You have tried diet after diet, you have endured exercise program after exercise program, and after all of that, you still want to know what to do if you can’t lose weight. If that sounds familiar, then you should know that you are not alone. A lot of people have tried all sorts of things to lose weight, all without any lasting success. Sure, you may lose a few pounds, but then you gain most of it back (or even end up weighing more than when you started).

Even though a lot of people have this problem, there really isn’t a universal solution; that’s because everybody is different. However, there are also some basic principles of weight loss that apply to virtually anybody.

If you are currently on a diet, and aren’t able to take off enough weight, then you have to take a close look at the diet plan to see if it can really work. Pay attention to the total number of calories it recommends per day, and see if it is too heavy or restrictive on certain groups of foods.

Each person needs a different number of calories, depending on various factors. If you take in more calories than you need, then it stands to reason that losing weight isn’t going to happen. But, the real problem can be taking in too few calories. While you may lose some weight, your body will go into starvation mode, and store a much higher percentage of your caloric intake. In other words, it won’t burn off as many calories as it normally would. This also makes it next to impossible to shed extra pounds. Therefore, you need to be on a diet that has the right amount of calories for you personally.

The other thing to watch out for are diets that are unbalanced. Most fad diets get popular because they have a gimmick of some kind. The Grapefruit Diet, Cabbage Diet and Cottage Cheese Diet are a few examples that put an emphasis on eating a particular food. There are also diets which restrict carbohydrates or fat, but if they don’t include a wide range of food choices then the odds of your getting results are low, and the odds of having permanent results are even lower.

Can all of those diets work? Yes! But…there is a catch. As mentioned, they almost always have a gimmick of some kind. It’s this gimmick that makes them popular. They use their little tricks to hide the real “secret” behind losing weight. This is important if you’re still wondering what to do if you can’t lose weight. The real secret is this: The only way to lose weight is to burn more calories than you take in.

That may not sell a lot of fad diets, but that’s what it all comes down to. If you can’t seem to get rid of those extra pounds, then you need to either reduce how many calories you’re taking in, or increase how many calories you’re burning off.

Tags: All Sorts, Amount Of Calories, Cabbage Diet, Caloric Intake, Calories, Cottage Cheese Diet, Diet Exercise, Diet Plan, Eating Habits, Exercise Program, Fad Diets, food choices;, Gimmick, Grapefruit Diet, Healthy Diet, Lose Weight, Losing Weight, Odds, Resu, Sounds, Starvation Mode, Universal Solution, Weight Loss —

If you have some excess fat around your tummy then you may be looking at natural ways to lose belly fat. Do you wish you had six pack abs or that pre-pregnancy flat stomach but you really don’t want to use those unnatural shakes or pills? Do you wish there was an exercise program that gave fast results without requiring you to be an athlete?

Well there is a natural way to lose belly fat and basically it involved a good, healthy diet and exercise.

The first thing you want to change is your diet to one that is low calorie. Try to eat as much natural food as possible and less processed foods. A good, healthy diet should include lots of fruit and vegetables and moderate amounts of low fat dairy products and lean meats. Whole grains and legumes are also great to include into your diet.

There are a lot of choices that you can make with your diet that can reduce the calories you eat. For example, eating 1/2 cup of fruit with 1/2 cup of fat free vanilla yogurt will be 105 calories less than eating a strawberry yogurt with pre-packaged fruit. Another example is eating 2 cups of air popped popcorn instead of 1 cup of potato chips will save you 95 calories.

Next you will want to start doing some exercise each day. If you can’t fit in some exercise every day then at least try to exercise five times a week. Cardio exercise is the best for burning off fat but you can burn off even more by combining it with some strength exercises. Studies have shown that people who walked for 50 minutes, 3 times a week lost almost twice as much belly fat as people who only reduced their calories but didn’t exercise.

Cardio exercises include brisk walking, jogging, running, cycling or there are many cardio machines that you can also use. You should try to get 45 minutes of cardio exercise with each workout which is a great natural way to lose belly fat.

Here is a great exercise routine that can have you burn up to 500 calories in one session. First do 3 minutes of warm up exercise. Next push up the intensity for 3 minutes, then push yourself as hard as you absolutely can for 2 minutes. Slow down a little for 3 minutes and then push yourself as hard as you can for 2 minutes. Repeat this 3 minutes regular intensity then 2 minutes high intensity combination for a total of 45 minutes ending with 2 minutes of cooling down exercises.

Working and building your muscles is also very beneficial when you are trying a natural way to lose belly fat. Muscle burns more energy than fat so the more muscle you build the more fat you will burn off when exercising. Try to combine your cardio exercises with some strength training to build up and tone your muscles.

A stability ball is also great for toning your tummy muscles and getting a flat stomach. You can get a stability ball for about $30 from most sporting goods stores. Lie on your back and hold the ball between your legs and lift into the air, hold this position for one minute. This is just one of the many exercises that you can do with the stability ball to help tone your stomach muscles. The ball should come with a manual that will include exercises.

A good diet and exercise that includes both cardio and strength training is the key to a natural way to lose belly fat.

