Lose weight without buying some BS book

Most Important first off: Do NOT buy one of those diet books ... I guarantee you that all the "useful" info they give is available free and legal on the internet. Now to the good stuff.

This is all stuff that I have used with a lot of success:

- Eat 60% of your daily calories before mid day (preferable before lunch) ... This DOES not mean eat more calories, but the same as you usually do just distribute your normal calories earlier in the day.

-Eat Your Veggies!!! I know it's so cliche but it helped me get closer to cut quicker than Atkins ever did. You want to eat A LOT ... Like 3 - 6 small bowls worth per day or 3 big bowls. Not only is it packed with nutrients, but it is low in calories. It is also high in fiber (more about that later). The biggest thing is that your body has to burn calories to digest, but it can't get all those calories from the shrubbery you just ate. It then burns fat to help digest that green goodness.

-Eat your fiber!! Veggies help, but there are plenty of other places to get it from. Check labels. You want to try to get close to 40 grams of fiber per day if you are losing weight. If you can't get it all from good food, then there are plenty of good fiber supplements. Fiber is technically a carb, but it slows down your digestion and helps get rid of what your body doesn't need ... Trust me though, this doesn't mean you will spend a lot
of time in the bathroom.

-Check Labels for bad stuff ... Stay the HELL away from High Fructose Corn Syrup!!!! This stuff turns str8 into fat unless you are running a marathon. If you see partially hydrogenated _____ , also stay away as it is processed fats.

-Eat more fat! What!? That's right eat more fat. The catch is it has to be the good kind. I personally use flax seed oil and fish oil pills. There are many studies you can find online about how eating these good fats actually help you lose weight.

-Eat more, but less ... Meaning eat more times per day, but smaller portions. It keeps you full and helps keep that metabolism up.

-Don't use salt. Sodium is not just bad for blood pressure. If you pinch your "problem area" and it bounces back and kind of ripples outward like water, then you have extra water weight. Your body is mostly water, but you can still have too much. Sodium ions like to stick around the stomach and help retain water. Water weight can actually make you look to have almost 5% more body fat ... YIKES!!!

-Drink more water. Why drink more water when water retention looks so bad? Glad you asked. If you drink more water your body gets out of water retention mode. When you are dehydrated your body panics and starts holding on to any water it can. Water has the added bonuses of suppressing appetite and fueling your body. I personally drink close to 2 gallons per day, but I work out a lot.

-Weight Train! Well this one should be a no brainer. More muscle burns more fat all day, everyday. Everyone has their own programs. Mine is 3 days of hitting the bowflex (yes bowflex is that good) M W F. Monday is chest and back. Wednesday is arms and shoulders. Friday is legs. As far as reps and sets, it's not about how many reps and sets, as it is about TUT ... Time Under Tension. You can do more reps at a fast pace or you can do fewer reps at a slower pace (say 7 seconds to complete the rep). After each of these workouts I do 3 sets of crunches to failure aka till I want to die.

-Cardio SUCKS!!! I also do 3 days of cardio, but with a twist. Running SUCKS ... I much rather prefer rollerblading. I like a high intensity interval: skate at 50% top speed for 5 mins, followed by 20 sec at top speed, then 10 sec rest, repeat the 20 sec sprint with 10 sec rest 5 times, finish with 50% top speed for 5 mins ... Don't forget to stretch. Usually one of my cardio days I will use the same interval on the punching bag to keep things fresh (also so I'm ready to defend myself from jealous boyfriends).

-SLEEP!!! Get at least 8 hrs. Your body loses more weight when you get enough sleep for it to repair. It also reduces stress. Stress produces cortisol which means more belly fat for you. So SLEEP damn it!!!

-Sweat! Not Sweet, but sweat ... ya know like a pig. If you spend about 50mins in sauna you can burn close to 600 calories!!! It burns calories, flushes toxins from your body, and is good for skin health. Make sure to drink plenty of water. If you can't afford to hit the sauna enough, you can buy a sweat suit and put on a bunch of layers. You can sweat that butt off while you are at your computer (remember that working out is still important couch potato). You should also take a vitamin afterwards to replace some of the nutrients you lost.

Good Luck and step away from the donuts buddy!!!