If you are not prepared for what you'll experience when you do the Master Cleanse there's a good chance you'll fail. Typically lasting just 10 days, it's easy to see why people just "jump right in" to the Master Cleanse thinking it will be easy. It's not.

During your time on the Master Cleanse you are likely to experience hunger, aches, and irritability. Most people give up because of hunger. Putting solid food aside for a couple days and only drinking liquids is harder then most people think. Even though the cravings for whole foods can be difficult they do subside after a few days on the Master Cleanse.

So rule number 1 for finishing the Master Cleanse is getting past the third day. Instead of focusing on completing the entire 10 days from the onset of the cleanse just focus on getting past day 3. Breaking the Master Cleanse down into smaller milestones will be a big help.

Rule number 2 for finishing the Master Cleanse is dealing with aches and soreness. Headaches are one of the most common Master Cleanse side effects, but some people also get body aches.
 
To reduce aches you should drink a lot of water. It's also good to relax and not push your self too hard when you do the Master Cleanse. Exercising should be kept to light walking and stretching. Your body will be going through a rigorous cleansing process during the Master Cleanse, and won't be able to adequately recover from intense exercise during this time.

Rule number 3 for finishing the Master Cleanse is overcoming irritability. This affects the people around you more then it does yourself, but it's something you need to be aware of before starting the Master Cleanse.

It's best to let the people around you know that you're going to be doing the Master Cleanse ahead of time so they can do their best to accommodate you. Also try to plan your Master Cleanse when you're not too busy. Most of us can't just take 10 days off to do the Master Cleanse, but you should try to avoid doing it when you're swamped at work, or have other stressful events going on in your life.

There's more to succeeding at the Master Cleanse then I can cover in this small article. If you are serious about trying the Master Cleanse and want to be one of the people who do make it through the whole 10 days the Master Cleanse Secrets book is the most complete guide available for helping you get through the Master Cleanse.   

Is it that time of the year, again? Summer is over, the fall is here, and winter is just around the corner. What does this mean for the fitness lover in all of us? We are all in the midst of the yearly battle where we fight fat all throughout the holidays. We are constantly bombarded with empty sugar-filled "gifts" from our holiday work party, or our family and friends get-togethers.

What is the health conscious and fitness fanatic to do with all the external pressures to fall into the holiday rut of eating out of control and munching on whatever is placed in front of us? Sadly enough, we will always be bombarded by our own parents, friends and family with their never-ending requests to eat, eat, and eat some more! But you will survive, not gain any fat, and maybe even lose some weight with my "Dieters Holiday Survival Guide". I'm going to get you geared up with the tips and tools that you will need to fat and win the war on holiday weight gain.

Don't get me wrong, I am not here to take the fun out of the holiday season. Because what would you prefer? At your next function to have your family and friends murmur "Wow, did she put on some weight?", or comment "She looks incredibly fit!" I am actually here to help you survive the holiday season without even gaining one pound, and maybe even slimming down a bit. And I have developed a plan that will allow you to enjoy the best of both worlds. My program will allow you to meet your fitness goals, without ostracizing you too much from your holiday cheer with your friends and family. Just read on…I will show you how to build the best body ever for the New Year!

Your Workouts

Let's get real! The holidays are surrounded with food, and tons of it. You will be forced and shoved in front of food, whether you are hungry or not. Therefore, you must exercise to balance off the increased caloric intake during this winter time. Some fitness gurus and so- called experts state that exercise is a choice, and not necessary. This is a flat out lie, and I am here to tell you that exercise is mandatory. But don't think of exercise as a chore that you must squeeze in between Aunt Barbara's Yule Log, and Uncle Steve's spiced egg nog. Try viewing exercise as an "I get to!" not as an "I have to!" When you exercise, you are getting fresh blood and oxygen to every cell in your body. What a "fat incinerating" treat! And in addition, this gift giving season, give yourself the greatest gift of all, the gift of exercise. Your heart, lungs, and muscles will all love you for it!

