If you're thinking of trying out the Body For Life Fitness Program, be prepared for a different approach to your usual diet and exercise formula. So many people join gyms and start the latest diet craze full of enthusiasm, only to throw in the towel a couple of weeks later. That's because they haven't looked deep inside themselves first, and changed their way of thinking. Bill Phillips, the creator of Body For Life, truly believes in changing your life from the inside out. In his Body For Life book, he stresses the importance of positive mindset before going into detail about nutrition and exercise.

As a first step, Bill asks you to do some soul-searching to find out whether you are truly ready to change. Because if you're honest with yourself and find that you don't really want to, then you're not going to stick with any program. If you find that you genuinely wish to change, Bill then asks you to write down your reasons why. If you know exactly why you're ready to make changes, then you're much more likely to persevere.

Once you've identified your personal reasons for deciding to change, you then write down five specific things you wish to accomplish over the following 12 weeks. To say that you want to lose fat isn't specific enough. You need to write down exactly how many pounds of fat you wish to lose. So that you don't lose sight of your goals, you're encouraged to read them twice a day - every morning and night.

Finally, you identify existing habits that you have that may hinder you in reaching your goals. For example, do you tend to snack on junk food late at night? What could you replace this habit with? It's only by becoming aware of these habits that you can take effective action to replace them.

After taking a good look at your motivations, goals and habits, the book then moves on to the nuts and bolts of the Body For Life Program - nutrition and exercise.

The Body For Life Challenge Revs Up Your Metabolism

To increase your natural metabolism, you have to build muscle.

Muscle requires calories to maintain, which means that people with strong muscle tone burn more calories without actually doing anything, because their metabolism burns it for them. A combination of weight-lifting and cardio exercise will fire up your metabolism in no time. Don't make the mistake of only doing cardio to lose weight. Resistance training is essential to reach your goals.

The Body For Life Challenge recommends 6 workouts a week (3 cardio and 3 weight-training sessions) with one day of rest. Each workout should be challenging - it's not about wasting time with tiny weights or strolling slowly on the treadmill while reading a magazine. The plus side of this is that you don't have to put yourself through endless hours of cardio. It's short, sharp and sweet.

Bill Phillips recommends that weight-training sessions take 45 minutes and cardio sessions only 20 minutes. The cardio workouts are short because you're using the high intensity interval method of training. You'll definitely feel it after the 20 minutes are up, if you're doing it right.

The Body For Life Diet Plan For Fat Loss

Instead of cutting down on meals, you eat 5 - 6 small, regular meals per day, every few hours. This has the desirable effect of revving up your metabolism as your body is working constantly to digest the food. You also feel less like binging because your blood sugar levels stay constant. Each meal is made up of protein and carbohydrates.

On the Program you get into the habit of drinking at least 2 litres of water a day to maximise fat burning. Tea and coffee don't count - in fact they can deplete your body of water, so stick to water and/or herbal teas.

One of the appealing things about Body For Life is that once a week you get a free day, which means you can eat whatever you want. So this means you don't have to wave goodbye to chocolate or ice-cream forever. This may even be good for your metabolism because your body will be surprised at the additional calories and work harder to burn them off.

This Program is a very comprehensive guide, not only to losing fat and getting fit but transforming your whole life. You have nothing to lose apart from pounds of body fat, so why not start today?