Low fat foods such as potatoes, rice, pasta, vegetables, fruit, breads, cereals and beans are the basis of sound weight loss programmes for this reason. They are filling, nutritious foods that won't add weight. However, take care if you add extra fats such as butter or margarine, sour cream, or cook by deep frying etc.

Years ago, people often avoided starchy foods, such as bread and potatoes, in the belief that they were fattening. But metabolic studies over the past 15 years have shown that carbohydrates are not readily converted to body fat, but are burnt off. On the other hand, fats are not oxidised but are efficiently stored as body fat. It is chemically easier for the body to turn food fat into body fat than to break down carbohydrate and re-form it as fat.

Fat also appears to give less satisfaction than carbohydrate. Because we need carbohydrate as a fuel for the brain, liver and muscles to function, eating enough carbohydrate at each meal to meet the needs of these vital organs helps to satisfy our hunger, yet not put on weight. So a low fat, high carbohydrate diet, the opposite of the western way of eating is now considered the secret of better weight control.

High intakes of saturated fat have been linked to illnesses, such as coronary heart disease, mature age diabetes and certain types of cancer, notably cancer of the bowel and the breast. Cutting back on saturated fat and substituting small quantities of unsaturated fats and oils is part of the dietary strategy to ward off these problems

A small amount of fat is essential for good health, vitality and a clear skin. Children, especially, need some fat in their meals to grow and develop correctly. A low fat diet is not recommended for your children under the age of 5 years.

Fat acts as a carrier for the fat soluble vitamins (vitamins A, D, E and K) and also supplies two essential fatty acids. Known as linoleic acid and alpha linolenic acid, these fatty acids cannot be made in the body and so must come from food.

A minimum of 1 or 2 tablespoons of good quality oil a day is generally sufficient to supply these vitamins and essential fatty acids. It can also come from other fat containing foods such as margarines, mayonnaise, salad dressing, nuts, seeds, avocados, wheat germ and whole grains. While these foods are high in fat, the type of fat they offer is usually the desirable monounsaturated or polyunsaturated types.

So, clearly, a low fat/healthy fat way of eating is the way to go.

When it comes to weight loss the answer is simple and that is: less calories in than out. BUT that doesn't mean this answer is easy.

Many people seem to get "simple" and "easy" confused. Just because something is simple that doesn't necessarily make it easy. And weight loss is a perfect example of something that is simple but not easy.

I think people choose to make many things including cutting weight more complicated than it really is. On the surface this doesn't make any sense, why in the world would anyone want to make something more difficult that it is?

I think the answer is as follows:

If something is simple (like eating less) and you can't do it, then you might feel embarrassed, or ashamed of yourself for not being able to get to your bodyweight goal. It's a serious shot to your confidence and your ego if you cannot do something that seems so simple.

It's hard to admit to yourself that something so simple can be so difficult (simple things aren't always easy things). Therefore to not feel like a total failure people latch on to a belief that dropping weight must be very complicated to justify why it is difficult.

I'll be the first to admit that weight loss isn't "easy" but it's totally simple. Eating less is the goal, but finding a way to eat less is the hard part, and in many cases discouraging.

Here are a few more examples of things that are SIMPLE but not EASY:

Running 15 kilometers - almost anyone with two functioning legs can run at least some short distance (without becoming fatigued), but running for 15 kilometers non-stop isn't easy.

Doing 100 push-ups - for most people the push up motion is pretty easy to do, but doing 100 of them is exhausting. The concept of a push up is simple, but doing 100 of them isn't necessarily easy.

Holding your arm straight out in front of you for 5 minutes without putting it back down is simple, but not easy. I hope you can now see the difference between simple and easy and how you might confuse one with the other.

To protect your feelings you might try to make something that is simple and (but not easy) into something that both complicated AND not easy.

Fitness and nutrition marketers know that people get discouraged when they attempt to lose weight and find out how hard it is. They also know that you don't want to believe that something so simple is so hard so they sell you complicated and expensive solutions that seem to justify why it is so hard.

It's much easier for you to believe that something so hard is also very complicated (kind of like doing a complicated calculus problem or trying to learn how to read and write in a new language)

This is how the fitness industry comes up with a never ending stream of complicated weight loss solutions for you to waste your money on year in and year out.

Just think of all the complicated 'solutions' that marketers have tried to sell in the past 10 years like: low carb, blood type diets, paleo diets, raw foods, high protein, carb cycling, special meal timing etc.

