Weight Loss Information and Tips for Getting Started

Do you simply need help learning how to eat better? Working on a weight loss plan? Probably. But if you eat poorly as a result of emotional, mental, or spiritual problems, these issues may have to be addressed before you can make any real progress with weight loss. Even people who don't feel they have an eating disorder often turn to food for comfort and that makes weight loss hard. To learn to eat well and exercise regularly for ture weight loss, you may also have to learn to handle the problems life throws at you without turning away from healthy eating and exercise. Be particularly careful about all-or-nothing thinking in terms of weight loss. A common tendency when failing to stay on a diet is to abandon it altogether. Instead, try to learn from your mistakes and do better in the future. This will help your weight loss goals.

Diets entice us with promises of quick weight loss. But focusing on quick weight loss can lead to unhealthy eating and only short term success. While most diets produce quick weight loss at the outset, they often cause your metabolism to slow. The result is that you have to eat less and less to keep losing weight and weight loss becomes harder. You quickly become discouraged, give up, and start eating like you used to. But now, with a slower metabolism, you regain all the weight you lost, and more. Focus instead on improving your health, and you will become slim and healthy.

Take Control of What You Eat .There are few things that we have complete control over, but what we put in our mouths is one of them. We don't have to lose control in a restaurant or a friend's home, and we don't have to eat everything that's put in front of us. Consider this: We love fat because it carries flavor, and restaurants aren't as interested in whether we'll be around in 30 years as whether we'll be back next week. And what about our friends?

Eat Frequently, and Eat Slowly for weight loss.
It is important to understand what happens when you skip a meal or go on a crash diet in terms of weight loss. When you skip a meal your metabolism slows to conserve your energy. And when you lose weight too quickly for a few days, your body thinks it is threatened with starvation and goes into survival mode, making weight loss hard. It fights to conserve your fat stores, and any weight loss comes mostly from water and muscle. Never skip a meal, especially breakfast, and eat healthy snacks between meals. Eating frequently prevents hunger pangs and the binges that follow, provides consistent energy, and may be the single most effective way to maintain metabolism efficiency and weight loss. Eating slowly gives our bodies time to tell us they are full before we've eaten more than we need.

Eat More Fruits, Vegetables and Whole Grains for weight loss.
People who eat healthy, mostly unprocessed foods, including fruit, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and limited amounts of lean animal protein, often find that they can eat as much as they want without gaining weight. If they are switching from a diet containing lots of processed foods, they find that they can eat more yet consume fewer calories -- and they lose weight. Historically, the Chinese ate mostly rice and vegetables with a little lean meat for protein and flavor, nothing like the American Chinese restaurant dishes of deep fried sweet and sour pork. A step back to more natural foods would improve our health and waistlines for good weight loss.

Eat More Fiber for weight loss.
Fiber makes us feel full sooner and stays in our stomach longer than other substances we eat, slowing down our rate of digestion and keeping us feeling full longer. This helps with weight loss. Due to its greater fiber content, a single serving of whole grain bread can be more filling than two servings of white bread. Fiber also moves fat through our digestive system faster so that less of it is absorbed. Refined grains like white rice and those used to make white bread and sugary breakfast cereals have had most of their fiber and nutrients stripped away, which is bad for weight loss. They turn into blood sugar (glucose) so fast that, like sugar itself, they can cause a spike in our insulin level. This tells our body that plenty of energy is readily available and that it should stop burning fat and start storing it, the opposite of weight loss. Eating foods with plenty of fiber will help keep our blood sugar at a more consistent level.

Cut Down on Sugar for weight loss.
Be careful about sugar in coffee and soda pop. It can add up quickly, and these drinks aren't filling. Watch for "hidden" sugar in processed foods like bread, ketchup, salad dressing, canned fruit, applesauce, peanut butter, and soups. And be careful with "fat-free" products. Sugar is often used to replace the flavor that is lost when the fat is removed. Fat-free does not mean calorie-free, and the goal is your weight loss goal. The greater concern with the insulin spike (above) is not that it tells our body to start storing fat. Whatever we eat and don't burn up eventually gets turned into fat anyway. The greater concern is that the insulin spike is followed by a drop in insulin level that leaves us feeling tired and hungry and wanting to eat more. The unfortunate result of this scenario is that it makes us want to eat something else with a high sugar content. When we do, we start the cycle all over again and weight loss is impossible. Regulating your blood sugar level is the most effective way to maintain your fat-burning capacity and continue your weight loss plans.

