If you know me at all, you know I'm a big fan of calorie counting. There's something so motivating about knowing how many calories you eat vs. how many you burn -- and calorie counting helps me avoid certain foods when I *know* those extra calories are going straight to my hips! Calorie counting can be a real eye-opening experience if you've never done it before. It can take some getting used to, but it's definitely worth it. There are lots of online calorie counters/fitness trackers, but today I'm going to talk about a downloadable software: FitDay for PC. FitDay for PC is a software that's easily installed on your PC, so you don't need to be online to use it. You don't have to worry about slow connections or logging in, or losing data if your Internet connection times out. Not only can you track your food and exercise with FitDay PC, you can track things like your body measurements and your mood -- and that'll help you see the relationship between your mood and your food! This can help a lot when it comes to cravings and comfort food triggers.

I found another free e-book for you called, "The Trouble Spot Tune-Up - A 10 Minute Workout For Your Most Stubborn Areas," by Joey Atlas.

Joey was the "fat kid" in school, and that motivated him to get fit and healthy later on in life -- he now has a Masters Degree in Exercise Physiology! He's the author of The Ultimate Leg, Butt, Hip and Thigh Makeover.

Most fitness conscious people have heard that there are 3,500 calories in a pound of fat, so if you create a deficit of 3500 calories in a week, you lose a pound of weight. If you create a deficit of 7000 calories in a week, you lose two pounds, and so on. Right? Well, not so fast…

Dr. Kevin Hall, an investigator at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda has done some interesting research about the mechanisms regulating human body weight. He recently published a new paper in the International Journal of Obesity that throws a wrench in works of the “3500 calories to lose a pound” idea.

Are you struggling, trying to find the right weight loss program? Don't know what to look for? I've got a free ebook just for you! It's called "Keys to Finding the Right Weight Loss Program For You -- A Guide to Healthy and Permanent Weight Loss." There's a companion "diet comparison" chart, too! Feel free to pass it around to family and friends!

Do you have 20lbs to lose? 30lbs? More? I just whipped up a new calculator for you. The Weight Loss Target Date calculator gives you an idea of how long it will take to lose that weight. After you enter your info, the calculator estimates how many calories you need to stay at the same weight (total daily calorie needs). It then calculates 5 different calorie deficits[...]

Here's a different way to look at all the extra fat you're carrying around. See, your body stores any extra calories you eat as fat, right? Your body thinks, "Hey, it might be awhile before we get some food, so let's stash away all this extra energy."

The problem is, for most of you reading this, the next meal is not very far away. You don't even have to go out to "hunt and gather" -- chances are you'll "walk and raid (the fridge)" or "drive and order (some fast food)."

It's such a common occurrence, it's become a cliche: you spend hundreds, if not thousands of dollars, on a treadmill, exercise bike or an elliptical machine, only to see it gather enough dust to make your mother weep when she visits -- or worse yet, you can't even see the darn thing because it's a rather expensive clothes hanger. Out of sight, out of mind seems to be your motto.

When I bought my elliptical machine, I was determined to get my money's worth. Who wants to spend that much money on an overgrown door stopper? So, if you can't even remember what your exercise equipment looks like, I've got 4 tips to help you dust it off and start using it again.

If you want to get somewhere, you have to know where you’re going, right? It’s no different when you want to lose weight. You need to set a weight loss goal to make sure you’re heading in the right direction. If you’ve never set a weight loss goal or if you have a lot of weight to lose, it’s easiest to set a 3 month -- or 12 week -- goal. That gives you 12 weeks to turn your life around, by eating better and moving more. To keep it simple, here are 2 types of goals you can set and the easiest ways you can track them.

One excuse I've heard many times -- and used! -- is, "I don't have the time." You know what I mean: "I want to exercise, but I don't have the time." "I want to eat right, but I don't have the time." Here, I'll make it simple for you: fill in the blank with your own excuse: "_________________________, but I don't have the time." There, are ya done whining? :-) We ALL have the same 24 hours in a day. If you want to do something and you "feel" you don't have the time, then you need to figure out a way to free up some time. No excuses.

Gotcha! Bet you thought this was going to be some quick fix, right? If you were the least bit tempted by the headline, then you definitely need to read this article by one of my favorite fat loss gurus, Tom Venuto. He's got a great sense of humor, as you'll see down below -- and he knows what he's talking about when it comes to burning fat. But he really does have a solution for losing 20lbs really, really fast, so read on...