Many people using various diets and weight loss programs find they just cannot lose weight. In many instances it's not because of lack of effort on their part that they have failed to get the desired results, but more likely that the diets were not targeting the cause of their being overweight.

You feel hungry during the day with many diets and this is not the way your body is meant to function. If your food is giving you sufficient nutrients to meet your energy requirements, then you shouldn't feel hungry. Any diet, then, that keeps you in a state of hunger is destined to fail as you will find it too difficult to maintain.

In an effort to lose weight, don't just assume, for example, that you can control your weight simply by eating natural products only. Some of these products act only as diuretics, causing a temporary loss of water and give you a false impression that you are losing weight quickly.

The best natural products to eat each day are fresh fruit and vegetables. You can feel assured while eating these that you will have an abundance of the necessary vitamins and minerals to enable your body to function properly.

Maintaining muscle mass while on a weight loss program is one of the essential aspects you will need to concentrate on as this will assist in keeping your fat percentage down. Ultra low diets, for example, need to be avoided as the body will react by eating into its own muscle tissue as a defense mechanism.

You only need look at some of the slim fashion models who exhibit high body fat levels in proportion to their stature. This is because they have done little exercise or resistance training to maintain muscle mass levels, coupled with the likelihood of them being on a low quality diet.

These models would do well to add exercise and resistance training to their daily routine. They would still be able to retain their slim figures, but their percentage of body fat would be lower and they would look better toned.

Conventional dieting, though, just doesn't work as far as permanent weight loss is concerned. Irregular dieting can affect your body detrimentally, causing its metabolism to change. A greater calorie reduction will be needed to maintain your new weight.

The most effective way to lose weight safely and permanently is to adopt a natural eating style, a style that is readily available. There is no starving involved, you eat 4 meals each day, you have an unlimited number of foods to choose from at any single meal, you never feel hungry.

So, how do you lose weight with this program? The "shifting calories" principle is involved with the foods eaten at each meal, like proteins and carbs, in accordance with a set schedule. The four meals you eat each day are evenly spaced as possible so that you eat fewer calories at each meal. This eating style enables you to burn fat efficiently and you lose weight. It's possible to lose 9 pounds in 11 days with the shifting calories method of eating.