You’ve heard it a million times: “Make millions a week in real estate...Just buy my ‘Get Rich Quick DVD’ set, and rake the money in! And that’s not all: Order now and get a set of Ginsu Knives, absolutely free!”

Funny? Maybe. True? Absolutely.

The same formula applies to the next, greatest weight loss formula: Taking one of God’s greatest creations, the human body, and selling countless ways to drop 50 pounds faster than Saddam crawling into a spider hole.

Ah, if it were only that simple.

The truth is, however, it does work - for those snake-oil venders getting mega-rich off the info-mercial circuit, it works just fine. They get rich quick by playing off the emotions of millions of unsuspecting [and sometimes, ‘suspecting’] consumers that really want to believe they can eradicate 20 years of overeating and inactivity in four short weeks. People want that quick fix. We look at television, magazines, the Internet, and see how the latest fad diet or weight-loss pills have gotten a washed-up celebrity on the cover of People magazine because she lost sixty pounds in three months.

While fad diets, weight-loss pills, et al can reduce overall body weight relatively quickly, most people lose muscle tone, water, and some fat. Once off the diet, however, most gain the weight back, and then some. In addition, the side effects of diet pills – elevated blood pressure, rapid heart rate, and male nutrition via loss of appetite – are extremely detrimental to cardiovascular health and organ function.

The only permanent path to excess weight-loss is a combination of active exercise and proper nutrition. Vigorous exercise at a pace fitting one’s current health and fitness level, and eating the right foods in increments of 6 smaller meals each day can lead to a slower, yet permanent, loss of fatty weight. Without getting into the physiological explanation of this proven method of fat loss, I can state it quite simply: Never get hungry, never get full.

Want to look and feel better? Do it from the inside out: Start to exercise, even if you just get off the couch and walk the dog or watch television while on the treadmill. If you are already working out, try moving to the next level of safe, but vigorous exercise. After all, God made your body for activity –take care of it, and it will take care of you!

Please, do not be fooled by those quick-fix ads – just get up and get started. Life will never feel so good!

Lifestage Fitness was created by combining the best attributes of most contemporary fitness centers with unparallelled personal fitness services.

Joe Ranieri is a 30-year veteran of the health and fitness industry, and is owner of Joe Ranieri’s LifeStage Fitness, an individualized fitness and nutrition training facility in suburban Chicago. Joe has helped hundreds of exercise enthusiasts of all ages and ability achieve their fitness goals using his simple, realistic approach to proper nutrition and exercise. Joe can be reached for questions regarding your desire for a healthy lifestyle through his email at joe@lifestagefitness.com.

Understanding that life-changes do not occur overnight, Joe Ranieri provides a real-world approach to making regular exercise and proper nutrition second nature – an easy, sustainable way to gradually, and permanantly, help you help yourself.

• 45 Day Slimdown - Part 1
• 45 Day Slimdown - Part 2
• 45 Day Slimdown - Counting Calories
• Surviving Fad Diets - The "Lose Weight Fast" Scheme
• Get Rid of Excess Fat - Part 1
• Get Rid of Excess Fat - Part 2

• Childhood Obesity - Leading by Example
• Childhood Obesity Step 1- Portion Control
• Eliminating Childhood Obesity - Do's and Don'ts
• Eliminating Childhood Obesity - More Do's and Don'ts

• Manage Holiday Eating - Part 1
• Manage Holiday Eating - Part 2
• Manage Holiday Eating - Part 3