Too Much of a Bad Thing.
Foods like cheese stand out as among the most fat-laden, with a great number of calories coming from fat. But as important as it is to select the healthiest foods in terms of weight loss, it is also important to consider how they are prepared. Fried foods, especially deep-fried, contain a great amount of fat. While chicken and fish are usually leaner than beef or pork, they can contain more fat when they are fried and eating fat and weight loss do not match. Look at how the number of grams of fat in a chicken breast changes depending on how it is cooked:

Cooking Method Fat
Meat Only, Roasted 3.1
Meat Only, Fried 4.1
Meat and Skin, Batter Fried 18.5

"Fried food? Not for weight loss. All I eat is salad and I still can't lose weight!" Be careful with salad dressings, mayonnaise, and other condiments that are high in fat content. They greatly increase the calorie count and can negate the healthy aspects of a meal and your weight loss. Replace mayonnaise-based condiments with fat-free alternatives like fat-free yogurt, mustard, ketchup and barbecue sauce. And remember, a gram of fat contains more than twice as many calories as a gram of protein or carbohydrate.

Too Little of a Good Thing for weight loss.
But don't try to eliminate fat altogether, as dietary fat is necessary to maintain a healthy body. It is a vital component for building body tissue and cells, and it aids in the absorption of some vitamins and other nutrients. Many people eat too much of the bad fats, but also eat too little of the good fats required for optimal health.

Exercise Regularly for weight loss.
People who exercise regularly not only lose weight faster, they are more successful at keeping it off. Exercise makes it possible to create a calorie deficit and lose weight without starving your body and slowing your metabolism. At home, at the gym, or playing sports, participate in both aerobic and strength building activities on a regular basis for weight loss. Not only does the exercise itself burn calories, but your body will continue to burn calories at a higher rate even after you're done exercising. This is key to weight loss. If walking is all you can do, then walk because it's great for you. But muscle burns more calories than fat, so put on a little muscle if you can and you will burn more calories just sitting there... looking good. But don't sit too long for weight loss. The human body is good at adapting. If you dig ditches without gloves, you will develop calluses to protect your hands. If you sit too long, you will develop extra padding to keep you comfortable!

Take It Easy for weight loss.
Unless you are excited to be following a very specific diet and exercise plan, do not try and change too much too fast in your weight loss plan. If you have been eating poorly and not exercising, both your body and your mind will have a lot of adjusting to do. All the sugar and fat were actually quite enjoyable, and sitting on the couch didn't feel too bad, either. Now you and your weight loss goals have something else in mind. If you try and change everything too quickly the odds are greater that you will feel bad, get discouraged, and give up your weight loss plans. So be patient. A time will come when a healthy snack will taste as good as the junk food you felt bad about eating, and you will look forward to your regular exercise.

Begin your weight loss plan Now.
You can achieve your weight loss goals, but it won't likely happen as a result of the next fad diet. Or the one after that. Learning to eat well and exercise for weight loss is the only solution to long term weight loss.

Basic Workout Tips To Lose Weight

Some things you need to know to get lean and gain muscle quickly.

Don't be surprised if you feel more like Mr. Magoo than Mr. Universe the first time you pick up a dumbbell. Learning proper technique can be somewhat involved, considering that each exercise movement has its own set of quirks. Having said that, don't mistake "somewhat involved" for rocket science. Just as you can trade stocks profitably without a broker if you're willing to educate yourself beforehand (a lengthy education, mind you), you can learn how to correctly perform exercises from any number of sources, including a knowledgeable training partner, a group seminar or a reputable media source-like, ahem, Whole Fitness. (Hell, even most machines in the gym come with written instructions that Magoo himself couldn't bungle.) Well-designed training programs that arrange those exercises into a coherent, comprehensive system are equally accessible. But whether you decide to do it yourself or to enlist the services of a certified personal trainer, the following tips apply to virtually everyone, neophytes and grizzled veterans alike.

The Tips

1. Don't be a workoutaholic. Many beginners train feverishly under the assumption that more is better, especially when results first appear. However, you're much better off easing into the process. "At first, your muscles aren't ready to do a lot more than they were doing before--they're ready to do a little more," says Richard Cotton, M.A., chief exercise physiologist with First Fitness Inc. in Salt Lake City and a spokesperson for the American Council on Exercise. "You increase your chances of success by moderating your activity a little bit. The morning after a workout, you want to feel like you trained, but you don't want to have to crawl to the bathroom."

