar, use substitutes. Wait, no sugar substitutes. Less meat. No meat. More meat. No potatoes. Don't eat dairy. Eat lots of low fat dairy. No, only full fat dairy. Drink protein shakes. Don't drink calories.

You're not exercising enough. You're exercising too much. No cardio, only weight lifting. Don't lift weights, run. Don't run it will stress you and you'll hold body fat. Only exercise in the morning. Exercise twice a day. Stop exercising so much. Lift heavy or go home. Lifting heavy will bulk you up. You have to eat more to support your exercise. Don't eat more or you'll negate the effects of exercise.

It's EASY, don't you see! If it's not easy, you're just Doing It Wrong! If you did it right, you'd be thin!

I don't know about you but I am so sick of all that. It's stuck in my head like a record on repeat and it makes me second guess every thing I do. The truth is, they don't KNOW an easy answer because there isn't one. Everyone has a different situation.

Eventually, you have to just tell them all to shut up and start listening to yourself. It's NOT easy. But it's your life, nobody else. Live it as you see fit."

Fitness is not a measure of worth.

People who choose exercise activities, meaning various types of movement or fitness, as a hobby are no more praiseworthy than people who choose anything else as a hobby.

Fitness by any definition is not an obligation.

There is also no personal obligation to have a thin, or a “normal-weight", body.

Seeking weight-loss is not the same thing as living with healthy habits, and thin or "not fat" isn’t the same thing as "Healthy".

There are healthy and unhealthy people at every size, so reaching a certain body size is neither a guarantee of health, nor a sure preventative or cure for disease. Body Size and Health are two different things and people can, and often do, pursue one without the other.

In fact, seeking "Health" is not a moral, social, or personal obligation. People can choose to prioritize and pursue health at whatever level they want. Their choice to seek health by “engaging in a healthy lifestyle” doesn’t guarantee them personal health. It also doesn’t make them better than people who don’t choose to prioritize or pursue health.

There are also different kinds of health. and all of them aren't available to everyone.  For example: Mental health and Physical health are two different things, and these two types of health don’t necessarily go together.

What does "healthy" even mean?

Healthy is simply the opposite of  diseased or dead.  Human beings are born, they live, and they die.  The human body is designed to wear out.  Even the most "healthy" bodies become "unhealthy" as they get old, and eventually every body ceases its function. Sudden or lingering, death comes to everyone, and except for death-by-accident, people of all ages become sick and then die.

While the term "healthy", refers to the general condition of a person's mind and body, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain, that term is now loosely used to refer to various substances, activities, and ideas that allegedly promote that general condition.

However, despite all claims to the contrary, most things ...  including personal values ...  that are sold to us by the diet (and fitness) industry are the exact opposite of “healthy”.