You can't open a newspaper, a glossy magazine or even turn on the television these days without hearing about weight loss and how we, as nation, are overweight and unhealthy.

In fact, we are Champions of Europe in being overweight and unhealthy!

This January it was reported than a person's main goal for 2008 was to lose weight! Notably, thousands, no millions of people would have started THAT DIET - but how many people have actually stuck to it and achieved their goals!

Exercise and watching what we eat (eating a healthy diet) is the key to being healthy, rather than just slimming down, and especially when it is done too quickly. This can be achieved by making a few simple changes to your lifestyle.

Rapid weight loss is predominantly due to loss of water and muscle tissue . and not fat!

Losing muscle caused by eating very restrictive (low calorie diets) slows down our metabolism and consequently the number of calories we burn in a day. Therefore people will put weight back on and more, when they return to their normal eating patterns.

Burning fat through exercise in combination with eating a healthy well balanced diet is the key to healthy weight loss. By exercising and improving our fitness levels, we become better fat burners and ultimately people will start to lose weight.

Read more about Weight Loss.