And digest this: Treat your workouts like important business meetings that you cannot be late to, call in "sick" to, or cancel. And your workouts are with the most important person in the world-YOU! You must go ahead and pre-schedule your workouts as a priority meeting that is already blocked out. Aim for at least four invigorating workouts per week. If you get to five in, then congratulations. And if you achieve six complete workouts a week, then hats off to you!

Plan Your Food In Advance

To survive this holiday season without gaining a pound, and even better yet, maybe even losing some weight, we need to understand "planning our food". I call my own meals and the order and content of them my "Food Plan". I never have called it a "diet". Why? Because what are the first 3 letters of the word DIET? Yup! DIE! We all don't want to DIE! We want to live, and live optimally and eat wisely in order to meet our fitness goals.

It's smart to plan your meals in advance and to follow a certain system of eating. To master planed eating and stop eating accidentally (eating whatever comes in front of us) is when a true weight loss master is born. Thinking ahead per meal is one of the best weight loss strategies anyone can accomplish and master. And don't get overwhelmed, its pretty easy.
Follow this tried and true food formula: one lean source of protein, combined with about ½ cup of whole grain carb, plus about one cup of a fibrous carb. This will be for your breakfast, and lunch, and then for dinner omit the complex carb.

Aim to "eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper", making sure to concentrate your amount of calories in the early part of the day. And if you know that you are going to a "gut bomb" of a dinner party, and then prepare yourself by eating a healthy small meal before you go. This small healthy mini-meal will help curb your hunger and insure you don't over eat on junk when you are at the party.

Sample food plan:

Breakfast-the biggest meal of my day

Mid morning snack is protein shake made with water

Lunch is still satisfying large in portion

Late afternoon snack is another protein shake with water

Dinner is a lean source of protein with my fibrous carb of choice (salad, broccoli, asparagus, etc)
Therefore aim to eat early, often, and taper off the calories as the day goes, and you will be able to still fit into that "little black dress" on New Years!

To Drink or Not to Drink, This is the Question!

'Tis the season to eat, drink, and be fat! This is my motto for all of those who are NOT on a program. Just leaving your body to the fate of the holidays and all the parties, you pretty much can be guaranteed gaining weight this season. Those of you who are on a food and exercise plan, our motto is "Eat high protein, low carbs, drink water and protein shakes, and be merry! Your body will thank you by being more efficient, effective, burning fat faster, and having more energy to take upon this super busy season.

And now the topic of alcohol! Many of us are still confused on if alcohol is good for our or not. Here is the answer in plain presentation. Alcohol is empty calories, most of it sugar. Its not rocket science to see that when one consumes alcohol, those empty calories pile on quickly. In addition, when someone drinks, their appetites tend to increase, therefore the effects of drinking quantify. Once scientific study proved that one drinks a cocktail at dinner, they consume up to 600 calories more, than if they did not have a drink.

I am not here to tell you not to loosen up with a cold one, and be a social stiff all holiday season. But drink in moderation. And if you don't want to seen unsocial, simply take a glass of wine or champagne that is offered, take part in the toast, and sip socially, only to leave most of that "sugar" in the glass! And here is another holiday tip: instead of a fully loaded drink, opt for a "wine spritzer" where it's half the amount of wine that is diluted with a splash of soda water. Add a twist of lemon, and you have slashed your calories in half.

This Season, Let Your Body is a Walking Advertisement of Your Health

Your holiday office party is coming up very soon, as well as your family get together to celebrate the season. One of your first questions is likely going to be "What am I going to wear?" If your diet and exercise plan is in order, then what you wear really doesn't matter. This is because your body can't lie! It will show everyone if you have been "cheating" on your food plan, or if you have been putting yourself back on your to do list, and making eating right and exercising priority on your list.
I remember one holiday season when I was around 200 pounds (and maybe can you too!) when I would wear big black baggy clothes, big hair and tons of makeup to try and "mask" me being over weight. Now this holiday season, I am celebrating the fact that I have finally gotten my weight under control. Now I pride myself in being able to not hide my body, but show off my physique, and your body is your biggest advertisement on whether you are living optimally, or not. It's your choice, so choose wisely!

