In the fast food instant gratification society we live in everyone wants the quick and easy fix for everything. In regards to weight loss and dieting, ask yourself the question, did you gain the weight overnight? Well, it isn't coming off overnight either.

One of the toughest things you will ever do is accomplish the goal of losing weight and keeping it off. A good diet is only a portion of the overall weight loss program, it's possible to lose weight by dieting alone but maintaining it for a long time is difficult and also slows your metabolism if you attempt to do it without exercise.

Our bodies are made for survival, so there are built in mechanisms to help accomplish that mission. One of the strongest of these is the anti-starvation instinct which kicks in when we try to lose weight by simply cutting calories. Your body thinks that you are having a problem finding enough food and goes to work to protect itself from starvation by slowing down you metabolism which makes it even more difficult to lose weight.

This is the reason why you need to combine an exercise regimen with your weight loss program; exercise helps to keep your metabolic rate up. Any time you attempt to withhold something from your body in an attempt to trick it you will get a negative result. This is the same reason that you can't lose water weight by eliminating drinking water; your body will retain water thinking that you are going to dehydrate.

In addition to the negatives I have already given you, a diet without exercise will also result in the loss of muscle. Whether you know it or not the more lean muscle your body contains the more calories you burn, so you guessed it. Muscle loss results in less weight loss do to a lower metabolic rate. A proper exercise regimen will assist you in losing fat while maintaining or even gaining muscle which is desirable for long term weight loss management.

You aren't alone if your desire to take a magic pill and sit on the couch watching TV and eating Doritos. Almost everyone would rather eat celery sticks and drink only water than subject themselves to an exercise program of any kind, and God forbid, sit-ups! This is exactly why our nation as a whole is obese and our children are facing an obesity epidemic. You don't have to exercise like you are training for a triathlon; there are some simple things that anyone can do that will help you lose weight.

One thing you can do that almost everyone is able to do is just walk. Start with just 15 minutes and work on increasing it. You don't have to walk the whole distance at once either. You can work up to doing 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes at night and that will go a long way to helping you keep your metabolism stoked, how hard is that?