Here I'll be giving you an idea of what the difference between fat loss and muscle loss is, and how one can lose weight in terms of fat. Earlier, when I was uninformed about fitness, as a lot of people are these days, I thought just eating less would suffice. But I was wrong.

Fitness is a tripod which consists of exercise, a healthy diet and rest. Only when these 3 come together does a person start becoming fit. It is better not to exercise if one does not have a good diet and rest.

Generally what people do is to starve themselves to lose weight. This is a huge mistake. This is because, the body not finiding any fuel, which is the daily intake of carbohydrates, to burn, will use up the muscles in the body to provide energy first and then the fat. Effectively after the diet plan is over, which could be anything thing upto a month, your body would have lost weight but in the form of muscle. Thus your functional strength would have decreased. Also, once you start eating normally, you would put on both fat and muscle, but due to the earlier loss of muscle... the fat % would be more. Hence, this makes you more and more unfit.

So, the best way to lose weight is slowly and steadily, with a natural balanced diet. A balanced diet means eating all the things in moderation. Do not leave out any food at the same time do not binge eat on any.The best way of exercising is to do both weight training and cardio, on alternate days, as it gives the benifit of both, i.e., a healthy heart and stronger muscles with an increased Basal Metabolic Rate. Regularity is also a prerequisite. Besides this one needs to be motivated everyday. To achieve this, put up photographs of what you want to look like around you (that's what I do).

A misconception I want to clear up is that there is no way of losing weight quickly if you want to lose it the right way. Yes dieting will help you lose weight (that too the muscle) in the shorter run but remember, fitness is a life long commitment to oneself. So exercise well, eat well and sleep well, that is what my motto is. In the next article I will talk about what weight training does in the body and why it is so important. Take care and stay fit.