If your goal is to improve your physique the first thing you need to be sure of is that you are eating enough food to support a proper exercise program. The World Health Organization states that a diet of less than 2100 for males or less than 1800 is a starvation diet. Yet it is common especially for women to eat around 1200-1400 calories per day in the hope that they will lose weight.

But the truth of it is that you simply would not have enough energy to do justice to a proper exercise program will so little fuel. You would just be spinning your wheels and will be very disappointed in your results.

The most common mistake among exercisers both male and female is getting stuck in the old belief that if they eat fewer calories and exercise more, they will lose that much more weight and body fat. If your activity level is high and your calorie intake too low, you force your body into a near-starvation state where your exercise performance suffers and your energy/stamina levels consistently drop.

As a result, you end up slowing your metabolism (your body's engine) because of the lack of fuel (calories). You have triggered the 'survival mode' an ancient mechanism in our genes to stop us from starving. The body will even go after its own lean muscle tissue and break it down to be used as fuel for energy so it can hold on to the stored body fat. Losing this precious tissue further drops the metabolic rate and strips your body of all the quality nutrients needed for optimum health and performance.

The solution to your problem is simple: You need to eat more calories to support your physical activity level. You must do this slowly and at the same time raise the quality of your food and carefully space your meals. Active women should eat between 2000-3000 calories per day and men at least 1000 more. To get into lean, trim and toned shape you need to eat as follows.

?Between 5-7 small meals each day

?Each meal should contain 20-30 grams of protein

?Each meal between 300-400 calories

?Eat every 2-3 hours throughout the day

?Eat within an hour of getting up in the morning

?Add lots of raw and cooked vegetables

?Add a small amount of complex carbohydrate such as rice, pasta, grains or sweet potato

Eating this way will strip off unwanted body fat by raising your metabolic rate every minute of every day even when you are resting. You will have enough strength and energy to really work at your exercise program further stimulating your metabolism. Once this slow wheel starts turning you will be amazed at how quickly you can get yourself the body of your dreams.

Make sure your exercise program contains at least 60% strength training exercise to keep your metabolism as high as possible. No other type of exercise can do this for you. Forget long, slow, repetitive, low intensity activity like walking, jogging or cycling. These recreational activities are great for an overall active lifestyle but can never replace a proper exercise program. Perform interval training (short bursts) instead once or twice each week.

When you eat properly you will find you have a bonus of naturally high motivation levels. You will feel so damn good that you will want to be active and will look forward to burning off this natural energy in a physical way. This in turn makes you feel even better so you become super charged.

And this is because you are having more, more food, more energy, and more strength which gives you more get-up-and-go. This is the compete opposite of a diet, which means less, less food, less energy, less strength, less vitality and less out of your life. The decision is easy, make the change right away and watch your body change just as you would like it as you work with it instead of against it.