Sample Dieters Holiday Survival Workout

Mon Tues Wed Thurs Friday Sat Sun

Legs Upper Cardio Legs Upper Cardio Off

On weight training days, aim to perform 45 minutes of weight training exercises. Execute 3 sets of 8-12 reps at a weight that is challenging for you.

On cardio days, perform 20 minutes to 45 minutes of a type of cardio that you prefer.
Sunday, or one day of the week, needs to be a rest day to keep you rested.

This year, you can have your best body ever, and still enjoy the holiday season with your friends and family. The key is moderation, making sure you get to your workouts, and also pre-planning your meals. You can start the New Year looking sleek and sexy with my tips and fitness expertise in this "Dieters Holiday Survival Guide", and not look like Santa Clause himself!

Fitness expert and author, Jennifer Nicole Lee (JNL), has become an icon for women and fellow moms across the world with her amazing 70-pound plus weight loss success story. To ultimately improve her physical and mental health and become more active with her children, JNL began a regimen of exercise drills and performance nutrition. Training as an athlete, JNL's goal was to lose weight, with the ultimate goal of entering a bikini contest. Less than one year later, JNL entered the ultimate figure competition and was crowned Miss Bikini America 2004, realizing her goal and proving that mothers can still be sexy, fun and fit!

This empowering experience catapulted Jennifer Nicole Lee into the health and fitness industry and gained her the respect of countless professionals. She has shared her compelling weight loss story on national talk shows including Oprah and Inside Edition, and has proudly graced the covers of over 15 fitness magazines. Please visit Fitness Model Program for my #1 effective weight loss program.

 If you walk down the aisle of any grocery store you’ll see dozens “low fat” and “fat free” food items nearly everywhere you look.

The whole world has gone “low fat” crazy — and most people think that if they just begin eating low fat foods then their bodies will have less fat too.

Sounds logical right?

Wrong.

You see, the problem with this type of thinking is that there is no “direct” relationship between fat calories eaten and fat tissue on a person’s body.

The truth is that your body can convert ANY type of calorie to fat tissue, not just fat calories.

For example, if you eat 2 lbs. of sugar every day then you’ll probably gain some fat tissue after a while – but yet sugar has ZERO FAT CALORIES in it. So eating 2 lbs. of sugar every day is a “fat free” diet, but yet you’d still gain fat.

Likewise, if you eat a huge bowl of white rice at every single meal then you’d soon gain fat tissue on your body – but yet this is a fat free food too.

So what does that tell you about eating fat free foods?

Not only that, but there are plenty of low fat cakes, cookies and desserts sold at every grocery store. Yet, do you honestly think that these foods are “healthy” merely because they are low in fat?

Of course not, and you’ll gain extra fat if you eat too much of them.

In fact, our entire society has been eating low fat foods in greater quantity over the last decade – but yet our society is still getting fatter and fatter. So that should tell you something about low fat diets.

You should stop thinking “non fat” and “low fat”– since those are just buzz words designed to make you feel as though such foods are healthy.

The truth is that you don’t need to worry about “fat” calories so much, and you also don’t need to worry about total “carbs” so much either…

What you need to worry about is the exact types of foods that you combine together at each meal, so that you get the proper portion of fat calories and carbs at each meal – which will maximize weight loss.

To begin losing weight fast we recommend using the new Idiot Proof Diet from Fat Loss 4 Idiots — because it's not based on "low fat" foods.

In fact, it's not based on "low calories" either, and it's also not based on "low carbs" (since low carb diets don't work very well)…    The Idiot Proof Diet is a brand new type of diet never seen before, so give it a try and watch the pounds come off fast.

You can begin this new diet right here.

Health issues are also another concern why people get extremely anxious about their weight. We all know that obesity is related to a variety of diseases. Diabetes, Kidney failures, Cardiovascular diseases, excessive cholesterol are all caused by obesity. With such compelling reasons, we ought to consider trimming down our weight.

