It has been common knowledge for many years that the best way to lose weight is to create a calories loss by eating less calories than your body requires and to burn additional fat through exercise. This is accurate information and the secret to a positive outcome to any weight loss program over the long term.

Generally, we consume around 2,000 calories each day and experts suggest that this is what the average person requires. If by following a calories loss eating plan, you reduce your food intake and only eat 1,500 calories daily, your body needs to search for the energy required from the 500 calories you did not eat from another source. This source happens to be the fat your body is storing and that you want to shed!

A calories loss diet together with exercise is a certain way to lose weight. Losing as an example, 5 pounds, will require you to reduce you calories by 17,500 as there around 3,500 calories in each pound of fat. Even when they promise this and more without effort, the latest quick result diet, diet powder or diet pill can not provide the weight loss results you want in the long term.

Medication can not burn the extra calories that you can through what you eat and how you exercise. We know that fat burning does come through calories loss but losing weight is more than just watching your calorie intake. For all aspects of your body's health you need to balance what you eat by making sure that your menu includes foods from each of the different food groups.

An unbalanced diet consisting of only salad and diet soda will not help you lose weight as this is not enough for your body to operate in a healthy way. Your body needs more than this because it needs to be fuelled by food. A healthy food program should provide this fuel and reward your body for the work it does instead of punishing it.

Common sense dictates that there is only one way to fuel your body so that it remains healthy even when you are losing weight. This is the inclusion of a variety of foods including fruits, healthy fats, whole grains and vegetables. 'Not so difficult' you may think 'But what about eating these foods even when you'd rather your high calories favorites like donuts with coffee and deep fried fish and fries'?

Changing established eating patterns is not always easy when what you want is a piece of pie and ice cream and what your body needs is a fruit salad and serve of healthy yogurt. To lose weight you will need to choose the later and make this choice as part of a change to your lifestyle change rather than just another temporary diet. This will guarantee a calories loss that will in turn help bring about the weight loss you crave across the long term.

Choose to make your health a priority, watching your calorie intake as a guide and instead of punishing your body for being overweight, celebrate your body and feed it so that your body gets strong and healthy. A diet that is rich in whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, hormone free lean meat, and other ingredients combined with regular exercise is the best way, and the only way, to get truly fit and to get your body to the ideal weight.

So, even if your eating and exercise lifestyle changes feel a little strange at first because they are new and different, persevere because in time they will seem NORMAL. The greatest challenge is surviving the time of initial calories loss. By the time this change becomes part of your new pattern of living however, your weight loss will have begun and you will feel confident and wonder how you ever lived any other way.