Everyone looks to lose weight and get in better shape from time to time, but few have true long-term success with it. Most of us decided take the easy route and purchase one of the thousands of products we see on TV or in magazines or simply try one of the fad diets of the day. The problem is, neither of these approaches are affective with long-term success and leave many right back down the path of weight gain once their program is over.

The reality is, and most of you have probably heard this before, the best way to lose weight and get in shape over the long-term is through proper diet and exercise. I know, it sounds boring compared to the last commercial you saw promising you the ability to drop 20 pounds in 10 days, but it is your choice whether to follow tried and true solid information or simply false promises. If you choose the former, then you might want to look at the principles of body building to help you get in the best shape your life.

Now, don't be scared of the word body building. Just because you pick up some weights and start training does not mean you're going to quickly turn into looking like Lou Ferrigno. Bodybuilders of that ilk go through extreme regimens to get into that level of shape and just by going down to your local gym and hitting the weight several times a week you'll have nothing to worry about. What you will experience is fat loss and muscle gain that will help you work to quickly achieve the body you've always desired. The principles of body building are perfect for helping us get in shape because of several things, but one is perhaps the most important. That is that muscle burns fat. The reality is, the more muscle you have, the more fat you burn. Lifting weights and body building is like increasing the size of little fat burning ovens all over your body and you'll know that each time you make gains in the size of your muscles your metabolism will speed up as a result.

Now, the benefits of body building are not just derived from the muscles themselves, but the workouts as well. Most of us tend to think about burning calories and losing fat through exercise as being directly related to the benefits of cardiovascular exercise such as jogging or riding a bike. Bodybuilding and weight training exercises are incredibly effective at doing this as well. You will burn extreme amounts of calories over the course of an hour long bodybuilding workout. This does not mean that bodybuilding will take the place of cardio because developing your cardiovascular system is extremely important to your overall health and well and additionally support the fat and calorie burning benefits of bodybuilding alone.

So, if you are REALLY serious about shedding the fat for good, drop the fad diets and bogus AS SEEN ON TV products and just get down to some serious bodybuilding. You will burn fat, gain muscle, and get into the best shape of your life…FINALLY.