If you're tired of starting countless diets and wasting money on gym memberships that you don't use, consider the 12 week Body For Life Fitness Challenge by Bill Phillips.

Rather than jump straight into how much exercise you should be doing and what foods you should avoid, Bill devotes a significant part of his book to getting your way of thinking right first. He makes you recognise that real change always starts on the inside, rather than with the latest diet pill or exercise machine.

Before going any further, you get to do some honest reflection. Do you really want to change or would you rather stay as you are? If you do want to transform your health and body, what are your reasons for wanting to? Is it so you can take part in a fun run? Is it so you can have more energy? Is it so that you can fit into that special dress? If you have compelling reasons why, then your chances of success are going to be much greater.

After finding out your reasons to change, you're then asked what five specific goals you want to achieve over the course of the 12 week program. By specific, Bill Phillips means the amount of fat you want to lose, not just that you want to lose weight. Or maybe you want to fit into a smaller dress size within 12 weeks. But what dress size exactly? Write this down. To remind yourself of your goals, you're advised to read them when you wake up and before you go to sleep. You could even put a photo of your ideal body on your fridge door, for further positive reinforcement.

Everyone has habits that could be detrimental to reaching their goals. For instance, skipping workouts is a habit that would definitely prevent you from losing that fat. Could you develop a new habit of getting up earlier so you're not as likely to skip your workouts?

After examining your reasons why, your goals and your habits, you're then ready to tackle the exercise and nutrition part of the Program.

Body For Life Makes Your Metabolism Faster

To burn fat, you have to have a balance of resistance training and cardiovascular exercise. Many people make the mistake of only doing cardio in their efforts to lose weight. Resistance training increases the amount of muscle that you carry. Muscle burns calories 24 hours a day, as opposed to fat, which just sits there.

When following the Body For Life Program, you do 6 workouts a week with one free day. Each workout should be intense, to maximise fat loss and give your metabolism a real boost. The great thing about the Program is that because you're working out intensely, the workouts are relatively short. You don't have to spend all your waking hours in a gym doing long, boring treadmill workouts.

Resistance training workouts are supposed to take a maximum of 46 minutes. In reality I find that they take an hour, which is still fine. The cardio sessions are only 20 minutes long! You'll still feel it though, because you're really pushing yourself. You build up to working at high intensity for a short while, then ease off, repeating the cycle until the 20 minutes are up. This is known as high intensity interval training, which is fantastic for fat burning and boosting your metabolism.

The Body For Life Eating Plan

On the Body For Life Program, you eat 5 - 6 small meals a day. This increases your natural metabolism, and decreases the urge to binge. At each meal you eat protein and carbohydrates, and you add vegetables to two meals a day. You keep an eye on portions i.e. a portion is about the size of your palm.

Keeping your body well hydrated is also essential to burn fat. Bill Phillips recommends drinking at least ten cups of water a day.

The Body For Life program even allows you to eat whatever you want one day of the week. You can treat yourself to your favorite foods without feeling guilty. This is your reward for staying on the plan for the whole week. It may even benefit your metabolism by shocking your body from time to time.

The Body For Life Program really does cover all bases, from your mindset, to optimal eating and exercising. Just think how your self esteem will soar if you stick to this program. Not only may you achieve your dream body, you may even change your life in the process.

About the Author

Lisa Benedict is passionate about getting fit, healthy and slim, in spite of the daily temptations of chocolate, cheese and pizza. Read about her ups and downs on Body For Life at http://www.body-for-life-challenge.com