Let’s face it: Americans are fat. We are porked up on hamburgers, pizza and ego.

Psychological studies show that physically fit people generally lead happier and more fulfilling lives. Yet, as a nation, we do not pay nearly enough attention to our diets.

It should come as no surprise that we are the fattest country in the world. More than 14 percent of American teenagers are overweight, according to ABC News. It is a product of diet and lifestyle wrapped up in Styrofoam by society. Would you like fries with that?

In light of such weighty statistics, dieting seems like a brilliant idea.

Specifically, low carbohydrate diets provide a practical solution to combat a main contributor to obesity – sugars.

I have watched as my friends and classmates joined in fad dieting. They lost weight before all of our eyes and gained a huge boost of self-confidence.

They were thrilled to buy new clothes to fit their new bodies.

Then they took to exercising.

It is a wonderful concept. Exercise releases endorphins. It makes you feel happy. At the same time, it burns energy so the love handles melt away.

My classmates were on top of the world, dieting and exercising and feeling good about themselves.

But then things went haywire. The bandwagon turned into a bus with no brakes.

Their quick and easy diets are flawed. My friends and classmates transformed from happy people – pleased with the shape of their new bodies – to obsessive maniacs. Weight lost quickly seemed more likely to come back.

Those who had lost weight now complained about how fat they were. Their entire lives became consumed with not eating carbs and working out two or three times a day. They felt they had to work out if they ate any food that tasted good.

I had never stomached the idea of weight obsessions, but my personal contact with friends and classmates gave me a taste of the truth and it did not appeal to my palate.