I exercise, why can't I lose weight?

I have been asked that question numerous times by friends who know I have lost 130 pounds and am continuing to lose even more. Many of them are fairly active people who exercise faithfully believing that is the answer. The truth is all the exercise in the world is not going to take off an ounce, if you don't eat right.
     The Standard American Diet is stacked against us. Americans, for the most part, have fallen prey to the slick advertising that convinces us that one packaged product or another is going to give us the healthy nutrition we want by putting it first into the microwave then into our mouths. Nothing could be further from the truth. We have heard the LOW FAT mantra for decades, and the simple truth is we need fat in our diet. Our cells are made of fat, including cholesterol of which our brains are made. What we don't need is sugar in any of its many forms which packaged foods producers put in to replace the fats they have removed. When they take the fat out, they take out the flavor, so they use sugar to put flavor back in.
     Sugar is twenty times more addictive than cocaine and works on the same receptors in our brains as the drug. That is why the cravings for sweets and starches are a by product. Our primitive ancestors only got sugar one way. By eating natural sources like fruits and berries. And it was a seasonal thing. Those items were only available during the limited growing season that produced them in the area in which they lived. Not so today. Fruits, even exotic ones, are available all year long through international transportation. But fruits are good foor us, isn't that so? Yes, fruits can give us needed vitamins and minerals,fiber, and phytonutrients if they are eaten in their natural form, not made into fruit juice drinks sold inbottles. They can be as bad as soft drinks that are loaded with sugar, or even worse, High Fructoe Corn Syrup.
     The biggest culprit is high fructose corn syrup that is cheaper than sugar and twenty times sweeter. That is why it is used extensively in the soft drink and fast food industies. Did you knw that sugar and salt are added to the french fries you get at the local McDonalds or Burger King? Did you know that they have scientists working for them to find new combinations that will act on the addictive areas of our brains so we will get a high when we eat their laboratory created concotions and lure us back for more. The fast food industry is not alone. General Mills, Kraft, Post, and every other  manufacturer of packaged trash you find on super market shelves does the same thing. Why do you think our children are becoming obese at earlier and earlier ages. Why is ADD and ADHD on the rise. Add in Autism and food allergies and the picture becomes more clear. Do you think the cause might be their constant diet of quick and easy foods we shove in front of them? Perish the thought!