The essence of weight loss is very simple – burn more calories than you consume on a regular basis and you will begin to lose weight. Exercise is pretty easy for everyone to understand, however, there are so many different ways to diet that it can be confusing to decide what direction you want to go in to achieve your goals. You need to analyze yourself and your goals so that you can make the proper assessment as to which diet will fit your lifestyle and help you get the results you want.

Take a look in the mirror and weigh yourself on a scale to get an idea of how your body looks and how much you weight. Now you can make an honest assessment of what changes you want to make to your body (i.e. lose belly fat, gain arm muscles, etc.) and how much weight you are looking to lose. Please remember that dieting and exercising regularly should not be treated like a game-show; proper weight-loss and enhanced fitness only comes with a regular investment of time and energy, and the results should be gradual and not instantaneous.

There are many fad diets promising dramatic weight-loss (i.e. Pure Liquid Diet, Apple-a-Day Diet, etc.) and while you may actually achieve some dramatic weight-loss using these diets, it is impossible to maintain these diets for any longer than a few days or weeks (depending on the diet). This is because these diets starve your body of the calories and nutrients you need, so your body responds by breaking down fat and muscle into energy. So while you will be getting skinnier, the weight you will be losing will be part muscle, so you will actually be getting less physically strong. Additionally, diets are meant to complement your work-out plans as part of a balanced and healthy lifestyle. If you choose a dramatic fad diet then you will not be taking in enough calories to work-out regularly and will likely find yourself hungry and getting headaches, dizziness, nausea, and other side-effects caused by improper nutrition.

The best way to choose a diet is not to pick and choose the one that sounds the best – while you may find some luck in the one you choose, most people do not select the correct diets for themselves and end up becoming frustrated with mediocre or poor results. This is a recipe for diet relapse, so it’s important you contact a professional to assist you in making the right nutrition choices. Whether you contact your doctor, personal trainer, or weight-loss management group, it is critical that you get the outside insight and perspective from a trained health-specialist. These experts will help you get that push in the right direction in selecting the best diet for you – this should give you confidence in the food choices you make going forward to get the body you know you deserve. Finding out what the right diet for you is not an easy question, but when you do find the answer know that it will be worth it.