Each of these diets will show you success stories of people who have used their program and I'm sure they're all true. So if each one of these diets can produce similar results for all kinds of different people then there must be something they all have in common, and that is LESS CALORIES.

As long as you choose not to accept the simple answer of calories in vs calories out, you will always be susceptible to fitness marketing claims that promise a more complex and much more expensive solution.

Many people are searching for the answer to what causes belly fat. Obviously everybody wants a quick answer so they simply can eliminate the culprit, shed their belly fat and show off their wonderfully sexy abs.

Not so fast, if it were as simple as that, everybody would have six pack abdominal muscles. The simple answer is that the answer isn't simple. Your belly fat is probably caused by a combination of factors.

• Genetics
• Stress, this is the most dangerous offender.
• Poor diet
• Improper digestion
• Slow metabolism
• Menopause

These top offenders or most likely a combination of a few of them are probably causing you to slowly but surely develop that kind of cute, but not so healthy, Buddha belly. This excess fat is made up of two different kinds of fat. The two kinds are the subcutaneous or under the skin fat, and the visceral, or deep inside your waistline fat. The good news is that the visceral fat is easier to shed and will usually happen quickly but the bad news is that the subcutaneous fat is a stubborn fat and will take some work.

I know that nobody likes extra work but there really is not a quick fix for losing belly fat. Deep down you already knew that, didn't you? To shed your belly fat it will take a combination of, that's right you guessed it, diet and exercise. However, the science behind the correct form of diet and exercise is quite complicated.

With the proper knowledge of the correct diet and exercise the most common offenders contributing to excess belly fat will be kept in check. Please do not go out and do 1000 crunches or go on a no carb diet. Again it is not that simple. There is a complete science behind the proper way to control what causes belly fat.

First you need to eat the proper foods at the proper times and secondly not just any old exercise routine will do the job. More research on your part will most likely be necessary to avoid wasting time on things that might actually increase your waistline.

Over the years, the health and fitness industry and research in the area of food and healthy eating have promoted these two powerful ingredients. But have the public underestimated these two powerful ingredients and their amazing effect on the body for burning fat and lifelong health?

The two ingredients are so beneficial in they don't require you to do any physical exercise. So what are these master substances? They are fiber and water. Let me demonstrate why...

We all know its good to eat our fruit and vegetables and we should aim to eat 3 pieces of fruit per day and 5 serves of vegetables. Do we really understand how important they are and what they can do for us not only vitamin and mineral but also the fiber benefits. Fiber slows digestion and makes you feel fuller for longer. This is important for burning fat and reducing craving and decreasing the amount of sugary foods you eat while lessening the calories you eat throughout the day, which also leads to fat loss!

Various types of fiber include whole grain products, fruits and vegetables, seeds, beans, nuts. Processed foods are poor sources of fiber which are white flour products, including regular pasta. Keep an eye on high fiber cereals which also have high sugar content. Two of the best cereals are muesli and oats.

Fiber is also a bonus for fat burning and lifelong health fiber as it has been associated to the prevention of medial conditions such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer.

The other powerful ingredient is water. Water makes up 65-70% of our bodies, which is amazing considering a lot of people don't drink water or prefer tea or coffee. Water keeps you from snacking and often we can actually be thirsty when we feel hungry, this is also at the point of when the body is dehydrated.

The body can survive much longer without food than water. Water to our bodies is like the oil for the engine in our cars. It is involved in almost every bodily process from nutrient absorption to digestion. It also helps to keep your energy levels up preventing dehydration.

Tip on dehydration, can actually diminish your effects of fat burning, as dehydration to the body is interpreted as shock. It changes the body focus from doing other things while searching for water and you may be missing out on some burning fat for energy.

Another tip try drinking icy cold water, every time you drink icy cold water your body has to burn about a calorie in the process of warming the water up to body temperature. Now use this as an advantage to burning more calories throughout the day.

As a little extra you can add some lemon to help cleanse your liver, remember the more efficient your kidneys and liver are working you will find it easier to burn fat and maintain lifelong health.

Ensure fiber ingredients and water at the top of your grocery list as priority to be fueling your body for fast fat burning and maintaining great lifelong health.

Turn your body into a lean, mean healthy body and enjoy your life to the max.

Work, rest, and play is an advertisement mars bar chocolate have used to promote their product. And while the words go well put together my aim here is not to sell chocolate, rather to immerse you in the understanding of how when these 3 words are in action in life they will help you to burn fat faster.

