·Less incidental activity ·Automated and computerized lifestyle ·Longer working hours and less leisure ·Increased consumption of processed foods ·Our food servings are larger than ever

Being overweight, or obese, has now moved from a social nuisance and domestic embarrassment to an official disease. The American Heart Association has announced obesity is a major risk for heart disease.

Obesity itself has become a major and dangerous epidemic. More than 70% of US adults are overweight and that figure is rapidly increasing.

What do most people do to rid their body of unwanted fat? They diet! Dieting is now a trillion dollar industry and just about every month a new diet is announced. If you do have weight problems how do you find a diet that is safe, effective and sustainable?

What you do is try to find a diet that includes a variety of foods that you can live with comfortably. You have to take a long-term view and include plenty of exercise. A good diet is one that supplies all of essential vitamins and minerals, and is not high in fat or protein.

Research on people, who have successfully lost a lot of weight and kept it off long term, shows that vast majority succeeded by consuming a low fat diet high in fibre coupled with strength training and cardiovascular activity.

Be wary of diets that

·Ban a specific food group ·Promise a quick fix ·Replace a balanced meal with a drink or a snack bar ·Make recommendations based on single studies ·Make recommendations to help sell a single product

Excess weight does not appear overnight and nor will it disappear overnight! In fact faster you lose weight, more likely you are to pile pounds back on. Seek out a program that will help you maintain long-term body fat losses by providing attainable solutions such as a program that promotes lifestyle changes, healthy eating and regular exercise.

Regular exercise is important (i.e. strength training) as it burns fat, boosts your

metabolism and also increases your energy levels. Dietary changes can lead to initial weight loss, but this is only for short term. Exercise is essential for maintaining weight loss for long term.

Now let’s take a closer look at what food is made up of and then you will have a good idea of what to look for in your daily eating plan. Firstly we need a wide range of nutrients to perform various functions for a healthy life.

These nutrients include carbohydrates, proteins and fat and are all present in food we eat on a daily basis.

The foods containing these nutrients are cereals, legumes, nuts, vegetables, fruits, milk products and flesh foods (fish, meat and poultry).

We need all these nutrients to live and thrive and since we receive them through food we eat, our food must be well balanced and in proper proportions. Food is a fuel; body requires this fuel for energy, which is measured in fats, carbohydrate and protein.

Each of these nutrients provides different amounts of energy and these are measured in calories.

Nutrient Calories per Gram

Carbohydrate 4 Protein 4 Fat 9

Stop wasting your time, money and effort for nothing. Please have a look at facts presented in this article and make your own decision.

Let's have a look at a few weight loss principles.

1. Increasing Your Metabolism

In order to produce Sustained, Permanent and Long-Term Weight Loss, it's imperative that you boost your metabolism. And most effective way to raise your metabolism is to have a greater proportion of functional muscle on your body.

The only way to build this lean muscle so you can raise your metabolism is through "Strength Training". There's no other method that works wonders on Metabolism like Strength Training.

By performing Strength Training, you'll effectively increase amount of functional lean muscle on your body so that your metabolism will elevate.

After a Strength Training session your body will undergo a significant increase or "Spike" in Metabolism, which will allow you to burn much more fat then you were able to before.

2. It's All About Lean Muscle

"The amount of fat body can burn is directly related to more lean muscle your body can hold."

If your muscle system can sustain more energy and use this energy significantly when performing strength training, then it will be able to burn off calories you eat and excess fat on your body.

In other words, if your muscles become stronger and can hold more energy then you should be able to release this energy more efficiently to increase your metabolism, and to burn off excess calories that you have eaten.

Once we can build more lean muscle through our own strength, then our bodies will become more efficient at burning fat.

It's also amount of lean muscle on your body that makes you LOOK GOOD. Once you burn off excess fat from your body, lean muscle underneath your skin will be exposed making you look healthy, energetic, and well toned.

3. Fast Walking Burns Fat

All you need to do now is incorporate "Fast Walking" into your weight loss program to hasten burning of excess fat.

Not only is fast walking better much easier on hips, but it also produces a greater percentage of fat loss as opposed to jogging or running.

Here are some of benefits of Fast Walking.

·Easy to Perform ·Most Conventional ·All Natural Body Movement ·Doesn't Cause Injuries ·Can Be Done Anywhere ·The Best Minimal Effort Exercise for Fat Loss

"I can't stress enough how Fast Walking is necessary in every weight loss program."

Programming Strategies

If you want any weight loss program to work you have to perform "Strength Training". It's absolutely imperative during course of a lifetime not only for weight loss goals but also for general health and well being.

For years we have been told to diet excess fat from our bodies and throw in some fast walking to hasten process. The trouble with this is that low calorie restricted diet would throw body into starvation mode, with body holding onto fat and using precious lean muscle tissue for energy.

This would "Lower Your Metabolism" causing greater muscle loss and once diet was broken original fat returned, and you would have greater chance of gaining even more fat.

"A Vicious Cycle"

Eventually, your body would become used to diet and then you will reach a point where nothing was happening.

So what do you do now?

Try weight loss supplements, creams, massage, toning tables, drugs. You should know by now that these don't work.

There is a better way, it's simply...

"Strength Training"

Many studies are showing that Strength Training is a superior method for weight loss.

(Ladies, you won't bulk up by using weights, you don't have testosterone to get big and muscular, so don't worry).