When it comes to living a long and healthy life, there are two necessary ingredients: diet and fitness.

It is possible to have a perfectly healthy diet with deplorable fitness habits as well as to be very physically fit with less than savory eating habits.

There's a clever little line in the Jimmy Buffet song  "Fruitcakes" when his 'lady' is lamenting:
"I treat my body like a temple.

You treat yours like a tent” I can't help but think of this line whenever I think about all the people around the world who are going on these garbage in, garbage out diet plans hoping to achieve the weight loss success but only for those who are endorsing these products.

To be completely honest, you can control your weight with a properly planned diet. It may sound difficult but is possible. It is also possible to be physically fit even if you have a few extra pounds hanging around.

Your appearance depends on what you eat to a large extent. If a high fat low substance diet is followed our bodies are going to lack the fuel required to burn the fat. At the same time if we aren't providing our bodies with the tools it needs to build muscles it doesn't matter how many weights we lift we cannot achieve the physical fitness we are aiming at.

To achieve the best results we must bring about a proper balance between diet and fitness. They compliment each other best rather than working separately.

Use your fitness routine to burn the excess calories and use your diet in order to provide your body with 
the proper nutrients that it requires like a fuel to build muscles.

If you believe that a pound of muscle weighs less than a pound of fat it is not true at all. A pound of muscle occupies less space on the body than a pound of fat.
Remember that dieting alone does not build muscles. You should also realize that as you are building your muscles you may be shedding inches while not showing a great deal of progress on the scale. It is very important that you keep this in mind throughout the weight loss process.

Do not measure your progress by the scales alone or you will achieve misleading results. Many people do just this and get frustrated giving up when they are actually making progress. Do not allow yourself to be a victim of the scales.

Assess yourself...Look in the mirror, try on your tight pants, and measure your waistline. Measure your success by how you feel after climbing a flight of stairs not by how many pounds fell of the scale this week. It is about how you feel from within and not how you appear to look outside.

The best way to burn off any extra calories you may have consumed during the day is to incorporate fitness into your diet routine.

So if you want to have a small 'cheat' a snack that is, during the day, you can make up for it by burning a few more calories than normal in the evening.

However don’t make it a habit...an occasional occurrence will not make or break your diet.

Dieting and fitness share a ball and glove type of relationship. While you can play ball without the glove, it seems to work so much better if you have both.

Diet and fitness when combined together can create fantastic weight loss results for those who take them both seriously.

You must remember that diet and fitness walk hand in hand. Thus you must incorporate both in your daily life like a routine in order to achieve the best possible results and lead a healthy life.