According to a recent study at the University of Tennessee, Amish have the ultimate fitness plan with real results. Amish statistics from this study are difficult to refute. Only four percent in the Amish community suffers from obesity, compared to a third of the American mainstream population.

The Amish fitness plan is as old as the land on which they live.

Unlike modern diets and fitness plans, which seem to offer up a new fad every other week, the Amish plan relies on the simple truth that should be the foundation of any diet that is going to be successful. The Amish plan is a lifestyle that expends more calories in their daily activities than they consume.

As researchers admitted, Amish food is hardly low on calories.

In fact their diet is an American fantasy. The typical Amish diet includes large amounts of meat, potatoes, fruit, cakes and pies. However, the amount of calories consumed is easily erased by 8 to 10 hours of labor and walking every day.

University of Tennessee researchers asked Amish subjects to wear pedometers that would measure their number of daily steps. While the average American walks only a few thousand steps at best, the average for Amish men was 18,000 steps and for women 14,000 steps.

The recommended number of steps required for optimal health suggested by many health experts is 10,000. This count is rarely reached by most Americans but exceeded by the Amish.

So what is the answer? Given the lifestyle differences between the Amish and the average sedentary American, it is doubtful that most Americans will find the time to exert the same physical energy as the Amish. The key to weight loss remains apparent in Amish daily activities.

Forget Atkins! Forget Weight Watchers! Forget the Zone!

While diet plans do contain useful tools to help us eat healthily, we will never lose weight unless our exercise, work and walking consumes more calories than the amount of food we eat. Exercise needs to become part of our lifestyle integrated in our daily activities.

So get on your walking shoes and get moving!