According to the Mayo Clinic, a 200-pound man who lifts weights for 60 minutes burns 455 calories. High-impact aerobics burn slightly more. Meanwhile, one healthy meal of four ounces of grilled chicken and one cup of rice contains 385 calories. There’s no way around it: Eat fewer calories.

Follow these macros (from the M&F Food Pyramid). Get one gram of protein daily per pound of your body weight. Do the same for carbs. For fat, multiply your weight by 0.4 to determine your daily grams. Lower your fat and carb intake slightly when fat loss plateaus.

Don’t estimate portion sizes. Most people guess too low and end up eating much more than their macros call for. Have measuring cups on hand and prepare your own food. Read labels and invest in a food scale.

Quick Tip: To prevent digestive problems, avoid grains except rice. Other good carbs are potatoes, sweet potatoes, and some fruit.

Are you looking to perfect your beach body for the upcoming summer? If so, we have the right prescription just for you. It's a full-body workout routine that utilizes a combination of high intensity types of resistance training combined and cardio.

Weighted resistance training is the best way to burn excess fat and calories when compared to cardio alone. Research has proven this, however if you want to maximize time spent in the gym, we suggest you combine everything into a "high octane" workout that transitions between the weights and some type of cardio. The routine is simple and can be varied depending on what you have available at your local gym.

During your rest intervals, rather than slumping over the machine or sitting down on the bench, you will be moving around between jump rope, the stationary bike, or some other piece of cardio machine that you have available to you.

You will keep the weight on the lighter side, and execute more reps so that you do not over-train or fatigue your body to where you can't finish each set. You should incorporate a variety of techniques into your workout routine and superset smaller exercises that can be done with the H.I.T. principles but you don't train the WHOLE body in one workout setting for this routine. You will stick to 1 or 2 muscle groups and train them in accordance with a planned resistance training schedule as follows.

There is nothing more impressive than a beautifully defined arrangement of abdominal muscles. It’s amazing how simple anatomy is responsible for something as sought after as the elusive six-pack.

The rectus abdominus is a long flat band of muscle fibers running vertically from the fifth, sixth and seventh ribs down to the pubic bone. A long flat tendon called the linea alba divides the large muscle into left and right halves. It is the three horizontal grooves dividing the muscle into the much-coveted eight-pack that give the tummy a washboard appearance – if your nutrition and training allow. This large muscle is responsible for flexing the spinal column and bending the body. The external obliques are abdominal muscles located on either side of the rectus abdominis and the internal obliques run at right angles to these muscles. These muscles help us flex the rib cage and pelvic bones.

If you’re not using weights in your abs routine, you could be holding your belly back from achieving the flat, firm and fabulously defined look you’ve been striving for. Abs exercises and weights go together like reality-TV stars and on-camera meltdowns – one is just not the same without the other.

Ask any woman why she doesn’t include weighted exercises in her abs routine, and the answer is usually the same: either she’s worried her waistline will look thicker than a linebacker’s or she’s afraid it will increase her risk of injury, especially in her lower back.

Here’s the good news: it’s an absolute misconception that using weights when training your core will add excess size to your abdominals. Your rectus abdominis and obliques are actually broad, thin layers of muscle that are simply not designed to grow as large as other muscles. It’s the excess fat over and under your abs muscles – not doing weighted moves – that is usually to blame for making your belly grow.

And when it comes to injury, many women don’t realize that when you perform any abdominal exercise – with or without weights – there is always a risk of straining your lower back, neck and other secondary muscles if proper form is not followed. If you stay smart when it comes to your tempo, form and how much weight you use, your odds of injuring yourself are no different than with any other exercise in your usual workout regimen.