I just don’t have time to exercise!

This is a common excuse everyone makes.. It takes a lot of courage to submit to a strict regime of exercise and diet control so to attain the fat loss desired. If you are not ready to make a life style change, you cannot escape the clutches of the life style diseases.

How does one start on this fat loss and exercise journey?

1. Think realistic. It is very important to set a realistic goal when trying to lose weight because losing more weight by starving yourself would only lead to more harm than good. A target of losing two to four pounds a week is reasonable.
2. Plan. Plan every activity and diet change that would lead you to your goal. The plan should be one you can follow regularly, or else it would not be effective.
3. Make the necessary diet changes. Decrease the intake of salt, sugar, processed foods & colas. All of the above mentioned items are just calories and no nutrition. Reducing the amount of unhealthy calories would inevitably result in more fat loss.
4. Eat more fruits and vegetables. The minimum requirement of fruits and veggies of a day is five servings. Check on the number of servings of fruits and veggies that you take on an average day and you would be surprised. Most people tend to ignore the healthy foods and gorge on white processed foods adding to their fat troubles. When you make a conscious effort to take at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day, you would soon see you have more energy in addition to other positive effects, like the glow on your face.
5. Count your calories. Keep a food journal and count every morsel of food that goes in. you would be surprised to see how many calories you take. Aim for a calorie deficit of 500 per day to lose one pound in a week. The deficit of 250 calories should come from diet and the other 250 from exercise.
6. Move more during the day. Be as active as you can. If you are at a sedentary office job, get up every 30 minutes. Get a glass of water, make a quick round in the office and come back. A break of 5 minutes is enough to perk you up for the next hour reducing the need of coffee. And also it increases your physical activity through out the day.
7. Exercise. Exercise is the most important component of weight loss regime. Cardio exercises, strength exercises as well as flexibility exercises are all good aides in burning calories. Burning all the excess calories is the trick to getting a leaner and fit body.
8. You feel you are so overweight that you cannot exercise. This feeling is just in your mind. There are some or the other exercise form which you can always do and not feel the strain on your knees or feet. If you are overweight, start with walking slowly and gradually increase the pace and time. If you feel you cannot walk, try swimming. Swimming is a cardio exercise that burns as much or more calories as any other cardio exercise, but lacks the stain on your body. Water supports the frame of your body and reduces the strain.
9. Develop an interest for a physical game or activity. If you are interested in games like tennis, badminton, squash or other activities like dancing, take up these on a regular basis. These are fun activities burning an unbelievable amount of calories per hour. So your passion can be your fat loss device as well.
10. Add strength training to your exercise regime. Strength training would not increase the bulk, as is a misconception, but rather aid in defining the muscle mass and add to the lean muscle. It would help you get a leaner look even when you are not exactly at the target weight. Also addition of lean muscle would aid in improvement of metabolism, burning more calories in a day.

In short, fat loss is a life style change. Make small changes in your diet and fitness regimes and when you are comfortable with one change, add another. This is a sure shot way to attain the leaner and fit body you intend to have.