Everywhere you look you see crazy fad diets. Some are “new concept break throughs” and others have been around for decades riding the wave of changing strategies. They may even work temporarily by helping shed ten pounds of water weight. But lets be honest with ourselves, if they worked that great everybody in the world would be running around with six packs. The reality of it is that at best you can shed some water and pretend in your mind that you lost some fat. In truth you more than likely may have lost some muscle and put on a little fat (lets not forget that muscle weighs quite a bit more than fat).

Ok, yes this article is not generaly for those of us already on the path to salvation, but for those who are always looking for the “quick fix”. If you are sitting on your couch eating chips, cookies, or cake, wondering why you haven’t lost any girth while sitting around this weak, this is for you.

I will say this once. If it is easy, it won’t give you any lasting results. In order to acheive lasting results in any fitness program you must first set real attainable goals. Then you set smaller goals to hit every week. Would you go on a trip without first plotting a course? of course not, but that is how most people enter the gym. I am begining to believe that people join gyms expecting to fail on some subconscious level. In order to be successful you must decide to make it work.

Second, you must change your entire lifestyle to suit the new one. Get rid of all the bad food, TV, or any habits that bring you down. This is where most everybody quits. People love bad food and being lazy. This is where the third step comes into play.

Use the stuff you love as a system of rewards if you must. Once you have implemented the workout and food change, reward yourself once a week or month for staying on the path. If you can keep it up for six weeks it will become a habit and will then be a part of you life.

You will also find that the scale will become pointless once you feel good. In fact you will gain a few pounds the first few weeks of training. This of course is muscle mass that will then in turn begin to burn more fat calories. If you do it right it will be tough. You will begin to be satisfied by the soreness and exhaustion as signs that your body is growing stronger and you are becoming the action hero you always wanted to be.