I eat salad every day so I should have a body like such and such actor or entertainer, or at the very least I should be skinny or athletic. I am right aren't I?

Truthfully, for a lot of people, it just does not work this way.

Doing one thing is not the answer.

You could see zero positive results or actually be doing more harm than good. Instead of losing body fat and bloat you are not satiated with the building blocks your body needs so it attacks itself. You lose muscle and feel fatigued or sleepy.

Or get depressed because the inches you want to lose linger.

If you want to lose weight, you need to create a calorie deficit between what your body needs and what you take in. Some people will restrict their diet and cut calories entirely. This may work for a small subset of the population. For many of us, our metabolism is just going to slow down. Your basal metabolic rate is going to decrease making it harder to lose weight.

Cutting down also runs the risk of your body attacking its muscles instead of fat. So if you lose weight under this scenario, long term you may gain it back and negatively affect your body composition.

The real goal should be to improve composition and form. If you look healthy, feel healthy, and your underlying key indicators of health are where they need to be, why do you need to lose weight? Think about it. Let's say you lose weight. Great!

The only problem is the result is due to atrophy. You lost muscle mass and retained the flab.

The end result may be a slightly skinnier you, but the truth is you are not as healthy as you could be. Muscle burns more calories than fat. By prioritizing weight loss over composition, you have compromised your health and sabotaged the journey you are on to a healthier you.