I need to lose 20 pounds a.s.a.p?

"DIVA"

It may be your mindset. First, I caution that fad/crash diets are usually short-term solutions to something that should be a life-long commitment toward health and fitness. Many are completely worthless and as you suggest, a waste of money.

You've accomplished an important step in developing a fitness plan (again something that should be considered a life-long commitment). That step is identifying a quantifiable objective. In your case, you have chosen to lose 20 pounds. Before going into methodology, let's analyze your objective. I assume you intend to lose 20 pounds of body fat and not necessarily total body weight. If not, you should reassess your objective. The reason is that as you commit to proper nutrition and exercise, you will begin to shed body fat and generate lean body mass (muscle tissue), which weighs more than fat. In initial weeks, you may not recognize a significant change in your total body weight even as you are steadily and positively progressing towards a total transformation.

I recommend getting your body fat percentage professionally checked (doctor's, fitness trainer, etc). NOTE: If you are in the Army, as your "ID" suggests, the Army's method of checking your body fat percentage is inaccurate (I spent nine years as an Army officer and I do not recommend their method at all). Anyway, by getting a proper check (caliper method is great), you can more accurately measure your body fitness and the progress you make every 12 weeks (which is the proper time frame for measuring significant progress).

With this information you can have an even better method of goal-setting and progress measurement. The next step will be methodology to acheive your goals.

The secret is acknowledging the true purpose of food as fuel rather than entertainment. Focus on protein, fats, and carbohydrates and learn about each of them. A little bit of research online will teach you a lot. Remember, don't diet; change your eating lifestyle. Doing so will change your life for the better. For the exercise, consider it a priority to include it into your routine.

Anyway, if you want it simple, here it is in ten steps:

1. protein is good...eat plenty (about 30% of your caloric intake)

2. fats are good and bad...know the difference

3. saturated and trans fats are the bad ones - limit these

4. poly- and mono-unsaturated fats are good - don't be afraid of them

5. carbohydrates are good and bad...know the difference

6. fibers and complex carbs are the good ones - eat these (about 40% of your caloric intake)

7. sugars and simple carbs are the bad ones - limit these, particularly late in the day (stay away from sodas and chips!)

8. drink water - lots and lots and lots of water. It's the only drink you need. Anything else is either wasted or simply bad for you

9. Eat 4-6 "meals" a day to boost your metabolism.

10. A meal is defined as a portion of a low-fat, protein rich entree, a portion of veggies for vits/mins, and a portion of complex carbs. (You can get these combined as a health shake)

For exercise, it's even simpler:

1. 4-6 hours per week

2. 45-90 min each day you exercise

3. do aerobic exercise (20-40 min) every day you exercise

4. work abdominals every day you exercise (between sets makes it easy)

5. do chest and triceps exercises on one day

6. do back and biceps exercises on a different day

7. do legs and shoulder exercises on a different day

8. do your exercises in sets (i.e. 3 times with 6-12 repetitions each)

9. keep a record of what you do to measure progress.

10. when your progress stalls (called "plateau"), switch up your routine.

If you decide to stick to the 20lb fat loss as your objective, you can mathematically plan your journey. Generally one pound of body fat equates to 3500 excess calories to burn it off. So, that means that over a given period of time, you should plan to burn 70,000 excess calories. "Excess" means that after 'being you' - that is, eating, sleeping, breathing, walking, talking, sex, watching TV, and anything else you may do to burn calories without thinking about it - those calories are those you burn above and beyond through exercise. The way your body burns calories will depend on a multitude of variables, including your body type (look up endomorph vs. ectomorph vs. mesomorph), intensity of your exercise plan, and how well balanced your nutrition plan is. But, you can effectively burn 400-800 per exercise day with the tips I wrote above. Let's just say the burn rate for you is 600/day, without including any exercise you get at PT, if you're in the Army. And let's say you choose to exercise 5 times per week. So, that's 3000 excess calories burned per week. If this math is true, then you should expect to burn 20 pounds of body fat in about 23 weeks (or about 5-6 months). If you are in the Army, that PT you do with your unit will only boost your burn rate per day and effectively shorten your overall timeframe to achieve your goal. Remember, you need "fuel" to sustain your activity level so eat healthy choices and eat often as I suggest. YOU CAN DO IT!!

I've tried many diets and couldn't make anything work. Since having my first child, I've been carrying around an extra 30 pounds. This diet just made sense and showed me that everything I was doing before was wrong and a waste of my time.

The plan was so refreshing and so simple to follow. I did everything plan said and lost 23 pounds in the first three weeks. I'm now starting the diet again to lose 7 more pounds. This plan has changed my life.

Get started today!

I lost 105 pounds in 6 months. Here is how I did it.

1. Every morning get up and walk for 45 minutes. You can start with less time, but you want to get up to 45 minutes, and it must be fast walk. You want your heart rate to go up. It must be in the morning, it kick starts your metabolism.

2. I cut out Red Meat, and fatty foods. Boneless skinnless chicken breast, baked, or grilled, rice and vegetables (steamed).

3. Eat half. Just eat half of what you normally eat. Put 1/2 on your plate, and put the rest away. Cook less. When you go to fast food, get salads only. Or grilled chicken. No fries, only diet soda. Or water.

It will work, once you get into a routine, you will get hooked on the results, and you will keep the routine. It has been over a year for me.

Also start counting your calories. Write them down. You would be amazed as to how much more aware you are of your caloric intake, if you actually write it down. We recently discovered a site that offers a great program that counts calories, as well as keeps track of everything. It allows multiple users, so everyone in the family can keep track. They offer a free 7 day trial, and so far I am very impressed with the product. Try the 7 days and see. It allows you to add the exercise that you do during the day, which increases the amount of calories you can take in. Very Cool!!

http://www.calorieking.com/

A sight with some really cool diet calculators and interesting calorie counting calculators is here. Check it out.

http://www.caloriesperhour.com/

Check out my before and after pic at my yahoo 360 page

http://profiles.yahoo.com/gorillamyke

Stay motivated, and get up and walk every day. I seriously lost all my weight starting off my day on my walk.

Good LUCK!

You should not have to spend money just to loose weight. I always hated those commercials for all that crap to "burn the fat away" It is all BS! This is what you do. Don't eat any fast foods. I lost 65 lbs of baby fat with Pilate's. It is great! It is not hard and you don't have to do it for hours a day. Just 25 minutes in your bedroom, every day. Also cut out soda all together. Drink water as much as possible when thirsty. Grill chicken instead of frying it. I like to eat grilled chicken with sauteed vegetables it only takes me 15 min to make. Also try using the stairs instead of elevators and walk a few rimes a week. If you stick to this you will feel healthier in no time and should see results in a few weeks. Give yourself time, don't expect to loose weight in 5 days, be patient! GOOD LUCK!!

Cut out fried foods, cut out red meat - eat lost of lean turkey, chicken and fish. Buy more raw fruits and veggies. DRINK LOTS OF WATER - I'm talking about so much you are going to the bathroom hourly. Then, start a work out program. I personally lost 70 lbs after my first child using Tae Bo. Get some energizing aerobic tape. If you don't want to buy them, go to the library to try them out. You can do it - 20 lbs. is nothing!

The lemonade master cleanse is good

-safe

-healthy

-lets you loose weight

-clenses all of the toxins from your body

-give you all the nutrients your body needs

-dosen't leave you hungrey

-!! IT WORKS!!

http://therawfoodsite.com/mastercleanse.htm

eat under 1,000 calories a day and jog everyday that's how i lost my weight

Eat sensibly and exercise every day.