How do I believe we can lose real fat and safely? I learned this myself after years of yo-yo dieting, and it wasn't until I stopped trying so hard, and started to make small seemingly insignificant changes in my lifestyle that I achieved real fat loss.

I am inspired to write about burning fat because the herbal drug "Ephedra" and non-ephedra magical pills are always being advertised. Touted as a safe natural herb (there is no such thing), Ephedra in particular is used as a performance enhancer ( why the recent athlete who died may have been taking it ), or a weight loss fat burner. It is found in many over-the-counter supplements which promise a six pack abdominal area (we've all seen the before & after shots). But not only is this drug not a magic weight loss aid, it's dangerous. And even the less dangerous touted weight loss aids don't work unless we take the steps to burn off the fat.

So, now if we reluctantly admit fat burning isn't easy, we can try some safe tools that do work:

Realistic Expectations. Before we discuss the fat burning tools, let's accept that there is no overnight way to burn fat. Let's focus on the tools of fat burning rather than watching for immediate results. Start with small changes and pile them up like college credits!
Eat Less Calories. Sound simple? It can be if we get out of our own way of all or nothing at all. Let's make small adjustments each week to save a few calories here and there while we watch them add up to loss. How? Eat smaller portions (try appetizer portions), order lower fat foods (baked potato instead of fries), make special low fat requests (dressing on the side). Do this over the course of six months and watch the waistline get smaller even though the scale may move more slowly. This may sound boring and tedious, but it works.
Eat More Food by Eating High Volume Low Calorie Foods. Salads and vegetables top the list. Get creative and eat these as often and as much as possible. Eating foods which take more time to chew while giving us a larger portion, fill us up without filling us out.
Burn More Calories. Burn more calories everyday by exercising a little more (add 10 more minutes of aerobics; an extra session), and add more walking. Let's walk, walk, walk as much as we can! Walking burns calories, and extended walking burns fat. And we don't have to huff and puff either.
Build Muscle. Let's pump iron and rev up our metabolism by building lean mass. Muscle is much more metabolically active requiring more calories to produce energy. And if we don't do our strengthening exercises, we won't have that six pack after the fat disappears!

While some of us may feel that we have tried these boring fat burning tools before with little results, maybe this time we can not try so hard for a lot longer. What have we got to lose? Only some body fat!

Here's to real fat loss!

Also don't forget to check out my motivation tips each week. The link appears on my weight loss home page or click here: Motivation Tip.

This week's motivation tip:"If you're hungry, it's too late!"click on the above link to read more.

Interested in additional support groups? Check out www.eSupportGroups.com

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Want to look up the nutrients of a food? Check out the authority that reliable sources go to for their information:

The United States Department of Agriculture
www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/cgi-bin/nut_search.pl