Voted “Best Answer” by Yahoo! Answers

Sometimes being crazy busy is the best thing for a new diet. You just need to plan ahead of time so that you always have healthy snacks and packed meals for when it’s time to eat. Being busy will keep you from picking at food all the time.

There’s two ways you could go and I think either way will work for you. First of all, my best suggestion is to learn to eat healthy.

That means understand the food pyramid, the food groups, the recommended servings, etc. That is how you should eat for life! If you eat that way and have 3 small, healthy meals a day and 2 small, healthy snacks, you will lose weight. Each meal should be less than 400 calories and each snack should be about 100-150 calories. Eating highly nutritious foods is the key; so think in terms of lean protein, veggies, whole-grains, fruits, low-fat dairy, and heart-healthy oils.

The second option is to do a short-term “drastic diet” that is designed to last for 2 weeks max. This would take off the most weight rapidly. There are several on the site under “Diet Plans” but my favorite is the 5-4-3-2-1 diet.

You get to pick what you eat, but you’re going to want to pick highly nutritious foods to keep your metabolism working efficiently. Again, the “eat healthy” page can help you determine what highly nutritious foods are, if you need help with that. If you go on the short-term diet, then once it’s over, follow the guidelines on the same page.

Make water your main source of hydration and save the sweet drinks (even diet) for special occasions. Eliminate as much salt and sugar from your diet as you can.

The biggest component to fast weight loss is going to be your workout. You will want to make sure you do a good (30 minute minimum) cardio workout every day for weight loss (3 times a week is sufficient to maintain health). Activities that use the large leg muscles burn the most calories. These activities also tone the lower body quite effectively. Think in terms of power walking, jogging, biking, skating, swimming laps, jumping rope, dancing, racquetball, and jumping jacks. To make sure that you’re burning fat, you need to be sweating and huffing and puffing. In addition, do some good stretches and some strength training. Here are some good target exercises that you can do at home, without special equipment:

View the original question and answer at Yahoo! Answers

Updated: