Muscle doesn't weigh any more than fat pound for pound, of course, but by volume it certainly does as it is about 17% DENSER - a kilo of fat is therefore much bigger than a kilo of muscle.

'I want to lose weight' is a common phrase, but the reality is, we need to lose body fat and preserve our precious lean body mass (LBM - consisting of muscle, bone, blood etc.). Muscle burns calories for a start - the more muscle we have the more calories we require to do nothing! If you add muscle and lose body fat, the scales may not budge quite as much as you might have expected, but you will look thinner, as well as more fit and toned!

Many 'weight loss' plans do result in significant muscle loss - if you severely restrict calories, consume insufficient protein and do a lot of steady cardio you may lose weight on the scales, but you will also be losing muscle. This is a major factor in regaining lost weight after a 'diet' - you have lowered your daily calorie requirements quite significantly, so what was once seen as a maintenance intake will now cause weight gain. The 'yo-yo' effect can be explained by this happening on a regular basis - every time you diet you lose more and more of the muscle that you need to keep your weight off in the long run! This is exacerbated by the fact that we lose muscle mass throughout adulthood unless we take action (especially resistance training) to keep it!

There are several methods to find out your body fat percentage, including skin fold tests with calipers, electrical impedance tests and the highly accurate, but highly impractical, hydrostatic (underwater) weighing method.

My personal favourite method is to use a software programme, where you take body measurements and plug them in to a form that calculates your body fat - you can find links to these by searching Google or through the links page of my website. They are usually accurate to between 1-3% and are a very simple way of testing.

Using this information, you can set yourself realistic fat loss targets based on the amount of fat you have to lose (rather than a random number you think might be nice to see on the scales!), and you can monitor your progress over time.

How many times have you caught yourself either stressed, anxious, or uncomfortable, chowin' down only to realize that not only have you not even tasted what you were eating, but you've eaten it to excess. We can think of cookies, pretzels, nuts, ice cream, you name it, any little thing there is to snack on that's around. This happens to all of us, some of us have a greater propensity to do this more often and it can be detrimental to our lives.

So what do we do?

Well...here are a few things:

1. Develop the practice of mindful eating - No matter when or what you're eating, you can begin to bring attention to your senses while eating. Take a moment to actually look at the food you are eating, notice it's texture, color, etc.. Then do the same as you smell it, if you can, feel it. Then put it in your mouth and notice when you first taste it and if the taste changes as you chew. Also take a moment to reflect on where this food came from, who was involved in making it and getting it to the place you purchased it from. Beware, this practice may cause you to buy food products that are more environmentally and animal friendly.

2. Chew 50 times - That's right, you heard me correctly. Try to actually chew the food more before swallowing it. This way you actually taste the food more and it is more digested by the time it gets down into the belly so we don't have to work so hard digesting it.

3. Bring awareness to discomfort - Often times when we eat or snack we aren't even hungry. There is some underlying stress or uncomfortable emotion that manifests in the body. When you notice the craving (desire as a thought) to snack and feel the urge (physical impulse in the body), sit or lie down and bring attention to this sensation. It may come as a tightness in the chest, belly, or shoulders, or a lump in the throat. Bring awareness to this and notice it. Pay attention the actual sensations of this feeling as it eventually comes and goes. If an emotion is there (e.g., sadness, anger, guilt, shame), just bring attention to it, let it be, and take care of it as if you were parent to it. Be conscious of judgments that may arise (e.g., good/bad). Then, mentally put your arms around this part of yourself that is suffering and begin to send it caring energy. As Thich Nhat Hanh says, begin to water the seeds inside that are there to care for you.

Before we go into this topic you should know that eating the right foods to lose weight also has other positive impacts on your body such as decreasing your chances of cancer, increases your body's vitamin intake and improves your skin's complexion.

Everybody has heard that you should eat at least 5 portions of vegetable and fruit a day. Calories in vegetables are mostly quite low. The only veg to watch out for is the potato as this is quite a starchy food and the calorie count is increased dramatically compared to other vegetables.

Fish is another great food source and with so many varieties available its main pluses are that its low in saturated fat and of course low in calories! Try to include some kind of fish dish at least twice a week in your diet plan, if you can, try and include more! Fish is a dieters dream to lower your calories to lose weight!

If you realise that your diet does need to change then it would be better to try and introduce new foods over a long period of time. For example when you go shopping and you spot some fish or a vegetable that you have never tried before, pick it up and see if you can base a meal around that item. This gets you thinking more about the foods you are buying and might break the routine you are in when food shopping.