2. The best rep range for gaining size is eight to 20. "The optimum results for muscle growth come from lifting a weight that's between 60 percent and 80 percent of what you could lift for one, and only one, rep," says Tudor Bompa, Ph.D., professor of theories of training at York University in Toronto. "At 80 percent, the average person can do eight to 10 reps; at 60 percent, he can do 15 to 20. Most people say anywhere from six to 12 reps is best for muscle growth, but six would be more than 80 percent."

3. The two most important times to eat are when you wake up and after you train. You need fuel in your tank to train hard, and if you don't fill 'er up at breakfast, you'll be running on fumes later. "Make sure the majority of your breakfast consists of carbs, with some protein, maybe in the form of egg whites, thrown in for good measure," says Jacqueline R. Berning, Ph.D., R.D., an assistant professor at the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs. "Low-fat yogurt, or milk and cereal, would also fit the bill." It's equally critical to refuel immediately after you train, when your body's cells are most receptive to replenishing the energy they just spent. A premade drink containing both carbs and protein will satisfy immediate postworkout needs in the short run. A more substantial meal, however, consisting of complex carbs and complete protein (chicken breast contains a better amino-acid profile than egg whites, for example) should be consumed within 90 minutes of a workout.

4. Difficult exercises are good for you, so resist the temptation to avoid them. Most exercises can be classified as either single-joint or multijoint movements. The former includes the barbell curl, in which only your elbow joints move. Along with the deadlift and the bench press, the latter includes the squat, during which your ankles, knees and hips are all being extended and flexed, while your upper body works hard to keep the load stable. Multijoint movements are the more difficult of the two types to master, but it's well worth the effort to learn their proper execution, since they result in maximum muscle growth of more complex muscle groups like the chest or the legs. "People often get too specific in their exercise selection," says Thomas M. McLaughlin, Ph.D., ceo of Biomechanics Inc. in Marietta, Ga. "At some point, you really need to do big multijoint exercises that involve large amounts of muscle mass."

5. Unless it is the primary focus of your training, do cardio after, not before, you lift weights. Or do it during another part of the day, or better still, on a separate day. "If you perform aerobic-type exercise first, you'll be fatigued for your weight training," says Cotton. "As a general rule, strength training has less of an impact on cardio than cardio has on strength training."

6. Stretch before you train, and warm up before you stretch. Don't jump right into your weight-training session. First, do about 10 minutes of low-intensity exercise on a stationary bike or a treadmill. "To decrease the chance of injury, you need to elevate your body temperature before you do anything more intense," says Michael J. Alter, M.S., author of Sports Stretch. Once your tissues are warm, stretch them for another five to 10 minutes, focusing your effort on those body parts you plan to train. Alter also recommends stretching the body part, or parts, being worked for 15 to 20 seconds after every set. And don't jump right out of your training mode. Follow with a brief cool-down in which you basically just keep moving for five minutes or so, with another five to 10 minutes of stretching.

7. Recovery is just as important as training. When you lift weights, you're actually tearing down muscle fibers. It's only after you've completed your workout that your muscle tissues begin the rebuilding process. To allow that process to unfold properly, give your body adequate downtime in between workouts. As a beginner, don't lift more than three or four times a week, never work the same muscle group on consecutive days, and never train a muscle group that's still sore from a prior workout. For optimal results, you also need to maintain a proper nutrition program, which calls for five or six nutrient-packed small meals a day (four, at minimum). Finally, you need to get enough shut-eye--at least eight hours of it. Adequate sleep keeps you mentally and physically sharp for your workouts, and the act of slumber itself accommodates the release of growth-inducing hormones.

8. Don't do the same workout over and over. Your body only changes when you force it to, and it's remarkably quick to adapt to new stimuli. If you repeat the same workout every training session even for a month, your body can probably handle it without producing an adaptive response. If you feel like your progress has reached a plateau, that's probably what's happening. The best way to avoid plateaus is by periodizing your training, which simply means arranging it according to discrete phases designed to achieve different, albeit related, goals, including muscle growth, strength and definition. That's also the best way to avoid overtraining.

