The tryst towards has been around for quite some time now. The most important reason behind this sudden rise is the fact that people are now aware of the harmful effects that are associated from being over weight. In order to highlight this persistent need to become fit and healthy there are several weight loss programs highlighting this need which are showcased on the television regularly. One of my favorite television shows to watch is NBC’s “The Biggest Loser.” It’s a show about gigantically fat people who are sent to a farm to compete to lose the most weight. I’m not a fan of reality shows by any stretch, but this one sucks me in every time.

Why? Because it debunks the myth of fast easy weight loss.

You see, there’s no such thing as fast easy weight loss. If you want to lose weight easily, you can do it by cutting down the amount of calories you take in. But that won’t be fast. If you want to lose weight fast, you can do that and exercise a whole bunch. But that won’t be easy.

And that’s what’s great about The Biggest Loser. It shows these people - some of them nearly 500 pounds - working their asses off trying to burn as much as they can. Sometimes, usually right at the start, they drop ten pounds of more in a week. But many, many times, these people won’t lose any weight at all. In spite of working out daily. In spite of eating a healthy, balanced diet.

Because there’s no such thing as fast easy weight loss. The sooner you understand this the easier will it be for you to work around it.

I know a thing or two about weight loss, having dropped twenty pounds in the past year. How’d I do it? By exercising five times a week and watching what I eat.

My exercise regimen is simple. I ride a stationary big anywhere from ten to fifteen miles a day, five days a week. I do one-hundred push-ups and one-hundred sit-ups. And I have two little ten pound dumbells that I use for curls and triceps exercises. I don’t have an athlete’s body, but I do have muscles and definition for the first time in my life.

My diet was similarly low-impact and common sense based. I cut out anything that was processed and loaded with preservatives. You don’t need to do anything radical like the Atkins diet or other nonsense; all you need to do is look at the ingredients. If it has stuff like “Xanthan gum,” put it back.

I also kept snacks out of the house, with the exception of raw almonds and baby carrots. And I made sure to have a salad at least five times a week, while eating only one serving of meat per day. By doing this I went from 195 to 175 pounds, dropped my cholesterol 70 points and feel better about myself than I ever have.

Was it fast easy weight loss? No, but I know for a fact that it’s weight that will stay off.