I have gotten so many people who ask me, "How did you lose weight?", "What workouts did you do?", "What has been the most important thing when losing weight?", "Help me, I want to lose X lbs" so I figured I would share with you guys what has worked for ME. Now let me just say, I'm not a doctor, nutritionist or personal trainer. I'm just a girl that has struggled with her weight and health for years, and has tried everything under the sun. So though I do not have a bachelor's degree in nutrition, I do have a lot of experience with Effective Weight Loss loss programs, and this is just what has worked for ME.

1. Eat clean.
Sounds pretty self explanatory right? A lot of people don't realize that losing weight is 80% nutrition and 20% working out. Yes, you read that correctly. You can bust your ass all day in the gym, but if you end it with eating chili cheese dogs and soda, then it is going to be like that workout never existed. You CANNOT lose weight without changing your eating habits. So what do I do to eat clean?

Meal plan every week. I figure out what I want ahead of time for the rest of the week, go shopping on Saturday and cook on Sunday. Every week. This is necessary because if I don't plan ahead, I will turn to something convenient, aka FAST FOOD. Fail to plan, plan to fail.
Take my lunch to work everyday. I know a lot of people like to eat out at work, but for me, eating out is a rarity. I don't like not knowing what exactly was put into my food. Even if the restaurant lists what is in the dish, you never really know how they cook it, or what is really in there. Bring your own food everywhere you go and cut eating out to a minimum.
Cut out most carbs and grains. Right now, the only carbs I really eat are brown rice, quinoa and corn tortillas. No bread, no pasta, DEFINITELY no white/processed stuff. Cutting these out was hard at first but now I don't miss them! Find healthy swaps like lettuce wraps instead of bread, broccoli slaw instead of pasta.

Water, water, water. Drink like a fish, people. I do not drink any sodas, juices (unless fresh pressed through my juicer from whole foods), DEFINITELY no diet crap, none of it. I drink water and Shakeology. Kombucha every once and awhile. Liquid calories just go down faster, just because it's a drink doesn't mean it can be disregarded.

2. Workout at home.

I HATE THE GYM. So so much. I haven't lost one ounce of the weight I have lost by being in the gym. Props to people that love it, but I am not one of those people. I feel uncomfortable, I hate how many people are around, I hate waiting for things to open up so I can use them. I just hate the gym. So instead, my home is my gym. There are SO many reasons why I love working out at home to Beachbody programs. Just to name a few...

No excuses. I can't complain about having to drive somewhere or take extra time out of my day because it is literally 5 steps from my bedroom.
110% effort. I can workout and push myself to the point where I am screaming and panting and don't have to feel weird about people hearing me.
All the benefits of a personal trainer without the cost. I love working out with Beachbody programs because these trainers know what they are doing. Shaun T will motivate you and push you like he is standing in your living room looking over you. I don't like not knowing what I should be doing, so by following these programs, the guesswork is taken out, all I have to do is push play.

3. Drink Shakeology.

I can't tell you how many "weight loss" products I have tried over the years. Slim Fast, Advocare, Special K shakes, whey protein, energy drinks. All of them have gone into my body, all of them have added up to a lot of money. The only thing I buy now is Shakeology. The only thing I need is Shakeology. The only thing I want is Shakeology. It literally is everything you need all in one. It's not a weight loss shake. It's not a protein shake. It is a nutrient dense superfood shake that helps give you the proper nutrition that your body needs. Yes it is possible to lose weight and get fit without it, But it helps you with this process SO MUCH. So what is it? A powerful mix of over 70 super foods, phytonutrients, pro/prebiotics and more designed to give you all the nutrition you need in one delicious shake. It is almost impossible to get all your nutrients from eating clean throughout the day. So replacing one meal with Shakeology takes care of this, and also provides so many other benefits like:

Increased energy. I used to get up at 6:45 am dying because I was so tired. Now I can get up at 5 am, do my workout, drink my Shakeology and I am so energized and ready for the day.
Fights cravings. I couldn't tell you the last time I seriously felt the urge for something unhealthy. I haven't really been off track with my eating since Christmas, and that is because Shakeology has helped fight my cravings, allowing me to want healthy food. This is for real you guys. I WANT healthy food. Nuts, I know.
Keeps you full. I will drink my Shakeology for breakfast and be good to go until lunch time. I love being able to power through my morning without that dull hunger that likes to come around 10-11 am.

