The advantage of regular exercise not only includes weight loss, but more important is that consistent exercise results in body fat loss and development of muscle tone, which shows most when clothes are skimpier. This improvement can be felt quickly, as the muscles are worked and get used to the demands made of them. When you feel more fit, you start to hold yourself up, stronger and prouder. Posture improves and you just look better, overall. For someone who has not been exercising regularly, after a quick checkup by your doctor, simple walking can be a great way to get started! But, in order for it to be effective, you have to do it on a regular basis; at least 3-5 days a week. When just starting out, 3 days a week of 20 minutes per walk may be plenty. It may even be a challenge at first! If you keep it up, though, shortly it will get easier. As it gets easier, progression to 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week will be more effective. If someone started walking 4 miles per hour (15 minutes per mile) for 30 minutes, 5 days a week, they will start burning roughly an extra 1500 calories a week. Although this will only result the loss of a few pounds in 10 weeks, the increase in your resting metabolic rate will also increase with regular exercise. Your resting metabolic rate is how many calories you burn at rest. The higher your metabolic rate, the more calories you burn when just sitting! So, without even changing the way you eat, you're already working towards some weight loss.

This brings us to the second step for preparing the body for summer, which is making some changes to the diet by increasing your intake of fruits and vegetables. There are three advantages to a diet high in fruits and vegetables;

1. these foods are rich in antioxidants, which help protect the skin from the harmful, oxidizing effects of the sun and toxic chemicals from the hot air,
2. they also have been shown to help fight against heart disease, cancer and obesity, 
3. finally, they will fill you up on fewer total calories because they are high in fiber and bulk. If a person were to eat 5-10 servings of fruits and vegetables per day, which is the recommendation of many health organizations, today, they would feel fuller on fewer net calories by the end of the day. Theoretically, they could end up eating 200-500 fewer calories per day, which further helps with weight loss. Plus, you would feel better, your hair, skin and nails would look better, and you would become more regular.

The final important step to preparing for summer is to increase your intake of water. Sixty percent of our body is water. Studies have shown that a diet adequate in water helps with weight loss, helps moisten skin, decreases dryness, can help prevent the development of wrinkles, keeps the hands and lips moist, can help fight heat exhaustion, and even has shown to decrease bladder cancer in men. Although there is a lot of debate over just how much water each of us needs, a good individual rule of thumb is to drink enough water so that your urine is clear by the afternoon. Worry about staying up all night going to the bathroom? Then drink most of your water in the first half of the day. Don't like water? Then experiment with various temperatures of plain water, or add a slice of lemon or orange to your water. Perhaps you can find a flavored (not sweetened) water. Even eating a diet high in fruits and vegetables and getting plenty of other fluids can be adequate for some, because these foods and other fluids also provide free water for the body's needs. 

Now is the time to start getting ready for summer! It is not too late. If you start on these steps now, you will be well on your way to feeling great, looking great, and be prepared for a new you this summer, strutting your stuff in those brand new shorts that are sitting in your closet
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Your program should consist of a combination of resistance exercise (weight training) and cardiovascular exercise (aerobic). One or the other won't usually be enough for long term fat loss.  

As stated above, the body likes to burn muscle before it burns fat. Weight training forces your body to conserve and build muscle, thus preserving it.  If you weight train, your body wills not burn muscle tissue for energy!  Now your body just has 2 things to burn:  glycogen and fat.  How do we get the body to burn the fat? Aerobic exercise!  This consists of any low to moderate intensity, long duration activity. Cycling, jogging, rowing, dancing, stepping (stair climbing) are all aerobic activities. These primarily burn fat, after the glycogen is used up.

How do we use the glycogen up? This is where the weight training comes in. The trick is to do your weight (anaerobic) workout first, which burns most or all of your glycogen and then do your aerobic exercise! The body then has nothing left to burn but fat (remember, it won't burn the muscles because it needs them for the weight training). 
You can still burn fat from cardio without weight training first, but it takes the first 15-20 minutes to burn off the glycogen before it even starts to burn fat. This glycogen is put to better use to power a weight session and cuts the duration of your cardio by 20 minutes. Since you're weight training anyway it makes sense to add just 15-20 minutes of aerobic exercise after your workout.

To put it simply: Do an intense weight workout for about 45 minutes and proceed immediately to your aerobic activity (cycling, Stairmaster etc.) for at least 20 minutes.  This will supercharge your body and keep it in the "fat burning mode" for several hours after (your body can't easily store fat while it's burning fat). You can sip a carbohydrate drink as you do the aerobics, and have a high protein meal or shake within one hour of completion.  Be sure to drink lots of water throughout. I suggest workout 3 times per week for fast benefits.

1. You are not doing a real exercise program.
Doing a couple of exercises without a plan or schedule won’t produce good results. For the best results, you should design a detailed workout plan.

2. You are on a diet without exercising.
You must combine a good diet with exercise. A diet alone may help you lose weight, but eventually you could gain it back. Exercise helps tone your muscles and raises your metabolism rate. By raising your metabolism, you can increase your weight loss. Exercising along with a diet plan is the best way to achieve and maintain a healthy body.

3. You are exercising without a balanced diet.
You must eat a balanced diet to achieve and maintain the results you desire. Working out without dieting properly will only lead to frustration, mainly because of lack of results. Dieting combined with exercise is a must for the full body transformation process.

4. You are not eating enough calories.
Under-eating is one of the obstacles in the fight to lose weight. Many believe if you decrease your calories you will lose weight. Your body requires a minimum amount of calories to function properly. If you don’t provide your body with that amount you will not see results. Even the smallest person should consume at least 1,200-calories a day. Your calorie intake is determined based upon your weight and activity level. To lose weight you have to eat balanced meals with enough calories.