9. Most guys need to consume an additional 2,500 to 3,500 calories a week to gain one pound of muscle each week. You can pump iron until you're blue in the face, but if you don't augment your training efforts with enough food and fluid, the laws of human biology and simple mathematics dictate that you won't get any bigger. "When it comes to gaining muscle, the most important thing is eating enough calories to fuel both your exercise and the metabolic processes needed to build muscle," says Susan M. Kleiner, Ph.D., R.D., author of Power Eating. "Most guys who have trouble gaining weight and strength simply aren't eating enough."

How to Lose Weight Fast

Want to slim down fast for that beach vacation or high school reunion? While there are many things you can do to shed pounds, losing weight too quickly, like any sudden change to your body, can be dangerous. While fad diets, diet pills, and fasting may indeed induce rapid weight loss, these methods can cause you to lose muscle and may also injure your heart and other organs fairly quickly. The best solution? Don't go for an overnight miracle. Instead, follow these steps to lose fat rapidly, healthily, and sustainably.

Determine your daily calorie intake . Losing weight is simply a matter of expending more calories than you take in, through exercise and your daily activities. To win the battle, it helps to know how many calories you are consuming in a day. Write down all the things you eat on a typical day. Carry a small notebook with you and write down every snack, every drink, and the contents of every meal. There are also great websites that you can use to keep track of calories, get recipes, and help achieve your goal. Don't forget to include the pats of butter or the spoonful of sugar in your coffee. It's best to do this for at least a couple weekdays and a weekend; it's even better if you can go a full week. There are also calorie tracking websites that can help you to do this, for example the US government website, My Pyramid Tracker. Do an itemized calorie count. When possible, write down the number of calories in each thing you eat as you eat it. Keep in mind that the recommended serving size is often considerably smaller than the serving you actually eat. Look up the calorie count on the internet for foods that don't have calories listed on the container or for fast food meals. You don't have to be 100% accurate, but you do want a good estimate of the number of calories you're taking in. There is an idea that multiplying your own weight by ten will produce a rough estimate of the number of calories you need to eat per day to maintain your weight. This is NOT true, you may wind up grossly under (or perhaps over) estimating the number of calories you should be eating. Use a scientific or health website to determine the number of calories you should eat a day or consult your doctor. Everyone has different metabolisms and there is no blanket rule that covers everyone's recommended calorie intake. Reducing 500 calories per day from the calories you eat to maintain your weight can help you lose a pound of fat per week.

Go over the list and decide which foods to cut out or reduce. Cutting calories is usually a lot easier than you might think. For example, that daily tall latte in the morning may pack 500 calories. Since a pound of flab (lost or gained) is roughly equivalent to 3,500 calories, replacing that rich beverage with black coffee can help you lose a pound a week. Other easy cuts include salad dressing (salad dressing is the number one source of fat in the average American woman's diet) soda pop, candy, and butter. Look at the nutritional information for the foods you eat, pay special attention to your intake of saturated fats and empty calories (high-sugar foods). You don't need to cut these things out entirely, but if you reduce your intake of high-fat, high-calorie foods you'll lose weight faster.

Seek out alternatives to the unhealthy foods you've identified. You can simply reduce the amount of soda you drink or mayonnaise you put on your sandwiches, or you can substitute healthier choices. Drink water instead of soda, for example, or use mustard instead of mayo. Low-fat and low-calorie options are also available for most foods, and many of these are natural, (although some are made with strange chemicals), and tasty. Start trying to eat healthy in most meals: Choose lean meats. Chicken and fish are both very low in fat (and certain fish like salmon, sardines, and fresh tuna are an excellent source of antioxidants, which are also beneficial to your health), so aim to replace some or all of the beef or pork in your diet with these foods. Replace high-calorie side dishes with healthier alternatives. Many people get a ton of calories from side dishes such as macaroni and cheese, French fries, or potato salad. You can eat healthier and lose weight by replacing these with fresh vegetables and salads. Pre-made salads are practically effortless, and when accompanied by a reduced-calorie dressing or no dressing at all, they're weight-loss gold. Start your days off right. A fattening breakfast of bacon and eggs or a pastry can be replaced with yogurt, oatmeal, high-fiber, low-sugar cereals; or fresh fruit for fruit smoothies. However, for those on a low carb diet bacon and eggs are a great combo for breakfast, since neither have carbs. But don't fall into the trap of skipping breakfast. Eating a healthy breakfast increases your rest metabolic rate earlier in the day, and reduces snacking before lunch.

