There are as many meal plans as there are people in the world. No two people are going to like the exact same foods or be following the same diet (or way of eating, if you prefer). I'm going to show you a few ways to adapt your own eating habits, going from simple things to do all the way up to more complicated. It all depends on how much effort you can put into it. Some people just don't like dealing with numbers, so calorie counting is not for them. That's fine! You need to find what works for you.

You can even combine some of the methods/tips to create something unique for you that will help you lose the fat!

The goal here is to end up with at the very least several meals and snacks that you can pick and choose from or, if you really get into the groove, a full 7 day plan of what you're going to eat. What you don't want happening is you get hungry, don't know what to eat and end up having something unhealthy because it's quick and easy. That will just kill any fat loss goals you have and leave you open to cravings!

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QUESTION: I hate exercise. I try jogging on the treadmill, the elliptical, cycling and other things. But, I just can never go for more than 15 min. because I get SOOO bored! I've read the tips on the website, like go fast then slow (etc.) and I have a playlist to listen to. None of that works. I've gotten to a point where I just don't EVER exercise because I can't find a way to do it without getting bored out of my mind! What I can do to start enjoying exercise? -Heidi from Logan, UT

Do you enjoy soaking up the summer sun with sand in between your toes? Do you want to make sure you're able to rock that little polka-dot bikini? Take advantage of swimming for exercise during these warm months!

Swimming for exercise could very well be the best thing you do during the summer for your health. Swimming is great for your body - it works so many different muscles. Swimming hits your lungs, arms, legs, and abs, too - all while cooling you down.

Here are a few ideas to get you going:

After a long, hard workweek it's completely understandable that you'd want to relax, unwind and enjoy the couple of days off you have over the weekend. This includes making a pit stop at the grocery store for stuff to cook on the grill, drinks to ice up in the cooler, and extra munchies to help pass the time since you're not in nose-to-the-grindstone work mode.

This is like an American pastime -- using our weekends to meet and eat with friends and family. It gets even more indulgent on holiday weekends when meals might include an entire smorgasbord of potluck goodies everyone brought by your house while they swim in your pool.

Even on non-holiday weekends, we tend to consumer more calories because we drink calorie-laden alcoholic beverages and we eat out in restaurants and ignore portion guidelines, ending our meals with desserts that have names like Death By Chocolate.

You don't have to let your free time that you spend on the weekends ruin all of the hard work you do to achieve or maintain trim figure during the work week. Pick one of these tips to help you whittle down your waist if you're prone to splurging from Friday night through Sunday:

When you're looking to lose weight, one of the most important things you can do is measure calories in and calories out. But it's not as easy as looking at labels and making an educated guess about how much you're putting on your plate. Serving sizes are an exact science and there are seven tips you can use to help you pinpoint the number of calories you're putting in your mouth.

When it comes to getting trim for summer – or any time – it helps to know how to lose belly fat. Belly fat is that stubborn excess that surrounds your midsection. It can make your clothes look lumpy and bumpy. It can also hang over your belt and embarrass you. But you don’t have to live with stubborn belly fat. There are some specific things you can do that will help you lose it. When you know how to lose belly fat, the process becomes much easier for you. Believe it or not, there are some things you can do to reduce the fat in this one specific area of your body.

Belly fat poses a problem for people who want to look good in their clothes. In some cases belly fat hangs over your belt or makes that sexy dress impossible to wear. But the true problem with belly fat is not the cosmetic problems it can cause – it’s the health problems it can cause. Excess belly fat is turning out to be more serious than fat in other areas of the body. While you may not revel in the fat that’s on your hips, thighs, butt, and arms these areas don’t pose a major threat to your health. But fat around the middle of your waist does seem to pose a health risk.

Stress is one of the most difficult challenges in the modern world. Especially when economic times are hard, it seems that stress just continues to mount. What you may not know is that stress can affect more than just your thoughts and emotions. In fact, when it comes to your body, getting rid of stress can actually help you to shrink belly fat. Stress causes hormonal imbalances in the body. In particular there is a hormone called cortisol that becomes unbalanced and causes fat to accumulate around the waistline. When you shrink your stress, you shrink belly fat. Here are some tips to help you accomplish your goals.

If you’re been fighting the battle of the bulge for some time, you know that some areas of the body can be tougher than others. Part of that is the result of genetics. Your body is preprogrammed to collect fat in specific areas. So even when you follow a proper diet and exercise program, you can’t specifically remove fat from one area. However, in the case of belly fat, there are some specific things you can do to target the area and get rid of stubborn belly fat. There are some factors that make belly fat more likely to accumulate on the body and when you attack those, you’ll find that you can have a smaller middle.

Even though exercises will not get rid of your belly fat -- only losing fat through diet and exercise will do that -- you can still do exercises to strengthen your abs and lose fat, in general. That way, when you do lose your belly fat, you'll have some nice ab muscles to show off!