Because we want it to achieve it more quickly than it can and should happen. We all want to lose three to five pounds every week and have a body like Gerard Butler in 300, but that's neither realistic nor healthy.

According to medical science, it's best to lose one pound per week of fat if looking to lose weight. Any more than that, and you're actually decreasing muscle mass and turning the excess energy from the muscle breakdown into fat. So when you overwork your body, you actually put on more fat. It's also the same result when you don't have enough carbohydrates and fats in your diet; the lack of carbohydrates makes your body break down your muscles (most of which turns to fat) and the lack of fat in your diet will make you crave sugar which just ends up making your blood sugar levels unstable, which leads to more sugar than it needs, meaning that, again, that sugar turns to fat.

Something a few people don't know is that fat only burns with oxygen. And when you're only lifting weights, you don't use enough oxygen to burn fat. That's why a good regimen of cardio will help you look lean. Lifting heavy weights in few reps or light weights in many reps will help maintain your muscle mass.

I've had great results spending half of my workout doing cardio and half of it lifting. It's best to know your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) which you can calculate here. Once you know your TDEE, you can choose the best diet for your goals. An easy formula to lose weight is to eat 500 calories fewer than your TDEE accounts for. For a healthy diet, 50 percent carbs, 30 percent fats, and 20 percent protein is a good start. I would suggest eating as fresh as possible, eating brown rice or quinoa, and focusing on poultry and fish for the best results.

It sucks; it does. If someone weighs 240 and wants to lose 20 (48 lbs) of their 30 percent (80 lbs) body fat, it will take almost a year (48 weeks) to lose it at a healthy rate. But doing it in this way will keep your body healthy, make it less likely that you'll gain weight quickly, and give you something to focus on for a while.

I've gone from wearing XL's to mediums; a size I don't remember ever fitting in. It took me six months of consistent activity at the gym and diet to get here. I have a long way to go to reach my goal, but I'm in the best shape of my life mentally and physically. I hope you can reach your goals with this post.

Best of luck Gents.