How to Lose Weight and Get in Shape Over an Extended Period of Time

What?s the last thing you searched for on Google? Be honest. Was it something like ?Kim Kardashian divorce,? ?Tim Tebow Jesus? or ?belated Christmas gifts?? Mine was ?obsessed TV series? (more about that later.)

Show off your look when you're done!

If you?re one of the 84 percent of Americans with unhealthy body fat, it?s likely you searched for something along the lines of ?how to lose weight quick? or ?how to lose weight fast.? According to a December article for Business Insider by Greg Voakes, six of the ten top searches in America regarding weight loss involve doing it quickly. More than half the people looking to lose weight in our country want the easy way out, a.k.a. the unhealthy, potentially leading to serious illness or death, back to square one within a few weeks, might as well have searched for Kim Kardashian?s divorce kind of way.

While the new year is a high time to celebrate, it?s also a good time to draw attention to unhealthy choices regarding fitness and diet. New Year?s resolutions abound with dramatic proposals regarding weight loss, bodybuilding, and such.

?I?m going to drop three pants sizes by Valentine?s Day just eating cookie dough.?

?I want to be running 90 miles a week by summer. I?m at a solid 4 now.?

?I plan on fighting my first MMA fight by April. I mean, you can learn a lot watching Spike.?

Listen, it?s all well and good to make a serious commitment to better your health and body image. When it involves crash diets endorsed by former B-list action stars ?guaranteed to sculpt your body in just 15 minutes a day? or plain ol? ignorance, it?s a recipe for disaster.

Physical changes don?t just happen overnight, well, other than what happens when you leave a penny in a glass of Coke. If you?re serious about reaching new levels of fitness and/or losing weight and building muscle, you?ve got to be serious about where you?re at fitness-wise,as well as understand the makeup of the human body. It?s not possible to lose dramatic amounts of weight in short periods of time without doing some damage to your body. You?re also fooling yourself if you think you?ll have a six pack using some plastic As Seen on TV contraption. You?re better off buying a six pack, hunkering down on the couch and reading ?Men?s Health.?

My motivation for bringing up unhealthy fitness and diet choices was a recent viewing of an old episode of ?Obsessed? on Netflix. Rick, a writer (poor schlub), visits the gym some 10 times a day for short periods of time out of his fear of getting old (because if only Beethoven had done 500 crunches a day, he?d still be writing symphonies.) While Rick doesn?t work out in an unhealthy manner for the sake of exercising, his story reminded me of the masses of people out there going about working out in a totally unproductive and, more seriously, unsafe manner.

Before you go make a commitment to climb Mt. Everest with about as much training as climbing the rock wall at the local Y, consider your level of fitness. Consult with a trainer and proceed with a regimen you?re ready for. Don?t be overzealous or you?ll be under a paramedic in no time. Educate yourself, stick to reasonable goals and do it up. You?ll be searching Google for ?how to find clothes that fit my rock-solid body? in no time.