Once you know the basics, weight loss is not difficult. If you are adamant about losing weight than you have to adopt a few changes. Foremost of all, your diet menus; what you consume for your three main meals; do you always snack on chips, burgers and take soft drinks? If the answer is yes, then that the main reason why you are gaining weight. Snacks food like those listed above are high in calories. Consuming those results in the extra calories converting to fast in your body.

Eat nutritious and healthy foods, which are not high in calories to help remove unwanted fats from your body. Green Vegetables and raw fruits are great choices to consider.

Foods that are high in calories although gives your body a lot of energy, they are not very nutritious. The excess energy is converted and in turn is stored as fats in your body. Furthermore, most people are lazy to exercise. With this, it is a combination, which makes people gain weight extremely fast.

Controlling your food intake will not help you to shed weight quickly. You will need to supplement this with exercise at least one to two hours daily. If exercising is not your forte, than consider doing short walk half and hour daily either before breakfast or after your dinner. Supplement this with a gym workout; weight loss will even be faster!

Most fitness conscious people have heard that there are 3,500 calories in a pound of fat, so if you create a deficit of 3500 calories in a week, you lose a pound of weight. If you create a deficit of 7000 calories in a week, you lose two pounds, and so on. Right? Well, not so fast…

Dr. Kevin Hall, an investigator at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda has done some interesting research about the mechanisms regulating human body weight. He recently published a new paper in the International Journal of Obesity that throws a wrench in works of the “3500 calories to lose a pound” idea.

Some of the equations in his paper made my head hurt, but despite the complex math he used to come to his conclusions, his article clearly prompts the question, "3500 calories to lose a pound of WHAT?" His paper also contained a lot of simple and practical tips you can use to properly balance your caloric intake with output, fine tune your calorie deficit and help you retain more muscle when you diet.

Below, I’ve distilled some of the information into a simple bullet-point summary that any non-scientist can understand. Then I wrap up with my interpretation of how you can apply this data in your own fat loss program:

Calculating the calories required to lose a pound and fine-tuning your caloric deficit

    * 3500 calories to lose a pound has always been the rule of thumb. However, this 3500 calories figure goes back to research which assumed that all the weight lost would be adipose tissue (which would be ideal, of course).
    * But as we all know (unfortunately), lean body mass is lost along with body fat, which would indicate that the 3500 calorie figure could be an oversimplification.
    * The amount of lean body mass lost is based on initial body fat level and size of the calorie deficit
    * Lean people tend to lose more lean body mass and retain more fat.
    * Fat people tend to lose more body fat and retain more lean tissue (revealing why obese people can tolerate aggressive low calorie diets better than already lean people)
    * Very aggressive low calorie diets tend to erode lean body mass to a greater degree than more conservative diets.
    * whether the weight loss is lean or fat gives you the real answer of what is the required energy deficit per unit of weight loss
    * The metabolizable energy in fat is different than the metabolizable energy in muscle tissue. A pound of muscle is not 3500 calories. A pound of muscle yields about 600 calories.
    * If you lose lean body mass, then you lose more weight than if you lose fat.
    * If you create a 3500 calorie deficit in one week and you lose 100% body fat, you will lose one pound.
    * But if you create a 3500 calorie weekly deficit and as a result of that deficit, lose 100% muscle, you would lose almost 6 pounds of body weight! (of course, if you manage to lose 100% muscle, you will be forced to wear the Dieter’s Dunce cap)
    * If you have a high initial body fat percentage, then you are going to lose more fat relative to lean, so you may need a larger deficit to lose the same amount of weight as compared to a lean person
    * Creating a calorie deficit once at the beginning of a diet and maintaining that same caloric intake for the duration of the diet and after major weight loss fails to account for how your body decreases energy expenditure with reduced body weight
    * Weight loss typically slows down over time for a prescribed constant diet (the “plateau”). This is either due to the decreased metabolism mentioned above, or a relaxing of the diet compliance, or both (most people just can’t hack aggressive calorie reductions for long)
    * Progressive resistance training and or high protein diets can modify the proportion of weight lost from body fat versus lean tissue (which is why weight training and sufficient protein while on calorie restricted diets are absolute musts!)