Tags: Calories, Cardio Exercises, Cardio Machines, Diet And Exercise, Diet Exercise, Eating Habits, Exercise Program, Exercise Routine, Flat Stomach, Fruit And Vegetables, Fruits And Vegetables, Healthy Diet, Lean Meats, Moderate Amounts, Natural Food, Potato Chips, Pre Pregnancy, Processed Foods, Strawberry Yogurt, Strength Exercises, Warm Up Exercise, Ways To Lose Belly Fat, Whole Grains —

Perhaps you saw it coming for quite a while, and knew it would get to this point. Or, maybe you looked in the mirror one day and all of a sudden realized just how much weight you have put on over the years. Chances are good that the second scenario is more likely. Most of us don’t want to be overweight. And while we may have a few clues as to how we got here, it still comes as somewhat of a shock. Either way, you have finally made the decision to shed those extra pounds once and for all, and you want to lose weight fast.

Hold on! That is an admirable goal, but you need to step back for a moment and put things into perspective. To put it another way, you need to be realistic and specific. How much weight you want to lose and how quickly will play a bog role in which diet and exercise program you choose.

You still have to be realistic though. If you want to lose 20 pounds in 2 weeks, then you’re not going to have much luck. Not only that, but any diet that makes such promises is most likely lying at best, or bad for your health at worst. It simply isn’t safe to lose that much weight, except for a few rare exceptions, and only if you are doing so under the guidance of a qualified medical professional.

Most experts agree that losing 1 or 2 pounds per week is safe and effective. However, you may be able to bump that up to 5 pounds in the first week in some cases. For most people, 1 to 2 pounds is ideal. It’s not only relatively easy, but you will be more likely to stay on such a diet. If you have a choice between losing 20 pounds over two months, only to regain it; or losing 1 pound per week over the course of 6 months, but keeping it off forever, which one would you choose.

The good news is that you don’t really have to choose. You can still lose the 20 pounds, but if you take the right approach, you will be able to keep it off. It’s all about a simple formula: 3,500 calories is equivalent to 1 pound of body weight. That means if you take in 500 calories less per day for a week, you will lose 1 pound. Or, if you burn off an extra 500 calories per day, you will lose a pound.

So, here’s the real “secret” to lose weight fast: do both! Take in 500 calories less and burn off an extra 500 calories. That’s 1,000 calories per day in your favor. That’s a loss of 2 pounds per week, or just over 100 pounds in a year’s time. And the best part it is that it won’t be nearly as hard as if you were depriving yourself, and that means you will be able to keep the weight off for good.

Tags: Admirable Goal, Calories, Diet, Exercise Program, Formula 3, Guidance, Health, Healthy Diet, Lose 20 Pounds, Lose Weight, Losing Weight, Mirror, Perspective, Promises, Rare Exceptions, Shock —

It wasn’t all that long ago that the Atkins Diet was making the news. People were excited about the idea of being able to eat all the meat they wanted and still lose a lot of weight. The interest in the diet was staggering, and enough people saw impressive results to keep the diet at the forefront for quite some time. It seemed to be more than just a regular fad diet. However, it didn’t take long for people to start questioning the potential bad effects of the Atkins Diet.

Well, the Atkins Diet is still around. It may not get nearly as much attention as it used to, but there are plenty of people who start the program on a daily basis. This is a mark in its favor as it shows it is more than just a fad diet. In fact, a lot of other diets have come and gone since Atkins made its initial splash. But what about the supposed bad effects of the Atkins diet?

Let’s clear one thing up right away: there is no consensus in the medical community as to the long term effects–good or bad–of the Atkins program. They are still worthy of debate and further research, and you should at least be aware of them before deciding to try the Atkins Diet.

On the one side, you have people who have lost a lot of weight on the diet. They are happy with how much weight they have lost, and how quickly (a loss of 5 to 10 pounds in the first week is not unheard of). They also enjoy being able to eat high protein foods, regardless of how much fat they contain. This means eating things like steak, bacon, fish, pork, chicken, beef and eggs. As long as people on the Atkins Diet take supplements and exercise while on the program, they continue to lose weight. One thing is for sure, it’s hard to argue with results.

Results are one thing, and how those results are achieved is another. Critics state that one of the bad effects of the Atkins Diet is that the weight loss comes from not only a loss of fat, but also a loss of water and muscle. So, while they’re not necessarily questioning whether or not people are losing weight, they are asking if the type of weight loss is good or not. There is also evidence that any diet that is high in saturated fat can lead to an increased risk of heart disease. If this is the case, then you need to decide if the higher risk of getting heart disease is better than risk of developing other diseases associated with obesity. Or, to put it another way, the more overweight you are, the more you may want to try the Atkins Diet.

As of now, there is no final word as to all of the effects of the Atkins Diet. The best advice is to talk to your personal doctor so you can discuss your options and see if Atkins is a good choice for you.

Tags: Atkins, Atkins Diet, Bacon, Consensus, Daily Basis, Diet Atkins, Diet News, Diet Supplements, Eating Habits, Eggs, Exercise Program, Fad Diet, Fish, Forefront, Further Research, Healthy Diet, High Protein Foods, Impressive Results, Losing Weight, Medical Community, One Thing, Quite Some Time, Weight Loss —