When people want to lose excess body fat they are usually looking for a fast fat loss program. The reason for this is that most of us are impatient. We live busy hectic lives and we want results now. We want to notice the change right away and fit back into clothes we haven't been able to fit into for years. And we want it to be easy - we don't want to work hard to achieve those results.

Most people eat what they want all year round, sleep in to the last possible minute each morning, prefer television over exercising and dream about how next week (or month/year) they are going to lose those extra pounds hanging around the midsection and start a healthy lifestyle.

Suddenly one day they realize that there is just two weeks left before they have to go to the Xmas party or that summer is coming up and they want to look good on the beach.

The problem is when people attempt to lose body fat by a restrictive diet alone, a futile cycle can develop. When weight is lost quickly the body shifts into starvation mode (fat storing mode), that is, it tries to conserve as much energy as it can as it thinks there is a famine.

The human body is a well coordinated working mechanism and it has no idea that you have decided to try and reveal your abdominal six pack and are just doing some new fad diet. It thinks you are starving and it is only concerned about survival. To ensure this happens it slows the metabolism (the rate the body burns fuel) down to conserve energy.

When you go off the diet ? and you will - you will gain all of the lost weight back and some extra pounds in addition to that. To make it simple fast weight loss is always followed by fast weight gain and there are no exceptions to this.

The only way to guarantee sustained, permanent and long term weight loss (fat loss) is to boost your metabolism. The most effective way to do this is to have a greater proportion of functional muscle tissue on your body. And the only way to do this is with strength training exercise.

There is no other type of exercise that can compare with strength training and its effect of the metabolic rate. After each exercise session your body will undergo a significant increase or spike in metabolism which will allow you to burn fat faster than you were able to before. This will even happen while you are sleeping or on the couch watching television.

As you continue to build and maintain your strength your body becomes more efficient at burning body fat. The lean muscle tissue on your body is also what makes you look good. Once you dump off the excess body fat, the lean muscle underneath your skin will be more visible making you look firm, well toned, lean and healthy.

Long term success managing your weight starts with the right approach. If you are overweight, you need to be aware that the real problem is that you have too much body fat for how much lean muscle tissue you possess. A body composition solution is needed which is more than just a weight loss diet. Your goal should be to lose body fat without losing muscle tissue or sacrificing your health in the process.

If you don't incorporate strength training exercise into your weight loss program then look forward to very disappointing results. The key is to burn off the body fat not starve it off. Quality natural whole foods and more energy output are the goal you will need to shoot for. Get your metabolism burning hot and keep it cranking and this cannot be achieved by missing meals and missing workouts.

Exercising without maintaining a balanced diet is just as harmful as dieting while remaining inactive. Decreasing calories through reduced food intake is not nearly as effective as increasing calories burned through proper exercise. Lots of muscle activity through strength training exercise and lots of good food, not calorie deficiency has the far greater power to get you lean and healthy for life.