There’s nothing more frustrating in my job than to listen to people complain about their weight and then not take responsibility to do anything about it. The holidays are over, New Year’s resolutions already broken and forgotten about. It’s time to stop complaining and actually do something about it! I know everybody wants to resist what I’m about to say, but I can’t sugar coat it (pun intended). If your body isn’t in the shape that you want, there’s only one place to look. Your diet. Have you stopped reading yet? Plain and simple, the diet has to change if you want to change. If you think hitting the cardio more and “watching what you eat” is going to do it, probably not. Usually my clients like to defend what they’re eating. They eat all organic vegetables, don’t eat steak, get the dressing on the side, and only use whole grain bread. I’m being very bold when I say, it doesn’t matter really. Of course quality matters, but more importantly what happens is we are just stuffing ourselves with “quality food”. The only rule you’ll ever need: You have to eat less. EAT LESS! That rule will get you whatever results you want. If you’re saying to yourself, but Carmen I do eat less already, I challenge you to chart what it is you are really eating. How many calories? Are you eating throughout the day? Little things here and there when nobody is watching? As American’s we eat way too much! I don’t care if they say we need 2000 calories. It’s usually all crap. We are a sedentary population. We don’t need near the amount of food they say we do. So take this challenge. Chart everything you eat or drink for 1 week. EVERYTHING that goes into your mouth is accountable. My rules for my clients are generally: no bread, no eating after 8 pm, and no eating in between meals. Of course these get modified according to each person, but let’s see how you do. And if you can’t even make it 1 week, then I wonder how bad you really want that dream body. Good Luck!