1. You are not doing a proper exercise program - The new way to lose weight is to increase your metabolism (your body's engine) to burn off unwanted body rather than trying to starve it off. The only type of exercise that will do this is strength training exercise.

2. You are relying on old fashioned cardio activity ? Long, slow, steady state activity like walking, jogging cycling is not intense enough to raise the metabolism permanently.

In the 1980's we were only concerned with what happened during an exercise session. Research not tell us that we need to be much more concerned with what happens after the exercise session is over for long term body fat loss.

3 You are on a restrictive diet and are not exercising - You must combine a good diet with proper exercise. A diet alone may help you lose weight short term, but eventually you will gain it back (and then some). Exercise helps tone your muscle tissue and raises your metabolic rate. By raising your metabolism, you can increase your weight loss.

4. You are not eating enough calories - Under-eating is one of the big obstacles in the fight to lose weight. Many people believe if you decrease your calories you will lose weight. Your body requires a minimum amount of calories to function properly and if you go below this level you will send your body in 'diet shock.' This lowers the metabolic rate in an effort to avoid starvation. Fat loss stops and energy levels plummet.

5. You are exercising without a proper balanced diet ? It you are not eating properly there is no way you will have enough energy to do justice to your exercise program. You will just be going through the motions. You need to be able to train hard with your strength training program to see real results.

6. You don't have a properly structured exercise program ? Doing a couple of exercises here and there without a proper plan or schedule will not produce good results.

Have a fitness professional set up your program and not only teach you exercise technique but also the level of intensity (degree of effort) needed for real results.

6. You never change your exercise routine - You must change your routine often to keep the results coming. You must perform a variety of strength training exercises and be looking to progress in them. That means you need to continually increase your strength levels if you wish to stimulate your body to make the changes you desire.

7. Making excuses about time and money ? If you are the sort of person that finds lot so excuses why you cannot get in shape and lose weight you are going to have a hard time making progress. You can always make time if you really want too.

And the few dollars each week that it costs to belong to a gym is well worth it to have access to lots of difference equipment to make your workouts interesting and challenging. But then it is always going to be easier to make excuses than get to the gym and workout.

If you are serious about improving your body, you are serious about improving your health. Analyze this list and if you need to make an attitude adjustment or two, do so. Losing weight and toning muscles is not always easy, but no one has said it would be. But when it happens the results could change your life and you will need a bit of effort to get those results.