Many people are still under the misguided assumption that reducing calorie intake is the solution to weight loss. Although calorie reduction can help with weight loss, calorie reduction alone will not result in the results you want.

When fewer calories are consumed, the body readjusts to a slower metabolic rate and burns fewer calories. Thus, there is little long term benefit.

Research now shows that to have a fast and permanent impact on weight loss a combination of steps is required.

In step 1 you will eat smaller portions but eat more often throughout the day. Having frequent meals is a sure way to increase metabolism. Going for long periods without food often sets up a situation where the body burns muscle tissue. Muscle speeds up fat burning and metabolism, so you should attemt to maintain as much muscle mass as you can. You can solve this problem by eating small meals throughout the day.

the second step is to detoxify your colon. Many people today walk around with five to ten pounds of putrefied waste in their colons. The elimination of excess waste can result in a dramatic drop in weight of five pounds or more.

Your body will be more able to absorb the nutrients from the food you eat when you get rid of this waste.

Step three is to consume more high quality protein, fewer carbohydrates and less dietary fat. High quality proteins include chicken breast, salmon and lean cuts of beef like sirloin. These high protein foods help build muscle mass which in turn boosts metabolism.

Cutting all carbohydrates is detrimental. Carbohydrates are fuel for our bodies and supply our energy needs. However, overeating carbohydrates often results in a spike in insulin which can result in excess fat storage.

Because body fat and dietary fat are similar, the body is very efficient at storing dietary fat as body fat. You don’t need a lot of dietary fat if you are trying to lose weight.

Protein is the nutrient for revving up the metabolism. It supports normal thyroid hormone levels and thus plays a major role in fat burning.

Eating foods that burn fat is step four. Vegetables temper the release of insulin. Since elevated insulin can make the body more efficient at storing fat, eating vegetables will decrease the chance that the body will enter a fat-storing state.

Another important reason to eat more vegetables is that some, like broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower have fat fighting compounds called indoles. Estrogen, produced by both men and women is body fat friendly and these indoles interfere with it’s uptake.

Boost metabolism with nutritional supplementation in step five. Science has discovered unique compounds in some foods that you can get in supplement form that helps the body burn fat. Some of these include green tea, acai berry, whey protein and even cold water fish oil.

Other supplements such as hoodia help decrease the appetite.

Step six involves weight training which increases metabolism and burns more fat than slow cardio. Recent studies have proven that weight training boosts metabolism and keeps fat burning active longer than cardio alone. This works on two different levels.

Lifting weights produces larger amounts of muscle. The more muscle tissue you have, the higher your metabolic rate.

Another point, is that resistance training creates more anabolic hormones in the body. Anabolic hormones drive the metabolism which supports the burning of more fat. Due to the fact that the body requires calories to rebuild, you will keep a higher metabolic rate for a longer period of time.

Step 7 is doing high impact cardio. With high impact cardio you do quick but short bursts of energy and then a slow down or rest period. Not only will this burn more calories than slow cardio, but will have an effect similar to weight training by keeping the metabolism revved longer.

The best approach to cardio is to do it first thing in the morning before eating. Because this is when blood glucose is low, the body will burn fat rather than glucose.

To avoid overtraining and muscle breakdown limit your cardio to ten to fifteen minutes. But these ten to fifteen minutes should work you more than 30 -40 minutes of slow-low impact cardio and will burn more calories. You should have a good sweat going after your ten to fifteen minute cardio workout.

The key to fast and permanent weight loss is more than simply reducing calories. But includes a combination of steps that are much more powerful when inacted together.