Plan your meals. Look for healthy, delicious meals online or in your cookbooks, and create a menu for the week. Make sure that your meal plan reduces your total calorie intake: you're not going to lose weight if you consume the same amount of calories by eating different foods. Make a list of what you'll need for these meals, and -- except for a few snacks, of course -- don't stray from your list when you get to the market. Planning your meals helps ensure you get a balanced diet and reduces the temptation to stop off for fast food or order a pizza. Remember, it's easier to stick to your shopping list if you shop when you aren't hungry.

Watch your portion sizes. Opening a bag of rice cakes and eating all of them in one sitting isn't going to help you lose weight. When eating chips, nuts, or dried fruit put a portion in a small bowl and then put the bag away. That way you won't mindlessly eat a larger portion than you had intended. Even if you only make minimal changes to your diet choices, reducing portion size will inevitably reduce caloric intake. A great way to watch portion sizes while snacking is to buy one serving 100 calorie packages - and they come in many favorite snack food items!

Graze on healthy snacks. Just because you're getting healthy doesn't mean you can't snack. In fact, eating small meals and snacks throughout the day, or grazing, has been shown to aid weight loss, (compared to eating three large meals a day), by keeping metabolism steadier. Pick snacks that are low in calories and fat and high in fiber (dried apricots, nuts, rice cakes, fruits, baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, and so on). Vegetables are generally very low in calories, very high in fiber, and full of flavor and nutrition. Avoid starchy vegetables like potatoes, and try to eat vegetables plain, without fatty dressings or dips. Fruit also makes a good snack. Fruit contains more soluble fiber than vegetables, which slows your body's absorption of carbohydrates, thus releasing energy more slowly, (preventing sugar highs), and keeping you feeling full longer. Fruit juices are not a replacement for the real thing. You need that fiber, and juices often have more calories than the equivalent serving of fruit -- as many calories as soda! Be careful with dried fruits, because without the water, you tend to eat more, and fruits, when dried, are calorie-rich per ounce. With any dry or dried food, be sure to drink plenty of water.

Get more fiber. There are many myths about fiber, but there is science to back up its helpful role in the diet. Fiber keeps the right amount of water in your intestines, making your digestive system work more efficiently and helping to keep you regular. Thus, just eating enough fiber may help you feel slimmer in just a day or so. There is also evidence that fiber in the diet can help prevent stroke and heart disease, ease the effects of diabetes, and may even directly help in weight loss.

Drink plenty of water. Adequate water is essential for health, and a great many people simply don't get enough. What's more, if you're chronically dehydrated, your body will retain water in unflattering places, so if you make sure to get plenty of fluids you can start visibly trimming down in as little as a day. Remember, the more you exercise, the more water you'll need. See the related wikiHow for more details on how much water you should be getting.

Exercise. Remember, you can lose weight either by decreasing your calorie intake or increasing the number of calories you burn. Any health strategy should include both, but if you want to lose weight fast, exercise is essential.

Perform high-level aerobic activities. Moderate aerobic workouts incorporating jogging, brisk walking, cycling, aerobic machines, or classes not only burn calories -- they also keep your heart healthy. Swimming is also great, especially if you are quite overweight or have joint problems, because you can get the same benefits of running -- typically burning even more calories -- with much less stress on your joints. Try to get at least 30-40 minutes of aerobic exercise at least three or four days per week.

Pump some iron. Resistance training, (weight training), can help both sexes stay lean by building muscle and raising metabolism. The fact is, hours and hours of aerobic exercise won't help most people lose weight fast because your metabolism drops back to normal fairly quickly after stopping the exercise. If you gain muscle, however, your body's resting metabolism, (the amount of calories you burn when you're just sitting still), increases, because muscle requires a lot of calories to maintain. Studies have shown consistent weight training to raise the body's metabolism by 15%. This means an average woman might burn 200-300 more calories at rest every day! Resistance training is the gift that keeps on giving! Although, keep in mind that muscle mass weighs more than fat (don't be surprised if you gain weight but look slimmer).

Rest properly. This means not only taking at least 24-48 hours between strength training the same muscles, (and taking 1-2 days off from exercising each week); it also means getting enough sleep at night, since sleep deficiency impairs your ability to lose fat.

