That being the case, a great coach doesn’t talk you into a great plan, because they are able to recognize there is no great plan.  Instead, they just talk you out of your really bad plans.  

A coach can teach you something like flexible dieting which makes the process as painless as possible, but the bottom line is the process is just out right challenging at times.  During these moments of adversity, it is tempting to veer from the path even though the path you were on was working perfectly fine as long as you were actually doing it.

The question is which approach is better and which should you do?  In short, it depends on the preferences of the individual.  Personally, I enjoy cardio.  It gives me time to myself to listen to music or podcasts and learn new things.  It helps me to distress and to unwind.  I look forward to my 30 to 45 minutes per day of steady state cardio.  

Unlike me, many people just want to get it over with to move on to other parts of their lives that they enjoy.  If you are one of these people HIIT cardio may be a better option.  HIIT sessions generally take about 20 minutes to complete.  They consist of a 2 minute warm up, followed by 30 seconds of maximum effort expenditure, meaning you are working as hard as you possibly can during this 30 seconds.  At the end of the 30 seconds, you then decrease the intensity to a very light effort for 90 seconds, rinse and repeat until minute 18 when you complete a 2-minute cool down.  HIIT cardio has been shown in scientific peer reviewed studies to help maintain lean muscle mass and increase your metabolism as well.  

Both steady state cardio and HIIT cardio are good options that work depending simply on which one you prefer.  The key is that either one you choose, you stick to consistently.