Jonny Bowden, author, nutritionist and weight loss coach cuts through all the misconceptions about diet and fitness to help you transform your body, your health and your life.

Here's another reason to take weight loss seriously (as if you needed one!): Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health, the University of Toronto and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington have just published the most comprehensive study ever about how diet, lifestyle and metabolic risk factors for chronic disease contribute to mortality in the United States.

Want to know what they found? The number of preventable deaths per year in the U.S. tied specifically to obesity and overweight is (drum roll please): 216,000. Pretty stunning figure, isn't it? And, just to hammer home the point, the number of preventable deaths due specifically to a sedentary lifestyle is another 191,000.

Now, I'm familiar with the arguments about being fat and fit, and they're not without some merit. Steven Blair, the well-known director of research at the Cooper Aerobics Center in Texas defines himself as a "fat, fit guy" -- he runs more than five miles per week -- but the fact remains that being overweight raises the risk for lots of things that you don't want to have. That said, if you can't lose weight -- or if you don't want to -- at least start exercising. You can definitely decrease the odds of dying, not to mention improve circulation and mood, and even preserve your brain. Plus, even if you're not specifically trying to use exercise as a weight-loss technique, it doesn't take a whole lot to get those health benefits and take yourself out of the "high risk for dying" group. Just 30 minutes a day of brisk walking. And just as it doesn't take that much exercise to make a major difference in your health, it also doesn't take a lot of weight loss.

The Diabetes Prevention Program, a large clinical study sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, found that losing just 5 to 7 percent of your body weight (plus doing the above-mentioned moderate-intensity exercise for 30 minutes a day, five days a week) may prevent or delay the onset of Type 2 diabetes. Losing 5 to 10 percent of your weight can lower your chances for developing coronary heart disease or having a stroke. If you weigh 200 pounds, this means losing as little as 10 pounds. Weight loss may improve blood pressure, triglyceride and cholesterol levels; improve heart function and blood flow; and decrease inflammation throughout the body.

There's a famous New Yorker cartoon showing a doctor talking to a patient. The doc says, "So what fits into your busy schedule better: walking 30 minutes a day, or being dead?" It can't be said much better than that.

For more information on weight loss, visit Jonny Bowden.