It has happened to plenty of people, maybe even to you. Diet and lose weight, come off the diet and gain the weight back. But who wants to diet forever? There is a way to lose weight without a special diet plan, books, or medicine.

Do you want to lose 5 lbs, 10 lbs or 50 lbs? How much weight your lose and how fast you lose it is determined by only one set of principles. We learned that principle when we learned first grade math. Our body weight is determined by the amount of energy that we take in as food and the amount of energy we expend in our daily activities.

Calories are energy. So if you do not gain weight, it isn’t that you do not or cannot gain weight. Rather, you are probably taking in the same amount of calories that you burn each day. If you're slowly gaining weight over time, most likely your caloric intake is greater than the number of calories you burn throughout the day.

Our intake of calories in any given day is completely within our control through the amount of food we eat.  To a large degree, we can control the number of calories we burn each day. The number of calories we burn depends upon the number of calories our body burns just being alive, and our physical activity.

Our weight does determine how much energy (or calories) we burn at rest. Keep in mind that muscle mass burns more calories than fat. So while many say cardio, cardio, cardio is the path to weight loss, a strong muscular body burns more calories, so you should have a plan for both cardiovascular exercise and weight bearing exercises in your fitness program.
 
Lifestyle and work habits partially determine how many calories we need each day. For people who do not have jobs that require intense physical activity, exercise or increased physical activity can increase the number of calories burned.

An average woman 31-50 years of age who leads a sedentary lifestyle needs about 1,800 calories per day to maintain a normal weight. A man of the same age requires about 2,200 calories. Keep in mind this is a very rough estimate. Participating in a moderate level of physical activity (exercising three to five days per week) requires about 200 additional calories per day.

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Losing weight isn't easy, but understanding how much activity it takes to lose 1 lb is important knowledge to help you lose 5lbs or even lose 10.

For every pound you want to lose, you'll need to eliminate 3,500 calories--through eating less, working out more or, for the most effective and healthy approach, a combination of the two. The good news is that your body burns energy just by being alive (each person's amount varies), so cutting a few hundred calories through diet and exercise will be enough to get you into a smaller size.

Not losing weight? You may be underestimating the number of calories you eat in any given day. Track your meals and calculate your calories burned working out. Pay attention to what you are drinking. Most people don't think about their beverages, but most have lots of calories.

It is recommended that you trim your calorie intake to 1,500 calories per day--no fewer, since eating too little can throw your metabolism off. In order to drop weight faster, you need to increase your activity. You'll burn more energy, which will bump up your calorie deficit.

You need to increase your metabolism to lose weight and fat once and for all. By combining nutrition, resistance training, cardio respiratory exercise, and personal assistance you will be on your way to the new, healthier and slimmer you.