Fastest Way to Get Toned & Lose Weight

If you want to tighten up your body and shed some pounds, no combination is better than diet and exercise. However, the exercises you choose and the foods you eat can accelerate the pace of muscle gain and weight loss.

Toning, Calorie-Burning Exercises

• The appropriate exercises can determine how quickly you build muscles and shape up. First, identify the areas you want to tone, and tailor your workout to those body parts. If you want a full-body workout, circuit training provides an option of weight exercises for all body parts. If hitting the gym and lifting weights is not your ideal exercise methods, palates and yoga target the entire body as well.

  Weight lifting, yoga and palates, however, just tone the body. To assist with weight loss, choose high-cardio exercises like running or kickboxing. Use a guide to find out the amount of calories burned for common forms of exercise.

  Consistency is critical for toning and weight loss. Ideally, exercise at least four days a week. Get a friend to work out with you to provide motivation. Because both toning and weight loss are the goals, delegate half an hour to toning activities and another half an hour to cardio. Or alternate your workout days for each activity.

Consider a Juice Diet

• Liquid juice diets made up of fruit, vegetables and leafy greens can jump-start weight loss, as they are water-rich and low in calories. Juicing has many other health benefits besides weight loss. The book "Juice Alive" specifies that juicing can ward off illnesses like Alzheimer's, fight free radicals that cause premature aging, help clear the skin and improve mood.

  If you are also exercising, limit your juice meals to twice a day, and have one meal that's high in protein and vegetables for dinner. Athletes need large amounts of protein and carbs to provide fuel for workouts, which can be difficult to obtain from juicing unless nutrition powder is added. Make your "workout meal" high in protein with sources like beans or lean meat, and a carb like whole grain bread or pasta.

Healthy Food Choices

• If switching to a juicing diet is too extreme, find ways to make meals healthier. For example, skip the takeout Chinese by making your own stir fry instead: Use a wok or frying pan, add a tbsp. of oil and lightly saute fresh vegetables and tofu, and add buckwheat noodles.

  Do not deprive your body of fats. Some fats, like those in avocados, flax seeds and nuts, provide memory-boosting, skin-clearing properties that the body needs to function. Limit consumption of "bad fats" from fried foods. Try to avoid processed snack foods, which contain trans fats (found in cookies, margarine and snack crackers), and cream sauces and gravies.

Considerations

• Your weight loss goals should be realistic. The book "Weight Loss that Lasts" specifies that realistic weight loss is around 10 percent of body weight over six months. Additionally, for the weight loss to be sustainable, the steps taken to lose the weight must be enjoyable, healthy and reasonable.