Eating the right foods mentioned will increase your chance of losing weight. There are not many easy ways to lose weight, but choosing the right foods will dramatically increase your chances of achieving your goals.

Before we can get stuck into achieving our health and fitness goals, we need to stop making excuses. We need to accept that we are in control of our actions: everything we do (or don't do) will either take us a step closer to our goals, or a step further away.

We need to be realistic about where we are now, and why. If you are overweight, it is because the calorie balance has been going the wrong way for an extended period of time and you need to change things to get it going the other way. If you blame your genes or lack of time or any other 'reason' you are more likely to let action pass you by - whereas in fact if you have these factors working against you it means you just have to put extra effort in!

Everyone has different challenges, but they make success all the sweeter! Cultivating a 'can-do' attitude is the first step to lasting success. Nothing worth achieving is ever easy and there are usually sacrifices or compromises to be made.

Next time you are trying to justify that piece of cake, or not taking some exercise, listen to what you are saying to yourself. The idea that 'I deserve it' can be very destructive - we really deserve to treat ourselves well and be healthy! Ask yourself if you are giving a valid reason or if it is just an excuse - you can usually tell because excuses tend to sound feeble when you listen to them properly! Imagine there is another person in the conversation (such as a Personal Trainer) and that you are explaining yourself to them.

Every time you hear an excuse forming in your mind, stop it in its tracks and even take the mickey out of it - as if you are listening to someone moaning about something you have no time or sympathy for (even pull a face as you do so - it helps!). This will help you see your 'excuses' as feeble and immediately cause you to shift your mindset and approach to life to a more positive 'I can do it' attitude!

There are really only three basic types of diets: The Low Fat Diet, The Low Carb Diet and something in between the two - something we'll call a T'ween Diet. But how does a person go about finding which of these three diets is the best for them? Surely we don't have to buy one of each and learn by the process of elimination.

Put away your wallet; you can find the answer without having to buy anything but the food you're going to eat. Most of us have a mixed ancestry and don't really know what type foods best satisfy our bodies. While some of us respond better with a diet higher in carbohydrates, others of us are more satisfied with a protein rich diet.

This is important if a person needing more protein were to go on a low-fat diet, high in carbohydrates, they would probably be hungry - constantly - or would become hungry more quickly after eating. Conversely, if you are a person who requires more carbohydrates to feel satisfied and you go on a low carb diet, you will feel weighed down by your diet and most likely become constipated.

In either scenario, the likelihood of your staying committed to any diet plan if you are constantly hungry, bloated or constipated is extremely low. You are virtually destined to fail. It's imperative you choose a diet plan right for your body type.

It only takes a few days to find out whether your body needs more carbohydrates or more protein. Tomorrow for lunch eat a nice healthy meal, with equal amounts of protein and carbohydrates. No simple carbohydrates (ie, no cookies, crackers, white bread, potatoes or sugar), if you have bread, it must be whole wheat and no sodas or fruit juices of any kind. And last but not least, don't over eat.

Then about an hour after lunch, write down what you ate, and how you feel.

Do you feel great, or are you hungry, sleepy, tired, bloated, grumpy or do you have a stuffy nose. Do the same thing two hours after lunch and then again three hours after lunch. If you messed up and ate too much (be honest) any results you get today will probably be incorrect, so you'll need to start again tomorrow. Just eat until you're satisfied (not full - satisfied).

If you find you are sleepy, tired or hungry at any of the intervals (and you didn't over eat) then tomorrow, try having more protein foods and fewer carbohydrates.

If you found you were bloated, weighed down or grumpy, try for a few more carbohydrates and less protein. And if you had a stuffy nose, you might want to omit dairy products if you had any, or wheat.

Continue with this way until you feel good after lunch. Your goal is to feel satisfied, energetic and well able to coop with your afternoon. If you feel sluggish, bloated, hungry, tired or out of sorts after lunch you may resort to extra caffeine, snacks or you may just suffer through, making mistakes you could have avoided if you'd felt better.

So what does this tell us? If you need more carbohydrates in your diet, you will probably do best on a low fat diet. This type diet will give you the carbohydrates your body craves. If you need more protein you should look at a low-carb diet. This will help balance your blood sugar and keep you from feeling hungry all the time.

And if you're somewhere in the middle, you might want to look at diets that are reduced fat with fewer but more complex carbohydrates. These would be diets like the Mediterranean Diet, the G.I. Diet (Glycemic Index Diet), the Idiot Proof Diet and the Zone Diet.