Burn fat fasterEat 20 percent fewer calories without feeling hungryRev up your metabolismBurn more calories in less timeLose up to 8 pounds 

So get ready, get set…

5-Step Fat-Blasting Diet

Everywhere you look there’s tons of diet advice. We waded through all that to come up with the five most important steps for dropping pounds quickly. We also put together a Mix ’n Match Meal Plan that makes it easy for you to get started right away. 

  1. Eat More Skimpy meals won’t satisfy you. “It’s the volume of food—not the number of calories—that you eat that determines when you’re full,” says Barbara Rolls, PhD, a professor of nutrition at Pennsylvania State University in State College and coauthor of Volumetrics: Feel Full on Fewer Calories. “You consistently eat about the same volume of food, day after day. So you can lose weight by eating more foods that are low on the energy density scale: those with lots of water, such as fruits, vegetables, and broth-based soups.”  They help because they’re high in volume—meaning that you get lots of mouthfuls—but low in calories. Very energy-dense foods, on the other hand, contain loads of calories crammed into a little package—cheesecake, for example. That’s why you can polish off a piece of cheesecake in a snap, but struggle to finish a large salad, says Rolls. Eating foods that are less energy-dense can naturally reduce the number of calories that you eat by up to 20%—without making you feel hungry.
  2. Watch Calories They really do count. But our weight loss program Mix ’n Match Meal Plan does most of the counting for you. You can easily develop meals to meet your calorie needs. (In general, women should aim for about 1,500 to 1,800 calories a day, and men about 2,300 to 2,600 calories a day.) 
  3. Up the Calcium Your bones won’t be the only things benefiting from this important mineral. People who take in the most calcium from food (about 1,300 milligrams [mg] a day) reduce their chances of becoming overweight by an astonishing 80 percent compared to those who eat only 255 mg daily. According to a recent study of mice, calcium appears to control how fat cells work, say study authors Michael Zemel, PhD, and Paula Zemel, PhD, of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. In one study, “mice receiving the most calcium made 51% less fat, broke down fat tissue three to five times faster, and gained up to 40 percent less weight than mice eating the lower-calcium diet,” Michael Zemel points out. 
  4. Boost Fiber This helps you eat fewer calories because fiber fills your tummy faster. It also blocks absorption of some of the calories that you consume by scooting them through your body before they can be absorbed. Experts estimate that each gram of fiber substituted for simple carbohydrates results in a 7-calorie loss. That means that tripling your daily fiber intake from 13 g (the average for most people) to 40 g (the average for our weight loss program) would, by itself, result in about a 200-calorie-a-day deficit—or a 2-pound weight loss in 4 weeks.
  5. Snack All Day By eating small meals throughout the day, you’ll maximize your body’s calorie-burning ability. “As you get older, your body’s ability to use food decreases,” says Julie K. Avery, RD, clinical nutritionist at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Ohio. In one study, older women burned about 30 percent fewer calories after eating a 1,000-calorie meal than younger women–187 calories versus 246. Both groups burned similar amounts after 250- and 500-calorie meals. Over time, eating two or three large meals per day (even if you’re still eating the same number of calories) could pack on 6 pounds in a year.[pagebreak]

Mix ’n Match Meals: Breakfast and Snack

Each day, pick a breakfast, lunch, and dinner from below. Depending on your calorie goal, you can have up to three snacks a day. You should be drinking two glasses of 1 percent or fat-free milk (100 calories each) a day, and adding a fruit or vegetable to any meal that doesn’t already contain one. Also, eat at least one vegetable salad a day. (You can use any of these ingredients: lettuce, peppers, cucumbers, carrots, onions, broccoli, tomatoes, and 2 tablespoons of low-fat dressing.) Men can have an additional two fruits and one milk daily.  Breakfast—average 300 calories  Grilled Chicken Breast (3 ounces) Serve with 1 medium baked sweet potato topped with 2 teaspoons light brown sugar and 1 teaspoon margarine, 1 cup cooked spinach with lemon juice, and 1 whole wheat roll with 1 teaspoon margarine.  Grilled Maple-Marinated Tuna Marinate 5 ounces (uncooked) tuna steak in 1 1/2 tablespoons maple syrup, 2 tablespoons orange juice, and freshly ground black pepper (to taste) for 20 minutes. Remove from marinade, and grill or broil approximately 3 minutes on each side. Serve with 1 medium baked potato topped with 2 tablespoons low-fat sour cream and 8 large asparagus spears with 1 teaspoon margarine. Mediterranean Pasta Heat 1 cup frozen broccoli spears, 1/2 cup white kidney beans, and 1/2 cup of your favorite jarred pasta sauce in a microwaveable dish for about 3 minutes or until heated through. Serve over 1 cup cooked linguine.  Trout Roll-Up Sprinkle 1 trout fillet (about 8 ounces, with skin) with 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Top with 1/4 cup chopped scallions. Roll from the small end, then wrap tightly in foil. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove skin before eating. Serve with 1 cup cooked barley and 1 cup steamed green beans with 1 teaspoon margarine.