Losing weight is more attainable than most people think. It does not come easy or quickly; but with patience, routine and discipline it is possible to burn fat and loose a lot of weight.

Contrary to what you have heard on TV and other media outlets, there is no quick weight loss routine. Most of the products they try to sell you do not work and is not worth your time or money. So if you are still trying to find a quick weight loss routine you need to re-evaluate your goals. Loosing weight require nothing more than some knowledge and effort.

On average a healthy weight loss routine will cause you to burn a pound of fat every week. These numbers vary based on your size. Larger people may loose more than a pound of fat per week but as you get closer to your weight loss goal, your body settles down to a pound of fat per week.

To loose a pound of fat, your body needs to burn 3500 calories. To put this into perspective a large cheese pizza has about 2500 calories. So if you eat a lot of pizza then you are piling on the calories. By eliminating one and a half whole pizzas from your diet, you will loose little over a pound of fat. Loosing weight comes down to caloric intake. By consuming less calories and burning more calories, you will loose weight. It's is a simple as that.

Weight Loss Routine

Step 1: Calculating Your Body Fat

To start your weight loss routine, you first need to calculate your body fat percentage. Your body fat percentage is the ratio of fat you have in compassion to the rest of your body. You can use an online body-fat-calculator of calipers to calculate your body fat.

Next you will need to classify your body based on the calculate body fat percentage. Here is table showing the classifications of different body fat percentages:

Men Women Classification

2-4% 10-12% Essential Fat

5-13% 13-20% Athlete

14-17% 21-24% Fitness

18-25% 25-31% Acceptable

25% >31% Obese

Based on the table above you will be able to see where you and your body fit and what body fat percentage you need to have in order to achieve your goal of fat loss.

Step 2: Setting Your Goals

You next step in your weight loss program will be setting your goals. Your weight loss goals can be anything from loosing 5 pounds to a 100 pounds. It all depends on how much weight you want to loose.

When you are ready to begin you need to ask yourself "Am I serious about the idea of loosing weight?" If you answered yes then you need to prepare yourself for the journey ahead.

Now loosing weight is not a complicated matter, but it will require a lot of effort and discipline on your end. I can merely provide you with the tools to achieve your goals but you will be the one to implement these tools.

To loose weight you will need to workout out consistently and monitor your diet. You will need to lift weights and do lots of cardio to but calories and fat. Also you will have to eliminate all junk food from your diet and eat a more health, nutritional and balanced diet.

Step 3: Let The Fun Begin

To start things off mark down your body weight and your body fat percentage. Then continue eating your regular diet for a day and count all the calories you consume in a single day. Once you have done that, take the total calories and subtract 500 calories from your diet. Doing this alone will cause you to consume 3500 calories per week and loose a pound of fat per week. Also I recommend eating several small meals throughout the day instead of a couple of large meals as this will keep your metabolic rate up which will help burn more fat. For a good diet check out my weight loss diet article.

Next you need to get yourself in a workout routine. A good workout routine will consist of three days of weight training and three days of cardio. For a good work out routine check out my newbie workout routine.

It is important to incorporate weight lift or weight training within your weight loss routine as this will help build muscle which burns calories. In my newbie workout routine, I recommended doing 30-40 minutes of cardio 2-3 a week. However, when it comes to weight loss the more cardio you do and the more intense it is the better it is for you. When loosing weight I would recommend doing at least 60 minutes of cardio 3 days a week. If you can do more that's even better. Cardio can include anything from walking, running, swimming, bicycling, playing sports, etc. Remember that the more intense your cardio workout is, the more calories you will burn, and the more weight you will loose.

Follow this routine and at the end of the week weigh yourself and measure your body fat percentage. You will find that you have lost weight. If you haven't, don't be discourage just keep following this routine and you will see guaranteed results sooner than latter.

Keep up the routine until you have reached your weight loss goal. If you find that you have plateaued and aren't loosing any more weight with this routine, then it is time to kick it up a notch. You will need to be on a stricter diet, consume even lesser calories, and workout longer and at a more intense rate. As you loose more and more weight, it becomes harder to loose weight as your body gets used to your routine. So in order to loose the last couple of pounds you will need to kick it up a gear.

Additional Tips

It is important to get at least eight hours of sleep as this is needed by your body to repair itself after your workouts. While your body is repairing itself and building muscle, you will be burning calories which will help you loose weight.

I recommend that you do not weigh yourself everyday as your weight will fluctuate. Your body is largely made up of water and this fluctuation in weight is due to the change in your water weight. The best gauge for how much weight you have lost is to measure your body fat percentage. Your ultimate goal is to get your body fat percentage down which will result in healthy weight loss.

So there you have it. Follow this weight loss routine and you will reach your weight loss goal in no time at all.