Be realistic. Don't expect a miracle. Healthy weight loss can be achieved fairly quickly, but you'll need to be patient. In addition, be sure to set realistic goals. Make sure that the weight you're trying to reach is a healthy weight for you, and keeping in mind that gaining pounds of muscle will help you lose fat, be trimmer, and look better even though you don't actually lose any weight. Your goal should be a healthy body, not a number of pounds! Everyone looks good at a different weight. A short person may look really good at about 112 pounds, but a person of a taller height would just look unhealthy. Keep yourself at a weight that makes you look good, not at a number that sounds good.

Make adjustments. A successful weight loss strategy based on reducing calorie intake and increasing activity can be adjusted to maintain your desired weight once you reach it. Unlike typical diets, this method is sustainable -- it is a lifestyle change, not a binge-and-purge exercise. Slowly adjust your diet and exercise to include more weight training and calories, as much as is comfortable for you. If you do gain any weight back, you want that weight to be lean, toned muscle, not fat. In addition, weight training, no matter what your age, prevents muscle atrophy and can help stave off osteoporosis. Instead of thinking of it as losing a certain amount of pounds, think of it as being a certain weight. So if you are 145 pounds, and you would like to lose 10 pounds, think of it as being 135 pounds. This helps you think about it as a long-term goal and not just losing the weight to gain it back again.

Be confident. You need to believe in yourself! If you want to diet, and you know that it will make you feel better, then you need confidence. Otherwise, the temptation to cheat on your diet will make it harder, and you will not feel better when you do lose weight. Avoid temptations like chocolate, ice cream, and cookies. They may taste good, but there are other foods that taste delicious, too, without being unhealthy. You need to always encourage yourself to achieve the goals that you have set. Learn to evaluate your efforts fairly and objectively. If you fail to achieve your target for the week, find out why is it so. Is it because you have missed a jogging session? Or you have been eating junk food for one of the days? After evaluating, look ahead to next week and try your best to stick to your plan.

Be consistent and disciplined, and have self motivation. To lose weight effectively, you need to stick to your weight loss plan religiously so as to see results. When you have the thought of giving up, visualize how good you will look when you manage to slim down successfully.

TIPS
Determine your objectives to lose weight. To succeed in doing something, you need to have a very compelling objective or reason so that you will not lose track of your goal. Losing weight just for vanity's sake is usually less helpful than losing weight to improve health. Other than just exercising, you need to have a healthy diet so that you will have a better body and more energy to be positive throughout the day.

It's very good to do a blood test before you begin your new diet and exercise regimen. Some people may not need to lose a lot of weight, but they may need to lower the blood sugar level slightly. You can also check for mineral deficiencies.

The goal is to lose fat, not just weight in general. If you are doing strength training during your weight loss (which you should be), you might actually see an initial gain in weight -- don't worry! You have probably lost fat and gained muscle, which is denser than fat and is much healthier.

A better measurement than what a scale reads is body fat percent. If you don't have access to calipers or a body fat scale, a better gauge is how your clothes fit and how you look rather than your absolute weight. If you can, though, it is good to measure your body fat about once per month. Men should be between 15%-25%, but no lower than 4%; and women 20%-30%, but no lower than 15%. Females have higher fat percentage due to pregnancy and menstrual requirements.

Generally, you want to - with a combination of calorie reduction and increased activity - reduce and burn a certain number of calories a day, causing a net loss of calories so your body is forced to use its own stores of fat. How much aerobic exercise you need to perform depends on what you eat, how fast you'd like to lose weight, and how much muscle you gain. A pound of fat contains 3500 calories. Men can safely lose around two pounds a week, and women can safely lose around one pound a week. Any more than this and you might be losing more muscle mass than fat. Thus, with a combination of calorie restriction and aerobic exercise, a man should aim to run a 3500-7000 calorie deficit each week, and women should aim for a 1750-3500 calorie deficit.

With regard to weights, men and women differ on their goals with weight training. Women, don't worry, no amount of weight training will make you as bulky as a man; women just don't have enough testosterone to build large muscles. The female body-builders you see are either taking steroids or training 2-3 hours every day. Male and female beginners should start with 3 sets of 8-12 repetitions, and should use the heaviest weight you can while still maintaining good form, even to the last repetition of the last set. Get a weight training book or find a reputable website that will show you different exercises and the correct form. When lifting properly, you will stretch the muscle during the exercise, but you should still stretch properly to prevent injury!

