After you get started with the cabbage soup diet, you can shift to a more sustainable long-term plan combining sensible eating with exercise and over a longer period of time, you can attain your weight goals. Even though we all know that short-term diets don’t produce long-term weight loss, as a motivator this plan makes perfect sense.

This diet is the first phase of a lifestyle change that will once and for all let you get your weight where you want it. And any time during your long-term weight loss plan where you need a motivational boost, drop back to the soup diet for a week and drop some more pounds again. Then go right back to your sustainable plan.

So what is a cabbage soup diet? Do you just eat soup for a week? That doesn’t sound very appetizing does it? Actually that isn’t it at all. The plan is that you will eat specific foods on each of the days of the diet. Then you eat all the cabbage soup you want. So the soup is a filler so you aren’t empty with gnawing hunger pains. You’re full all the time.

Now what kind of food can you eat on this diet? You get fruits and vegetable on some days. Beef or chicken with tomatoes is another day. One day you can eat bananas and drink milk. It varies day by day but in the week you get a wide range of choices. And there is no set cabbage soup recipe. You can vary the recipes to suit your taste. Make it bland or spice it up.

You can lose 10 pounds in a week. Then go on to lose as much weight as you choose with a sensible diet and exercise plan.

Not all diets are for the entire population. Each has its ups and downs. People from all over the world every day try to lose weight, they have over the years. A book from one year to 30 or 40 years really the cause.

The benefits of weight loss in my opinion far out weigh the alternatives. Fitness is the best way to stay healthy and to avoid having to go to the doctor all the time because something appears to be wrong.

When you are over weight (not obese) just over weight, your family and friends seem to just let you go on your normal way and do what you want. Your kids suffer because you don’t feel like spending as much time with them. You are tired and run down. You really don’t know it yet but you will eventually.

Your health is going down hill day by day. Sports are out of the question from all of the extra effort that you must put forth. Face it, being over weight is not a great shape to be in. Being fit would be the best place to be by eating the right foods and a lot of discipline. After all it all started 30 or 40 years ago. You can’t expect to get rid of it over night. Diets are one of the best ways to get the job done.

As long as you choose the right diet for you. One that you are comfortable with and have made up your mind to stick with this time. No more cheating just because it is a Holiday. Weight loss is a way of life. Everyday is a challenge in one form or another. We get up, we go to work, we come home, we go to bed. Day after day we do the same thing. Week after week, month after month, year after year. Hey that’s life.

Start tomorrow off different. Do something for yourself. Make it a habit just like everything else becomes. One day at a time. Choose the right diet for you. You will be able to decide for yourself and stick with it. My solution may not be yours so you decide. Compare the top diets in the world, choose one and start losing weight today!

First, you should arrange for a full physical examination from your physician. This is mandatory for people that have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, or are obese. Once you have your doctor’s approval to begin a fitness program, you should schedule a fitness assessment with a health professional at your gym.

While both of these are incredibly annoying, they are essential to your success and well-being. The benefits of a doctor’s visit are obvious, particularly if you have one or more of the previously mentioned conditions but it also allows you and your doctor to discuss your lifestyle. Preventative medicine is far better than reactive medicine. Make your doctor part of your fat loss and health-building team along with the health professionals at your gym.

The real benefits of the fitness assessment aren’t finding out how much body fat you have or how many minutes you can last on the treadmill, but rather getting a better understanding of your strengths and weaknesses.

According to Tim Irvine, President of Totum Life Science, “First and foremost we need to identify what works and does not work mechanically for an individual. We do this from an injury prevention standpoint and also to determine what the limitations are for an individual. Much more appropriate programs can be set from this information.” If you want to avoid injury and actually achieve your goals this year, get to know your strengths and weaknesses.

The next secret is to walk, don’t run, to fitness success. If you want to pick up your University running workouts where you left them 10 years ago, that’s fine. But I guarantee you won’t last 10 days. And then it’ll be a dreary 355 days until you’re ready to try exercise again.

The hidden benefit of a good fitness assessment is that it will actually serve as a nice introductory workout to your return to fitness. It will buffer your delusions of fitness grandeur from the reality of what your body actually can do. After the fitness assessment teaches your body a lesson and awakens your muscles from their winter slumber, only then will you realize your limits that you must respect in subsequent workouts.

Goal-setting is the fourth secret to success (and not just in fitness, but in any area of life). It is much more effective to commit to a set of specific short-term and long-term goals than it is to routinely hope for weight loss each year.

Set realistic goals and remember to train within your limits. If you are currently sedentary and haven’t exercised in months (or years), don’t begin an advanced training program. Start with a conservative beginner program. Your belly wasn’t built in a day, and neither will be lost overnight.

Limit your initial workouts to 1 set per muscle group. In week 2, you should be ready to add another set. And if you want to build up to 3 sets, then do so in week 3. Slowly increase the weight and stay within your desired repetition range. At no time should you be too sore to function. And runners should also heed this advice. Too much running will guarantee shin splints in the early going. Avoid running on back to back days for the first two weeks and keep the distance short. Sore muscles are guaranteed when you lift. So keep the volume low.

And now for the two super secrets that will help keep you committed and consistent with your workouts and will finally help you lose fat for good.

First, build your social support team. Social support is the #1 factor for success for women in fitness programs, and is important for men as well. Support can come from your spouse, brother or sister, child, mom or dad, friend, neighbor, co-worker, personal trainer, or lifestyle coach. Don’t try to go it alone. As Dr. Eric Serrano says about his weight loss patients, “Patients respond better when they report to a person instead of a machine. No one wants to disappoint a real person.”

You also need to know that nutrition is the second most important factor for success in fat loss programs. That’s why you don’t need to train like a world-class athlete when you are starting to lose fat. Most of the fat you’ll lose in the early going is because you have chosen to make better nutritional choices. And if you don’t make better nutritional choices, even the best exercise program in the world isn’t going to help you achieve your fat loss goals.

Nutrition is a lot simpler than you think. Don’t over think things. See a nutritionist or listen to what your mother told you as a kid. Food choices should contain a large nutrient-to-calorie ratio. Dr. Phil (yes that Dr. Phil) calls this “High-Response Cost, High-Yield Nutrition”. And follow this rule: Don’t eat foods with added sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, or fruit syrup,” says Elizabeth Ward, MS, RD. Log your nutritional intake on www.Fitday.com. This is a free website that allows you to track your calories, protein, carbohydrates, and fat.

The consistent use of these 6 secrets will help you achieve your New Year’s resolutions. Make this year’s fitness plan a strategic investment in your future health. The most efficient and effective way to lose fat this year is with my Turbulence Training workouts – the choice of fitness professionals.

1. Find a source of social support. It can be a friend, spouse, or co-worker, but research from Stanford University shows the ideal social support is a professional that you feel obligated to report to on a consistent basis.

2. Eat 6 small, balanced snacks and meals per day, rather than 2 or 3 large meals.

3. Commit to eating whole, natural foods such as fruits, vegetables, and lean protein sources, rather than processed foods like muffins, fast food, and sugary snacks. Use fitday.com to monitor your food intake.

4. If you want to lose fat, start by reducing your calorie intake by 200 calories per day. One easy way to do this is to replace sweetened beverages with water or Green Tea.

5. To get lean, you’ll need to include some form of strength training and cardiovascular training. If you haven’t worked out in years, start conservatively and get professional advice on how to structure your workouts in the safest, and most efficient and effective manner possible.

The good news is that you don’t have to spend hour after hour in the gym to get great results. A good program should have you in and out of the gym (shower included) in only an hour. Pretty small investment for such a great return, isn’t it?