5. You never change your routine.
You must change your routine often to help you improve. For example: If you are exercising on the elliptical machine everyday at the same speed, eventually you will reach a peak and stop progressing. You must perform a variety of cardiovascular and weightlifting exercises. When the results slow down or stop, switch your routine to give your body another challenge. If your body is not stimulated by change, it will stay the same.

6. You are a complainer.
Most people suffer from some form of pain and discomfort at times. Try not to use excuses simply to avoid using a machine or doing an exercise. If you minimize the whining, you will see better results.

7. You are arrogant.
Some individuals are too arrogant to improve. If you desire excellent results, you must be able to take constructive criticism and move forward. Everyone has something that can be improved about their body. Remember, you are only hurting yourself if you don’t diet and exercise, not the professional trying to assist you. IT’S YOUR BODY!!

8. Making excuses about time and money.
The top two excuses for slacking on health and fitness are “not enough time” and “not enough money.” And they are exactly that: Excuses. Women spend crazy amounts of money on hair, make-up, nails and clothes, none of which will produce a lifelong change or improvement in your health. It’s time to toss the excuses, ladies. You can always find the time and the money for the things that we really want. If you arrange your schedule correctly you can find one hour to workout. Or you could adjust your budget to spend your hard earned money on something very important- Your Health! Can you put a price tag on your health? It is easier to make an excuse than it is to just workout, or to spend your money on junk, instead of health foods.

If you are serious about improving your body, analyze this list and make attitude adjustments if needed. Losing weight and toning muscles it’s not easy, but the results could change your life. You must use effort to get results.

How do I lose fat? The do's and don'ts for effective fat loss

This seems to be the question on everyone's mind, and for good reason, fat is so easy to acquire and so hard to get rid of. Most bodies love to store fat; it's good security for when you run out of food. This is unlikely, but your body doesn't know that. Unfortunately, the body loves storing fat so much that it will burn anything else available (muscle tissue, stored carbohydrate, etc.) before digging into the fat reserves, unless you trick it.

The first thing your body will burn is stored carbohydrates in the form of glycogen. The next is muscle tissue, only then does it grudgingly dip into the fat stores. This is why most diets don't work, especially "starvation" diets. When you suddenly cut off the food supply, a survival mechanism kicks in causing the body to store every little bit of fat that it can!  This results in weight loss, but not much fat loss, and as soon as you DO eat something, it immediately gets stored as fat to replace any that was used. This is NOT what you want, so you have to fool the body into thinking it doesn't need fat. Here is a list of effective ways to do this, and you won't even have to starve yourself! It's never easy though.

Change your eating habits. Don't diet! Make a permanent change in how you eat

1)     Limit, but don't cut out high fat foods: Dietary fat can be stored if taken in excess; however, some fat intake must be maintained to prevent the body from storing every bit of fat it does get. (See #6 below).

2)  Limit high sugar and high glycemic index foods (including fruit): Simple sugars (and many "complex” carbohydrates) get easily converted into fat, and can also be the cause of high cholesterol. Glucose, fructose, and sucrose are all simple sugars and malt dextrin (common in many "weight gainer supplements) has a very high glycemic index putting it in the same category as simple sugars.  I'm not saying not to eat fruit, as they contain many beneficial vitamins, just don't overdo it. Keep it to 2 or 3 pieces a day.

3)     Eat more frequently: Yes, you read that right!  Eat 5 or 6 smaller meals a day (or 3 main meals and 2 -3 healthy snacks (protein shakes work well). There are several reasons for this, they are:

·        With smaller servings, your stomach will shrink and you will get full faster.

·        Digesting burns a surprising amount of calories, eat more often and burn more calories! 

·        When you eat a large meal, the body takes what it needs, and saves the excess as, guess what? FAT. Smaller meals prevent this even if you eat the same amount overall.

4)     Never eat before bed: Plan your last meal to be at least 2 hours before bed. The body likes to store fat while you sleep if you eat too soon before bed.

5)     Eat slowly: It takes your stomach about 20 minutes to signal the brain after it is full. If you eat too fast you will think you are still hungry and eat more. If you're still a bit hungry after eating, do something to take your mind off food for at least 20 minutes and you'll most likely forget about the eating.

6)     Don't totally cut out fat: Keep some fat in your "non diet", as it helps get your body into a "fat burning mode". Keep it "low to moderate fat" not "no fat".  Try to stick to the "good" fats such as those from fish, flax oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, olive oil, peanut oil.

7)     This won't be easy so sometimes give yourself a break. Allow yourself one "treat" per week, or even a day when you can eat whatever you want, and really enjoy it! 

8)     Eat foods that take lots of energy to burn: These include most vegetables (especially the fibrous ones) and protein sources such as meat. Cut the visible fat off red meat and remove the skin from chicken. Water-packed tuna is very good (if you like it). 

9)     Take it easy on complex carbohydrates as any excess gets easily converted to fat. This includes rice, pasta, potatoes, and any "starchy foods". Eat these regularly, but not too much at one time. If you want to lose fat faster, cut down on these foods and replace with protein and good fat (for example: olive oil, almonds, etc).

10)       The breakdown should be about: 40% protein, 30% complex carbohydrate, and 30% fat. This can be varied but keep the protein high and control your body fat by manipulating the carbohydrate content. Most of the fat in your diet will come from the protein sources.

Remember: “Breakfast” means break the fast. This is your most important meal of the day. You have not eaten anything for more than 6 to 8 hours. As mentioned above if you don’t eat your body will be burning your hard earned muscle tone until it gets the fuel it needs.