Best Ways to Shed Body Fat

Who doesn't want to find a quick, easy, painless way to lose weight?

In your quest for find the best ways to shed body fat, research is definitely the key, in addition to focusing on what appeals to you most in order to increase your odds for success.

Start out by determining what it is you're looking to accomplish from a weight loss program.

* Lose a few pounds quickly?
* Lose a lot of weight over time?
* Lose weight at a slow, steady pace for health reasons?
* Adopt a healthy eating plan and lose weight as a bonus?

Once you've narrowed down your ultimate goal, you can eliminate some of the plans/programs out there that don't fit your specific needs.

Once you've decided what your ultimate goal is, you can now take a look at yourself. Give yourself a brutally honest evaluation considering your lifestyle, likes and dislikes, strengths and weaknesses.

Are you the type of person who needs to be held accountable? If so, you may want to look into working with a fitness coach, a friend or look into joining a program where you need to check in once a week to be weighed, or turn in a food journal.

If, however, you prefer to go it alone and you can keep on task without having to work with someone else, then maybe a book outlining a daily plan for you to follow is all you need.

OK - so you now you should have a pretty good idea of your goals, in addition to what type of plan or program will work best for you.

Pick a plan and get started! Once you've selected your weight loss plan of choice, prepare yourself as much as possible.

This includes getting rid of all the junk food in your fridge, stocking your cupboards with healthy food and snacks, stocking up on mineral water, etc. Buy yourself some new work-out clothes if that's the case. Do whatever you can do to get everything ready for starting your new healthy venture.

Here's the challenge - commit to your new plan for at least 4-6 weeks.

It's easy to be motivated and gung-ho for the first few days, but you really can't establish a new habit (get rid of an old one) in less than that amount of time.

Don't get discouraged. Be patient. Keep yourself motivated. Follow your plan!

Know that your persistence WILL pay off. Don't compare your results with anyone else. This isn't a race or a competition...it's about you getting fit and healthy and losing the weight.

After you've been on your program for 4-6 weeks, it's time to re-evaluate.

How are you doing relative to your weight loss goals? Have you hit your goals? Are you close? Have you noticed any measurable results, or are things pretty much the same as when you started? Is it worth continuing...or is it time for something else?

If you have given your plan an honest-to-goodness try for at least 30 days, and you are not getting the results you were expecting, then it's time to make a choice.

You can choose to continue on with the program for another 30 days and see what happens, or you can cut your losses and start back at Step #1. If you choose to start on another plan, really think about why things didn't work out.

That way, when you do pick another plan, you'll have additional insight into what worked and what didn't work in your initial plan.

Sometimes, it's just a matter of "tweaking" your plan - customizing it to make it more your own. You could follow the plan, but find that a couple of things you want to do work out nicely with the plan, and give you better or faster results. By all means, do whatever you have to do to achieve that success!

If you have success (even a little!) along the way, you will be far more likely to stick with the program for a longer period of time and thereby escalating your chances of success even more.