I could go on and on about Shakeology, but it is seriously amazing. I can't live without it. All natural ingredients, too. No unpronounceable ingredients like hydrochloride benzoate or color#5462. And no more buying this protein, that energy drink, this meal replacement. Just Shakeology. Everything in one, the healthiest meal of the day!

4. Join challenge groups.

I really think people underestimate the power of support and community, especially when it comes to losing weight. You think you can do it on your own, but let's be real - having a support system makes SUCH a huge difference, for me at least. I discovered this in October when I did my first eat clean challenge group. Challenge groups are private Facebook groups with other people working on the same goal or program as you. This first one I did was a clean eating group, and we had daily challenge questions to answer. Checking in and seeing how the other people in the group were doing everyday really kept me on track. I didn't know it at the time, but this was the missing piece to the puzzle for me. Challenge groups changed my life. How?

Accountability. Knowing others are there doing this program too kept me on track. I thought to myself, everyone else is doing this, so I can too. And because we check in everyday, I didn't want to be the one who was off track. These groups really helped keep me going when I didn't want to.
Motivation. Having others there that helped you, praised you on your victories and encouraged you on your journey was exactly what I wanted and needed. It added fuel to my fire, and kept me going when I didn't want to.

Discovering my passion. By joining challenge groups, I found out very quickly that I love to support and motivate others when it comes to weight loss. I know firsthand how hard it is, so being that support to other people is something that gives me happiness. After participating in a few groups, I realized I loved it so much, that I wanted to pursue being a coach myself! And here I am today. If I'm not in a challenge group myself, I am running one for other people. I have been doing this since October, and it continues to keep me on track, accountable and motivated to push forward towards my goals.