Let's start with work. I'm referring to exercise or energy expenditure or kilojoules used. Exercise done with the right amount of intensity and frequency can be looked at as work. In life we work to do the job and get the task at hand done and complete. When we exercise it should be used with the same theory, focus on the job, and get it done until it's complete. We will always be working in our lives whether its working for someone else or you work for your self. With exercise it should be applied to your life the same way you will always need and have to do it, whether you like it or not, it's a done deal. I think we need to start to get used to this idea as too many people are looking at exercise the wrong way, they think I'll do it just for my wedding or just until we go on holidays or just until I lose 10 pounds.

Exercise is a lifelong job, so start to get employed or enroll in the activity you are going to start and get moving. Remember you can change your activity anytime you get bored or when the body adapts.

Choose an exercise or activity you enjoy, if you played basketball when you were young, you may decide to play another sport as you are older maybe. Golf can be a great sport to play due to the amount of walking you end up doing on the golf course.

The next word in action is rest and may well be the part you enjoy most. However here is the thing you can have a rest as long as you have earned it! Ensuring your exercise or activity has produced enough energy expenditure or intensity of work meaning you are huffing and puffing then you can take a break.

If you are weight training which should be part of your exercise routine, you will need to rest for 1-2 minutes between sets due to the intensity you are working at before you can complete the next set. You should also be having 1-2 rest day in-between workouts to ensure adequate recovery of the muscles and just remember when the muscles are sore they are growing and when they grow they help increase your metabolism and therefore start burning fat faster. Too often people go straight back into the gym and over train the muscle, if you don't allow the body time to repair you will get poor results and suffer being de-motivated and possibly give up. Now you can see how effective rest is in burning fat fast.

Now it's time for the fun part play most people think I just need to be a little bit more active and I'll lose weight. Well the truth is the play part should be on top of what you already do with your exercise routine. Yes it will be energy expenditure however generally you won't work your heart rate up enough to be burning calories. The play part is like a break or time out or can be you have now lost weight and you have more energy to be playing with your children or playing with your mates like you used to or more confident walking onto the beach in your bikini or shirt off and playing cricket in the summer sun. Now that you have added new lean muscle tissue to your body you will be burning fat while you play and that's the additional benefit!

All in all work rest play to burn fat fast is combining all three together and once you have completed your workout you can enjoy a treat mars bar once in a while.

We hear a lot of the time people's reasons for no exercise, and some may very well be valid. However once you understand the impact it is having on your body and rethink the major health benefits it can have to your body you may start to think twice.

Most people are aware of the major health implications of overweight and obesity but do they realize enough the answer can be solved through proper nutrition and exercise to gain major health benefits?

The only way to burn fat non stop is to add lean muscle to your body through weight training. To gain a great fat burning workout needn't take much time nor should you worry about where you are located whether you are going on holidays or home with the kids. People who do weight training know this. You need to perform a variety of exercises that work the major muscle groups in the same workout to simulate growth of lean muscle tissue while speeding up your metabolism and providing an increase in cardiovascular conditioning.

Don't despair this does not mean you need to go and join a gym. Equipment at a gym is useless if not used properly. The most important part is to understand how your body moves and create the movement pattern or exercise workout around these movements. All that is required is a few dumbbells or barbells and a bench or solid chair at home if you wish to get you started.

To prepare for the workout you need to have everything accessible to you in that moment, the great part about learning the routine that will work is you don't need to worry about waiting at a gym for a piece of equipment to use. Best of all, the workout only takes about 15-30 minutes of your time, plenty of time left to do the things you love.

It is a good idea to get a setup at home so you can utilize anytime, so you don't have any interruptions and can focus on your workout and rest periods. At home it also provides the advantage of not having to be too intimidated by working out with weights in front of guys or ladies.

Another reason people don't fit in their workouts is due to travel. The advantage is once you have your program set you can then take it anywhere you go to continue to burn fat non stop. Most people say they are going on holidays and say my holiday will be my break from my workouts 'No this is the worst thing you can do, keep going if your workout needs to be adjusted then ok. Its very easy to go on holiday not worry about it and only to come back and say I ate too much and drank too much and now I have to work it all off again. There are plenty of fat burning workouts you can continue with while you are on holidays.

Bodyweight exercise are often the best, for example push ups, squats, chin-ups, sit-ups, all work the major muscle groups and provide conditioning to the muscle to keep you going until you are back to your workout routine at home.

Excuses be gone decide to continue today on the path of burn fat non stop.