Emma Davies is Expert Found's Health & Fitness Editor.

Safe & Lasting Weight Loss

Despite what you see on infomercials and read in magazines, fad diets don’t work and there is no magic pill. Safe and lasting weight loss is a lifestyle change, and it’s a change you must buy into before you begin any weight loss plan.

Hopefully you are making this decision before your doctor has told you that changes are necessary for medical reasons. Regardless, you should seek your doctor’s consent before you get started. Inform Him/Her of your plans to begin a healthier lifestyle consisting of an exercise program and proper balanced nutrition. This allows your doctor the opportunity to impose any restrictions on your new activities based on your medical history.

Now, with the approval of your doctor in hand, you can begin to work with a qualified Personal Trainer who can design your personalized program to safely guide you towards your health and fitness goals. Inform your Trainer of the type of activities you enjoy - by including these activities in your new routine, becoming more active will not be as stressful and as a result your chances of lasting success greatly improve.

Your personalized exercise program should be designed to suit your specific needs and goals and consist of a brief warm-up, cardiovascular training, resistance(weight) training, a warm-down, and flexibility training. If one of these components is missing your program is incomplete which can lead to injury, poor results and loss of enjoyment. In addition, as your body adapts to the training your program should include gradual progression in frequency, intensity, and time. This progression is a key factor to continued success and will help avoid plateaus in your progress.

Your nutrition program needs to be balanced and sensible; enjoy a variety of foods from all the food groups. No food is perfect, so mix and match as many foods as possible, this will help you get all the nutrients you need. Paying attention to portion size and method of food preparation are also important components of your plan. Emphasis should be put on fruits and vegetables, as well as grain products such as: whole grain breads and cereals. When you choose your dairy products, they should be low in fat. Meat selections should be lean and choose foods that are prepared with little or no fat. Water is an essential nutrient for survival; it is recommended that we consume 8 to 10 glasses of water a day, stay hydrated for good health. Salt, alcohol, and caffeine consumption should be limited.

Safe and Lasting Weight Loss does not come in a bottle, it comes from regular exercise, and a balanced sensible diet. It comes only after you have made the decision to make positive changes in your lifestyle that will improve your health and quality of life.

© Copyright 2007 by Bob Cater

Bob Cater, PTS, CAPT, is a Certified Personal Trainer Specialist and a Certified Advanced Personal Trainer. With a passion for endurance sports, Bob is also certified as an Endurance Sports Trainer and Fitness Nutrition Coach. http://www.getfitnow.ca