So, based on this info, should you throw out the old calorie formulas?

Well, not necessarily. You can still use the standard calorie formulas to figure out how much you should eat, and you can use a 500-1000 calorie per day deficit (below maintenance) as a generic guideline to figure where to set your calories to lose one or two pounds per week respectively (at least that works “on paper” anyway).

Even better however, you could use this info to fine tune your caloric deficit using a percentage method and also base your deficit on your starting body fat level, to get a much more personalized and effective approach:

15-20% below maintenance calories = conservative deficit
20-25% below maintenance calories = moderate deficit
25-30% below maintenance calories = aggressive deficit
31-40% below maintenance calories = very aggressive deficit (risky)
50%+ below maintenance calories = semi starvation/starvation (potentially dangerous and unhealthy)

(Note: According to exercise physiologists Katch & Mcardle, the average female between the ages of 23 and 50 has a maintenance level of about 2000-2100 calories per day and the average male about 2700-2900 calories per day)

Usually, we would suggest starting with a conservative deficit of around 15-20% below maintenance. Based on this research, however, we see that there can be a big difference between lean and overweight people in how many calories they can or should cut.

If you have very high body fat to begin with, the typical rule of thumb on calorie deficits may underestimate the deficit required to lose a pound. It may also be too conservative, and you can probably use a more aggressive deficit safely without as much worry about muscle loss or metabolic slowdown.

If you are extremely lean, like a bodybuilder trying to get ready for competition, you would want to be very cautious about using aggressive calorie deficits. You’d be better off keeping the deficit conservative and starting your diet/cutting phase earlier to allow for a slow, but safe rate of fat loss, with maximum retention of muscle tissue.

The bottom line is that it’s not quite so simple as 3,500 calories being the deficit to lose a pound. Like lots of other things in nutrition that vary from person to person, the ideal amount of calories to cut “depends”…

Note: The Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle program not only has an entire chapter dedicated to helping you calculate your exact calorie needs, it was designed very specifically to keep a fairly conservative approach to caloric deficits and to maximize the amount of lean tissue you retain and minimize the amount of metabolic adaptation that occurs when you’re dieting. The approach may be more conservative, and the fat loss may be slower, but it has a better long term track record… You can either lose weight fast, sacrifice muscle and gain the fat back like 95% of people do, or lose fat slow and keep it off forever like the 5% of the people who know the secrets. The choice is yours. For more information, visit: http://www.burnthefat.com

References:

Forbes GB. Body fat content influences the body composition response to nutrition and exercise. Ann NY Acad Sci. 904: 359-365. 2000

Hall, KD., What is the required energy deficit per unit of weight loss? Int J Obesity. 2007 Epub ahead of print.

McArdle WD. Exercise physiology: Energy, Nutrition, and Human performance. 4td ed. Williams & Wilkins. 1996.

Wishnofsky M. Caloric equivalents of gained or lost weight. Am J Clin Nutr. 6: 542-546.

About the Author:

Tom Venuto is a natural bodybuilder, certified strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS) and a certified personal trainer (CPT). Tom is the author of "Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle,” which teaches you how to get lean without drugs or supplements using methods of the world's best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn how to get rid of stubborn fat and increase your metabolism by visiting: www.burnthefat.com

One of the most effective rapid weight loss diets is the 7 days soup diet. This diet basically consists of different kinds of soups in your diet and is a great way to detoxify the body. It is divided into 7 days regime. On the 1st day of your 7 days soup diet you can have soup and fruits.

Try and avoid fruits which have more sugar content like banana and mangoes. Cantaloupe and watermelon are great to take since they have lower calories than most of the fruits and are very filling too. Apart from soup and fruits you can take unsweetened tea, cranberry juice and plenty of water. You should have minimum of 8 to 9 glasses of water everyday.

For the second day of the 7 days soup diet, you have soup and vegetables. Leafy vegetables are great and can be consumed either cooked or raw. You can also have baked potato with butter. There are no restrictions on the quantity that you can eat. But you are advised to refrain from eating beans, peas and corn and fruits. Day Three of the 7 days soup diet comprises of a mixture of fruits and vegetables taken with soup.