No matter what the magazine article says, spot improving is a myth! When your body burns fat, it takes it from all over your body, even if all you do are crunches. No amount of crunches will get rid of that gut if they are not backed up by proper aerobic exercise and diet! Washboard abs do not come from millions of sit ups; they come from having low levels of body fat. So if that is your goal, make sure you do plenty of aerobic exercise in addition to your ab routine.

Sugar comes in many disguises. Check your food labels: fructose, glucose, molasses, and corn syrup are all sugars. Limit all sugars, but especially stay away from high-fructose corn syrup. It is just a corn syrup full of sugar. Choosing foods without it will help you reach your weight loss goals faster.

Remember your body needs 'fuel' just like a car needs 'fuel'. Your body needs the 'right' kinds of food to lose weight effectively.

Don't taunt yourself by not letting yourself eat the occasional snack that you're craving. Just make sure you burn it off later with exercise

Despite popular belief it is not terrible to eat after 6 p.m. A reasonable dinner (with extra protein if you've had a good weight training session) is going to help deliver nutrients to the body to prepare it for the next day. Additionally if you find yourself very hungry before bed, a small bowl of high fiber cereal and low fat milk will actually help maintain your metabolism while you sleep. The key is to not overeat in the evenings.

Take a multivitamin. While it is better to always get your nutrients from your food, most people miss something in their diet, especially when they're trying to cut calories. Vitamins and minerals play an important role in keeping your body chemistry balanced and your energy levels healthy.

If you find yourself missing some of your favorite foods, don't worry. There is no harm in having your treat once a week. Pick a day each week where you treat yourself to your guilty pleasure--remember, everything in moderation. If it's pizza, try going to a gourmet pizza place that will use better ingredients and fresher vegetables. If it's a Big Mac, try making your own. A homemade burger is generally much healthier than the food they serve in fast food restaurants. Electric grills that are slanted to allow most of the fat to slide off make nice, lean burgers.

Save some calories for potassium and protein for after you work out, this will help reduce soreness. (A banana and an egg does the trick.)

Do not forget to stretch. Stretching can help increase your strength and flexibility.

Cut down on your sodium. Many prepared foods have as much as 30% of your daily value. You get your daily requirement of sodium from a healthy diet; too much can cause you to retain water weight.

Try not to skip any meals as this only makes your body to retain fats for energy. A good weight loss plan is to eat healthily and exercise regularly.

To continue to lose weight fast[5] - eat a variety of foods. Just like in weight training, the body will get used to the same routine and plateau. Mix up the foods you eat to keep your metabolism high and prevent a metabolism plateau.

Also consider taking supplements like the Acai Berry. These are natural berry juices proven to speed up the weight-loss process with up to 78%.

WARNINGS

Do not try to starve yourself. In the short run, reducing your calorie intake to unhealthily low levels will slow metabolism and actually cause you to lose weight more slowly. Then your body cannot process potassium so when you DO eat again, (the alternative to dying,) you will gain much more weight than you would if you weren't starving yourself and overall, you may end up gaining more than you lost. In the long run, starving yourself (anorexia or bulimia) can kill you.

When creating a weight lifting routine, do not focus on a single muscle or group, doing so will overbuild that muscle while under building others - in other words, if you work your biceps, and not your triceps, your arms will begin to curl inward and you will look silly. If you work your chest and not your back, you will have a hard time maintaining good posture as your pectoral muscles overpower your back muscles and pull your shoulders forward.

If you have a serious medical condition (such as asthma or diabetes, or allergy to protein such as dairy products or you have lactose intolerance) or you are severely obese, consult with your doctor as well as a dietitian.

Do not take any harmful drugs. They are unhealthy and may ultimately make you gain weight instead.

Carefully consider whether you need dietary supplements. Most people may get the basic minerals and nutrients they need to sustain life through eating food. For example, excessive multivitamin supplements can make you overdose in some vitamins you need, and you can't store most water-soluble vitamins like vitamin C as any excess will be urinated. Although you could be below the recommended daily intake, that doesn't necessarily mean you are deficient in it if it's a kind that is stored. So you may wish to consult with your doctor or dietitian to inquire whether you need supplements and how much you should take.

Losing weight too quickly is dangerous and can have adverse effects on your health. Despite the title of this article, getting into shape is best done slowly. If you find yourself losing more than a pound or 2 (or more than 500g) each week, you are probably doing something wrong.

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