Who wants to reach their goal extremely slow and easy?  Most people will take the “easy” part but forget this whole idea of slow.  I imagine, if I could show you a way to lose 20 lbs over the next 7 days, I’d probably be very wealthy.  It’s the holy grail of weight that everyone is looking for: a fast weight loss diet.

It’s probably a lot smarter to look at percent body fat rather than weight, when you’re setting your goals.  If you’re on a quick weight loss diet plan and you don’t accompany it with some sort of fitness program, it’s not going to be quick.  But, the factor which seems to confuse people is the whole idea of gaining muscle while losing fat.  If you’re doing it right, your size and percent fat will drop rapidly, but your actual weight may not.

A pound of muscle is a lot more dense than a pound of fat.  That means, if you lose one pound of fat and replace it with one pound of muscle, you’re going to be smaller.  It’s a matter of human physiology that can’t really be argued.

Knowing all this is one thing, but figuring out the quickest weight to reach your goals is another.  Bottom line, you need to burn more calories than you’re consuming.  It’s like a mantra for me.  I just won’t let people be fooled any more by these wild weight loss claims.  Burn more, consume less.  It’s really that simple.

So, what’s the best way to burn more?  Engage in some sort of cardio exercise to not only burn off calories as you’re doing it, but also kick-start your metabolism which will help you through the rest of the day. But, don’t stop with the cardio alone.  If you don’t add in some sort of resistance training or weight training, you’re going to not gain muscle.  Building muscle will help raise your metabolic rate which helps you burn more calories all day long, even while you’re resting.

So, piece this all together and you know you have to consume less calories with a healthy diet.  Burn more calories with some aggressive cardio exercises and then add some muscle with some sort of resistance training.

This isn’t the stuff you’re going to see promised on late night TV but it is something you can count on actually working.  If having a fabulous body was fast and easy, we’d all have one.  It takes time, dedication and hard work.  Anything worth having, does.