1. Drink one glass of water every hour. It will make you feel full.
2. Drink ice cold water. Your body will burn calories just getting the water to a normal temperature to digest. Also it is great for your complexion.
3. Drink 3 cups of green tea daily. It will help boost your metabolism, plus its anti-oxidants make your skin look great.
4. Take vitamins daily. Do not take vitamins on an empty stomache, otherwise they have nothing to catalyze with.
5. Eat ice or gum when hungry. This will make your body think it had food without the calories.
6. Do aerobics until you want to faint.
7. Eat spicy foods. They raise your metabolism.
8. Take cold showers because your body will burn calories to heat you back up.
9. DON’T take laxatives. They don’t help you to lose weight.
10. DON’T use diruretics. They only dehydrate you.
11. Brush your teeth constantly so you won’t be tempted to eat afterwards.
12. Weat a rubberband around your wrist. Snap it when you want to eat.
13. Clean something gross (toilet, litter box, boyfriend’s closet) when you want to eat. You will not want to eat after cleaning a litter box.
14. Keep your hair in good condition so no one will suspect anything.
15. Get a job so you’ll have to work through meal times.
16. Exercise twice the amount of calories eaten.
17. Use smaller plates and utensils so it seems like you ate more.
18. Chew eat bite of food thoroughly and then take a sip of water between bites. You will feel full quicker and will not eat as much.
19. Say you are going to eat at a friend’s house and instead go for a walk. You will be burning calories instead of taking them in.
20. Buy clothes that you can’t fit into and hang them wear you can see them. This will motivate you to lose weight to fit into them.
21. Sleep at least six hours a day. If you get less than six this can lower your metabolism by 15%.
22. If you start to feel hungry do situps or punch yourself in the stomach. You will not feel hungry anymore.
23. Pamper yourself! Give yourself a facial, paint your nails, anything to make you feel pretty.
24. Make yourself a snack, but instead of eating it throw it away. Leave the dirty dishes whereyour parents can find them. They will think you ate.
25. Prepare a list of excuses as to why you can’t eat - You’re sick, you’re a vegetarian, allergic, etc. You’d be amazed at how many good excuses there are.
26. Get out of your house! If you’re not sitting around then people can’t start shit with you about not eating.
27. Join a pro-ana group or start your own website. Anything that will keep you motivated.
28. Make an ANA scrapbook with pics of skinny models. Right down all the reasons you want to lose weight. Keep track of everything you eat. Look at it daily for thinsperation.
29. Keep good posture, burns 10% more calories when you sit up straight.
30. Instead of food, buy something else, a new shirt, flowers, jewelrey etc.
31. Make a list of all the "bad" foods that you crave and tend to binge on. Each day, pick one to take out of your diet that you absolutely, no matter what, cannot eat again. Take one off the list each day until there are no more bad foods you can have.
32. Avoid alcohol! A shot of liquor has 100-120 calories, a glass of wine has 80 calories, a lite beer has 110-120 calories, and a regular beer has 140-170 calories.
33. Never eat anything bigger than about a cup, your stomach will expand and then you’ll get hungry more.
34. Eat in front of a mirror naked. See how much you can eat then!
35. The smell of coffee is suppose to supress appetite.
36. Wear perfectly applied lip gloss. It makes you more aware of what’s going in your mouth. Also, flavored ones help with cravings.
37. Have 6 small meals a day. Take 2 apples, and split them so you can make 6 meals out of them. That way your body will be tricked into thinking it’s eating more.
38. Low calorie hot chocolate curbs chocolate cravings, and makes you feel full.
39. Take anti-heartburn pills if you’re really hungry. They nuetralize the acid that builds and makes you hungry.
40. Take a picture of yourself wearing a bathing suit or something equally revealing, look at it when you want to eat.
41. It takes 20 minutes for the brain to realize the stomach is full.
42. When you get hunger pains curl into a ball, it makes them go away.
43. If you’re a smoker and hungry, light up a cigarette. It curbs your appetite.
44. Eat lots of fiber. It makes you feel full and takes fat with it out of your body. The natural cleansing helps improve both your energy level and overall feeling of wellness.
45. Before you dig into that cake, bag of chips, candy, or whatever, take a deep breath and count to 100. Usually by the time you get to 100 you will have convinced yourself that you don’t really want it.
46. When you’re hungry chug 2 glasses (or how many you need) of straight water. It’ll make you so full and nauseous you will have completely lost your appetite.
47. Celery actually burns calories. Every hour eat a stalk of it. Not only will it fill you up, but it will also get your metabolism kickin’.
48. Weigh yourslef before and after every time you eat. Not only will it eliminate unnecessary eating, but it will make you want to eat less when you see the numbers creep up.
49. Read the nutritional information. Remember, fat-free does not mean calorie-free. Also keep an eye on fiber content. Get as much fiber into your diet as you can, while cutting fat and calories.
50. Don’t eat a lot at once. Spread your food throughout the day. This will help to avoid binging and keep your metabolism going.
51. If you like to drink alcohol, you’ll like this. Make a rule: You can only drink every time you lose 2lbs. So, if you lose 4lbs a week, you can drink Friday and Saturday night. However, if you only lose 2lbs a week, you only get to drink one night.
52. Do not eat in front of the computer or TV. This distracts you from recognizing you’re full.
53. Save the money you would have spent on that meal in a jar. Save it in a bottle instead and watch it grow.
54. Stay away from Slim-fast and other so-called "healthy" candy bars and shakes… one look at the nutition facts will tell you why. With all the carbs and excess calories you may as well go eat a freakin pie or something. Not to mention the rediculous prices… save yourself the money, and the calories.
55. Instead of buying food, buy yourself flowers. Food is depressing, but flowers make you happy.
56. When having cravings drink a couple glasses of water with slices of lemons and count to 100 and it should go away.
57. Eating 100 cals 4 times a day is better than eating a 400 cal meal.
58. An occasional binge doesn’t hurt, in fact it’s quite beneficial if you have reached a plateau (stopped losing weight). Your body will think you have stopped starving yourself, and you will drop at least a pound overnight! Just don’t binge too regularly!
59. Someone told me that if you take a pure cold bath for 15-30 min and lower your body temp, your body burns around 200 cals for every degree it has to raise itself to reach a normal body temperture. This person tried it, a 30 min bath lowered their temp about 3-4 degrees.

So that's it, my dirty secrets! Eating clean, working out at home, drinking Shakeology and joining challenge groups. It really is that simple. It isn't easy sometimes to do it, but it is worth it. I'm excited to continue on my journey, following these 4 important guidelines, and keep on track to be in the best shape of my life! This is really best diet tips and fast weight loss program.