Is quick weight loss your goal? The quickest way to lose weight is through diet and exercise, end of story. How do you burn more calories than you take in? Starving yourself is silly because it sends your body into a low calorie burning mode, and it could cause serious health issues. Patience is a virtue when trying to lose weight, as with many endeavors. In the long run a smart every day diet combined with vigorous exercise is the quickest way to lose weight. That’s without the yo-yo effect of many fad diets.

Diet doesn’t mean a diet, a short term alteration of normal eating habits. Diet means the everyday, day after day, for all the days of your life way that you eat. A good diet includes foods from each of the food groups, taken in moderation and the right amounts. And with a well balanced diet it’s easy to adjust calories down when you need to lose a few pounds temporarily.

If it seems like a daunting task consider that you likely already eat the foods necessary, just in too large quantities. For many people it’s a simple matter of cutting down portion sizes to move from bad eating to good eating. Even the chocolate cake or cookies can fit into a well balanced diet, if eaten in small quantities. The three weight gain white foods – white bread, white rice, and sugar – can easily be replaced in your diet. Eating whole grain bread instead of white bread, brown rice instead of white rice, and fruits instead of sugary foods are easy changes that don’t require eating much less. .

The key to maintaining a healthy diet is planning. When you fail to plan you skip meals, that leads to binge eating. When you fail to plan you often end up at the mercy of a fast food restaurant or a friend whose cooking leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to healthy foods. Plan meals in advance, including for occasions like parties and social gatherings. It only takes a few questions to find out what’s being served and plan the days other meals accordingly to not ruin your diet. Part of the plan is understanding that sometimes the plan will fail. Don’t let missteps discourage you. One cheated meal doesn’t mean the whole diet, remember it’s an every day forever diet not just a few days diet, has failed.

As for exercise do 30 minutes of aerobic exercise seven days a week. That’s the goal, don’t worry if you miss a day here or there. Add extra exercise such as parking further from the store or office for a little walk, or climbing stairs instead of the elevator.

Combine the healthy every day diet with exercise for the quickest way to lose weight.

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Evelyn Garnett is a new contributor to http://DietingCoach.org the online dieting and weight loss tips and advice resource.