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If something seems to good to be true, it often is. There is no easy way to lose weight. Take it from me. In high school I was an athlete with a rock hard body and no worries about what I ate. Now in my thirties and two pregnancies later, I have learned a very valuable lesson about weight loss and health. There just is not an easy way to lose weight, period. Mind you, there are fad diets that may help you to lose weight quickly. However, the weight always comes back once you finish the diet.

I have tried everything. Atkins, Detox diets, cabbage soup, starvation, the diabetic diet, and so on. These diets and every other diet have one thing in common, once you stop them, the weight comes back.

I had a baby four months ago and I am now 2 lbs lighter than I was the day I got pregnant. I still have 40 lbs to go to get down to my ideal weight and I am well on my way. How am I doing it? Old fashioned, hard work. Here is my advice:

1. READ EVERYTHING ABOUT WEIGHT LOSS.

Knowledge is power. I religiously read magazines such as Fitness, Shape and Prevention. These magazines offer tips, recipes and a variety of workouts to ensure that you do not become bored with your routines and continue to challenge your body to work harder.

2. CONTROL PORTION SIZES AND EAT MANY SMALL MEALS THROUGHOUT THE DAY.

Portion sizes are often smaller than half of the portions we are piling on our plates or being served in restaurants. I have found it helpful to keep a food diary. This way I am not depriving myself of anything on any given day. I had a burger and a small order of poutine yesterday. I simply tailored my eating for the rest of the day to make up for the extra calories and fat. There are free calorie counters available on the Internet. This is a quick and easy way to track what you are putting into your body. By controlling portions and keeping a food diary, you are making a lifestyle change. Your body is learning to be satisfied with smaller portions and you are training yourself to balance your diet. Don't starve yourself! 1800-2000 calories a day is a good range for most active adults. If your diet includes a lot of healthful foods, 1800 calories can add up to a lot of food.

3. YOU MUST EXERCISE.

There is no way around this. Our body are machines, they need to work. Muscles work like this: move it or lose it. Muscle loss slows your metabolic rate (the rate at which we burn calories). Less muscle means more fat and more fat means less energy. I do 45 minutes of cardio 3-4 times a week and weight training twice a week.

4. MAKE NO EXCUSES FOR YOURSELF.

You must commit to change. Losing weight is hard work. You must never give up. There is no excuse for not taking care of yourself. You are not only doing yourself a disservice by not being healthy and active, you are also letting your friends and family down by shortening your life expectancy and the quality of your life. Once you stop making excuses not to work out, you will soon find that you're feeling so much better about life and yourself that you will be finding excuses TO work out.

The bottom line is that weight loss and healthy living is hard work. We would all like to believe in a magic pill or some other kind of quick fix. However, the only way to achieve true weight loss is to work hard. Once you embrace this knowledge and make a firm decision to change your lifestyle, the weight will begin to drop off and you will begin to enjoy the process. Working out has been wonderful, life-changing experience for me. It has shown me that with hard work, anything is possible.

Learn more about this author, Elaine Pash.
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