Baked potatoes are not allowed to be taken on this day. Already weight loss can be noticeable in fact you might had shed 6 to 7 pounds by now. On day four of the 7 days soup diet, bananas and skim milk are on the menu. There are no limit to the number of cups of milk that you want to drink and you can consume up to 8 bananas.

Do not forget your soup as well. The reason for bananas and milk intake here is because your body requires potassium, carbohydrates and proteins. Calcium from is milk is for lessening your craving for sweets. The 5th day of the 7 days soup diet would include meat and tomatoes. You can have 10 to 12 oz of meat and a can of tomatoes or 6 fresh tomatoes which would help to wash out all the uric acid in your body. You must have minimum of one serving of your soup.

The 6th day of the 7 days soup diet includes meat and vegetables but no baked potatoes. You can have 2 to 3 steaks if you like and have as many leafy vegetables your heart desires.

The final day of the 7 days soup diet plan include brown rice, vegetables and fruits juice that are not sweet. It is for certain that your weight had drop by 10 to 17 pounds by now. Even though effective for weight loss, the 7 days soup diet is nourishing and healthy as well. However to ensure that the weight loss is permanent, exercise regularly and not just rely on the 7 days soup diet.

Being overweight is a problem for many people and with that they will try to find any mean possible to drop that weight. However, people don't always consider how damaging a diet might be; all they are concerned about is getting rid of those extra pounds.

One of the healthiest, effective and fast ways to loose weight is the cabbage soup diet. This diet is a low fat high fiber diet that helps to get rid of excess weight. The cabbage soup diet should be followed for seven days only and not longer than that. When you are following the diet you should drink lots of water and follow the diet religiously While doing the cabbage soup diet you can also take multivitamin tablets.

You must have as much soup as you want and don?t make yourself starve else you would get tempted to break the diet. You can add different spices to make your soup more interesting and appetizing. The soup itself, for the cabbage soup diet consists of cabbage, tomatoes, and onions, which are all high in fiber and help to burn fat. You can add any vegetables you wish, such as peppers or celery and season with whatever spices you have available.

To add a little more flavor you can also add some chicken broth. Along with the soup you can have fruits of all kinds except for bananas, because they are high in sugar. On the first day of the cabbage soup diet you should drink unsweetened tea.

The second day of the cabbage soup diet you can also have vegetables but no dry beans or corn; you may also have a baked potato in which you can spice up.

On the 3rd day add fruits and vegetables along with the soup. On the third day of your cabbage soup diet you can have fruits, vegetables and soup.

On the fourth day you can have banana and milk and not to forget the cabbage soup.

The fifth day would include tomatoes, meat or fish and the soup.

On the sixth day you can have soup, meat and lots of green leafy vegetables.

The final day of the cabbage soup diet you can have fruit juice and vegetables and rice. It is important to know that during the time you are on this diet you should not eat any bread or drink alcohol or any soda, even if they are "diet" drinks. Juices, unsweetened tea, black coffee, and skimmed milk is fine to drink while on the cabbage soup diet.

The best way to do this diet is alternate week by week, this is diet for a week then stop for a week and then continue if you so wish. This way the cabbage soup diet is a sure and effective method to shed excess body fats.

If you are interested in weight loss, then you should have known that there are weight loss diets that will help you in cutting down the fat and hence reduce weight. With the increasing fast food joints and tempting tasty foods, you should not give up your weight loss resolution. This does not mean that you have to resort to the older boring diets.

The weight loss industry is gaining importance and hence various diet recipes are now formulated for those who are engaged in losing weight. Diet shakes are excellent source of all essential nutrients and they lack calories. You can make your weight loss diet more interesting by adding chilled weight loss shakes that will satisfy your taste buds. You don't have to spend more time for preparing the shakes.

In just a few minutes, you will have delicious diet shakes in your hands. The important appliance you need for preparing shakes is a good blender. Preparing diet shakes at home offers various benefits. One could add whatever ingredients one wished for. If you don't like any particular fruit, then you can omit that and include some other fruit of your choice. You can also make shakes according to your calorie requirements.

