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How would you like to drop ten pounds?

Anyone can do it. You do need discipline and motivation to lose weight.

But losing weight fast?

How much time have you got?

1 month? 7 days?

Before I begin, I would like to warn you that if you lose weight fast, you are likely to regain back the weight you lost.

Do it wisely with a permanent change in your lifestyle to keep that weight off. Go for inch loss first by toning your body. Actual weight loss comes later. Muscle is heavier than fat but muscle burns far more calories. I'll elaborate on this later.

Back to the fast ways to lose weight

Here are the most popular options.

1. Crash diets

Crash dieting can let you shed those pounds, at the expense of your health. Once you eat normally, you will regain what you lost and more. When you fast, or when you go on a crash diet, you might lose weight rapidly at first, then your body adjusts, trying to conserve calories just to survive.

Imagine the days of the cavemen. Sometimes, the hunter is successful and returns with food for the familiy. Other times, he returns empty-handed. Our bodies are adaptable. That is how our ancestors survived. When food was plentiful, they ate to their fill. Their bodies stored the food in the form of fat. When food was scarce, they had little, at times nothing to eat, the body could depend on the stores of fat for the necessary energy for survival. Hence when food is available, the body stores what it can for the bad time.

Back to modern day. The first crash diet might seem wildly successful, with the pounds falling off rapidly. Then you reach your target weight and stop dieting. You bloat up and the weight piles on even more easily. Well, congratulations. You tricked your body into going into starvation mode, slowing down your metabolism. Now that you are finally, eating, your body is storing what it can in case of a famine.

Now you diet again. That drastic diet you tried doesn't seem effective. After cutting even more calories, you manage to shed the offending pounds. Satisfied, you take a break from the diet and all your hard work is wasted. The pounds return with a vengeance. Looks like your body is becoming very adept at holding on to the much needed energy stores in case of a famine.

You crash diet again. This time, your hair falls, the pounds seem even harder to lose. You are depriving your body of the nourishment it needs and that shows in your brittle hair, nails and dull skin.

Basically, although crash diets seem effective at first, they are a bad idea in the long run.

2. fasting to lose weight

People do fast for religious reasons. Muslims fast for an entire month in a year, eating lightly only before sunrise and after sunset. In between, for that fasting month, the devout muslims would train their discipline by not eating or drinking anything.

I've seen a Muslim friend slim down each year after that fasting month, wearing dresses that show off her slimmer figure after that. So how about fasting to lose weight?

Personally, I have not tried it. I have a problem with gastritis and for me, skipping a meal can lead to a gastric attack. Once you have gastric problems, they are pretty hard to get rid of, so if you do want to fast, check with a doctor first to see if you can do it safely in the first place.

My concern about fasting as a way to lose weight fast is the same as my concern for crash diets. Would you end up slowing your metabolic rate the way you might with on and off crash dieting?

3. Endurance sports

Did you notice how lean marathon runners are? How about those who engage in endurance sports.

I actually did go for a day trip cycling to a beach with a group of friends. 3 and a half hours cycling up and down hill with hardly any breaks to get there. The next day, another 3 and a half hours to get back. Muslim">All of us lost some weight on that trip.

A friend of mine had a dynamite figure even though she had 3 kids. She was training for a marathon and it showed in her figure. Lean where it mattered. She showed off her figure in gorgeous dresses and looked better than most women ten years younger than she was.

I doubt if you can lose weight that fast, like in a week, by picking up an endurance sport but over the weeks, training for a marathon, or cycling as long as you can to explore your surroundings, or for day trips would go a long way in losing weight.

You would need to pick up speed first. Training for half an hour a day, before you increase your time to an hour or longer if necessary.

4. Strength training

Muscle burns far more calories flab. Basically, if you work out and tone your body, you boost your metabolic rate. Yes, you burn calories when you workout, but even after the workout, your body would continue to burn more calories at rest than if you had been lazing around all the time.

Incorporating strength training might not bring down the numbers on the scale. Muscle weighs more than fat, so you might even end up heavier.

Instead, you would see inch loss, which translates to a slimmer figure. On a guy, bulking up is far more positive effect than just reducing the fat.

4. Diet and exercise plan

The best way to lose weight and keep it off is to incorporate both a healthy diet and a daily exercise plan you follow for the rest of your life.

You will have to fit the daily exercise into your lifestyle. Something that incorporates strength training to boost your metabolism and tone your body with aerobic exercise to burn calories all around. Maybe get a set of weights you can use for strength training at home and an aerobics video for the aerobics part of it. Or a pair of running shoes for a daily run. Then get a diary specially to write down what you eat and drink each day, totaling up your calorie count per day. Use that to monitor your diet. Substitute unhealthy foods with healthier substitutes. Grill food instead of frying it. Take fruits instead of sweets. Drink water instead of sodas. You know the drill.

If you want to lost weight quickly, or rather, reduce inches quickly, incorporate crunches and abdominal exercises before you go for a daily run. Do strength training exercises to boost your metabolic rate and aerobic exercises to burn calories more rapidly. Eat a healthy diet focusing on more fruit and veggies, less carbohydrates and enough protein to get you through the day. Cut down on junk food and watch your drinks. A glass of coke could contain 200 calories. Now how hard do you have to work out to burn those calories. It is easier to keep them off by not taking unnecessary calories than to burn them off.

Personally, I would vouch for Billy Blanks workouts for fast inch loss. If you really follow that plan, in one week, you can measure the difference in your waist with a tape measure. The workouts are demanding but effective. They also have a decent meal plan which if you follow strictly, can help you shed the inches quickly. There are many other weight loss plans in the market. The ones that focus both on exercise and a healthy meal plan are your best bet.