Diet Review- 10 pound melt-down

Shape Magazine has a new feature on losing 10 pounds fast. Although I hear most women talking about wanting to lose more than 10 pounds, this day by day break down guide.

What I like most about Shape's 10 pound melt-down feature, is how simple the magazine makes it sound. The magazine breaks down a weeks worth of meals into 3 snacks and 3 meals.

They make dropping the weight within a week or two seem simple. Taking weight loss goals in smaller increments like 10 pound steps has been shown to be more successful.

What I'm not so keen about is their fitness recommendations. Shape says to meet your 10 pound loss, you'll need to fit in 300 minutes of cardio during the week. Assuming you flock to the gym for all the days of the week, this breaks down to about 40 minutes of cardio a day, which is well over the 30 minutes of cardio work for 3-5 days a week recommended by the US health department.

Most likely, if you're doing 40 minutes a day of cardio work, you're not looking for Shape Magazine to tell you how to drop 10 pounds. Jumping into a new fitness program as intense as Shape recommends could leave participants injured or set up for failure.

My suggestion to those interested in the 10 pound melt-down would be to implement some of Shape's ideas into your normal routine. Odds are, if you are able to slowly incorporate some new habits like a positive change in nutrition or extra time in the gym, you'll stay on a healthy track longer than someone crash dieting.

Shape's week long meal plans are all helpful and nutritious. Calories for the day are already set so following each day will keep you on a good routine. If you're looking at a quick weight loss, increasing your cardio activity will help more so than any other exercising.

For extended results, I'd recommend setting up a one time evaluation with a doctor or physical trainer for personalized workouts that can specifically benefit your goals.