When you are preparing diet shakes at home, you are saving money and hygienic shakes are guaranteed. If you want milk based diet shakes but need to limit the calories you can use soy milk which is also very high in protein. Switching around from vegetable shakes to fruit shakes gives you a variety and also helps to give your body the essential vitamins and minerals it needs daily. You can also add supplements to your diet shakes if you wish to make sure you get all the vitamins your body needs.

It is important to not add sugar to your diet shakes as that will add calories. The fruits and vegetables should give you all the taste that you need and if you need extra sweetness or taste, add a little juice. Always wash your vegetables and fruits well before blending your diet shakes; there are many pesticides and chemicals you want to make sure you eliminate before using the vegetables or fruit.

If you wish, you can add ice to give your shake more consistency and crunch. However you choose to make your diet shakes, always remember that no diet plan is effective without being consistent and having a daily exercise plan.

There are many physicians who are quite skeptical about fad diets and have strong opinions concerning the well being of the person who decides to use this type of plan to lose weight. Diets such as The Atkins or cabbage soup diets will give you fast weight loss results, but they are also quite unhealthy and can and have caused people to have real physical illnesses. Also, the problem with these types of fad diets is that once you get off the plan, you gain all that weight back again. Fad diets are designed for you to eat a great deal of food in one meal and then skip the rest of the meals. This is by far the least healthy way to try to lose weight.

It is much better for you to drop the weight slowly, eating three balanced meals a day consisting of the right types of food that work with your body. Including a regular exercise routine combined with a healthy diet is the safest way to lose weight. In fact, an overweight person who is physically active can be much healthier than a person who is thin but does not exercise. There is a misconception about carbohydrates; they don't make you gain weight.

Carbs are the fuel for your body and is essential for energy. Many fad diets will eliminate carbohydrates from your diet, which can lead to dangerous consequences. A person needs to measure their BMI (Body Mass Index) to find out if indeed they really do need to lose weight or if they just think they do. Fad diets feed on what society thinks is "the perfect body" and thus many people think they need to shed some pounds when actually all they need to do is exercise and tone up.

Granted, it is imperative to lose some weight if your doctor deems you overweight or even obese, as carrying that extra weight can lead to heart problems as well as diabetes and hypertension. In the case of being overweight or obese you should certainly consult your doctor and let him or her put you on the appropriate diet that is suited for you and don't just take it upon yourself to try a fad diet that is not guaranteed to work or have lasting results. Any food can be eaten even if you are on a diet.

Reducing weight is all about having balanced food and calculating your calories intake properly. A human body is not designed to be on a fat-free schedule for days. All you need to be aware of is the amount of calorie intake in a meal. The fad diets encourage restriction on certain food items which is not wise to do. Eat a balanced meal and break a meal into three or four parts to increase the number of meals.

The proper way to lose weight is always about exercises and proper calories intake planning. It is not about substituting one kind of food for another. Don't let the diet dictate the kind of food you eat but rather you decide. Eat what you like only just be aware of your calories intake and the way your body function. For example a spicy acidic takes longer to digest. In short, there no shortcut to weight loss. The answer to losing weight doesn't lies with fad diet.

2. BMI Calculator
Body mass index (BMI) is a measure of body fat based on height and weight that applies to both adult men and women.

3. Body Fat Calculator
An alternative method to calcuate body fat based on a formula developed by the U.S. Navy

4. Calorie Counter
This calorie calculator will calculate the calories burned by someone of a particular weight running for a specified distance.

5. CalorieKing
Has comprehensive nutritional info

6. ExRx
Animations of hundreds of exercises (by muscle group)

7. Keep a Food Diary
Here is a page you can print out and use as your daily food diary to track your food intake, and if you wish, your emotional eating habits and alternative behaviors.

8. Weight Loss Goal Estimator
This calculator provides a basic assessment of the time taken to lose weight. A calorie deficit can be obtain either by consuming less food, and/or by including exercise.