To increase your metabolism and keep fat burning steady, forget the typical three meals a day. Instead, you'll be eating 5-6 small, quality meals throughout your day, typically a meal every 2-3 hours. Every meal will contain a palm-size portion or protein, a palm-size portion of carbohydrates, and a small amount of healthy fat.

To eat every few hours, you'll need to be prepared. A small cooler or lunch box is a must have: bring one to work packed with a few meals. Load it with plastic containers, an ice pack, and a shaker bottle. Control your environment. From here on out, you'll be preparing meals ahead of time. Creating time in your daily routine to prepare meals for the day will create the perfect environment for making a lean, muscular, beautiful body.

You'll need to manage exactly what foods you're consuming, and packing food in advance is the easiest way to prepare. It also alleviates the urge to cheat on your diet, since your meals are always ready.

Many fad diets reduce calories so low that after your initial fat loss, nothing happens. Or, even worse, you end up gaining all the weight back faster than you lost it! Forget all the miracle ads. Proper nutrition is essential for continued progress, and if you take in too few calories your body will actually store fat, not shred it.

For your fat loss goal, aim to consume 11-12 twelve calories per pound of body weight. (If you're 120lbs., your range would be 1320-1440 calories.) This should allow you to lose fat without leaving you hungry and tired. After about three weeks at this intake, have a look over your progress and make adjustments if necessary.

In order to promote maximum fat loss and keep muscle definition, you're going to tilt your calorie intake towards favoring protein and carbohydrates over fats. Your fat loss program will be broken down to a specific ratio. The 40/40/20 ratio is formulated to help you lose fat, maintain muscle mass, and live healthy and happily. It breaks down to 40% of your calories from protein, 40% from carbohydrates, and 20% coming from fat.

Let's chat about calories, and how you to use them to your advantage for weight loss. Not sure what calories are? The body needs energy to carry out daily activities. This energy comes from the foods we eat. More specifically, it comes from the calories within those foods. Look at a nutrition label, and you'll be able to see exactly what we're talking about.

For protein, you want to turn to quality sources like lean cuts of chicken, turkey, egg whites, fish, and low-fat dairy products. These are composed of nearly 100% protein, and will give you the best quality amino acid profiles. Whey protein powder is also a good idea to have on hand, so be sure you look through the ones available at Bodybuilding.com to find one that meets your taste preferences. This makes getting protein easy when you're in a hurry. You should aim to get about one gram of protein per pound of bodyweight daily, if not slightly more. Protein will prevent you from losing muscle mass and keep the metabolic rate higher as you're burning fat. Remember to have a palm-size portion of lean protein with each meal.

Next up are carbohydrates. A ton of fad diets totally demonize carbohydrates, and dramatically or completely cut them out of your diet. If you eat the right kind of carbs, they'll actually assist in your fat loss program. The key is finding balance with your carbohydrate intake so that you're eating complex carbohydrates when your body needs energy and sticking to vegetables, which are fibrous carbs low in calories that will fill you up, the rest of the time.

Get your carbohydrates from unrefined sources such as oatmeal, sweet potatoes, and brown rice, while avoiding 'white' sources like white bread, white rice, or white pasta. Commercial granola bars or cereal bars should also be avoided, as these are just small bars of sugar. Fruit is alright to have in smaller quantities, and is great for the nutrients it provides. Fruits are perfect for quick energy; just keep them in your early meals, rather than late in the evening. Remember to have a palm-size portion of complex carbs with each meal.

Fats are the final macronutrient to add to your diet, and should be kept to no less than 15% of your daily intake. This is to keep energy levels constant and supply the body with essential nutrients. Make sure you don't overdo fats as they are calorie dense, but small amounts added to your meals will be perfect.

Aim to get these fats from healthy sources like nuts and nut butter, olive oil, flaxseeds, and fatty fish. Avoid trans-fats and saturated fats that are found in baked goods, high-fat dairy products, red meat, and processed foods. A few servings of healthy fats a day will get you taken care of!

Keep yourself on the right path by loading your work refrigerator or desk with portable fuel like trail mix, beef jerky, ready to drink protein shakes, protein powder, and low-carb bars from BodyBuilding.com. Having these meals on hand will prevent you from loading up on office junk food, vending machine meals, or last-minute fast-food solutions.

The only time you want to avoid taking in fat during the day is right before and after your workout sessions. At this time, the focus should strictly be on carbohydrates and protein because fat slow the delivery of nutrients to the blood, which is precisely what you don't want.

Aim for 20 to 30 grams of protein powder before and after your workouts, along with another 20 to 40 grams of carbohydrates. These mini-meals are to be taken about an hour before a weight lifting workout, and then immediately after training.

The carbohydrate sources to have at this time should be fast-digesting to allow the glucose to get into your muscle cells quickly. Good sources here are maltodextrin, waxy maize, breads or cereal bars, or anything else that's made up of glucose without a high amount of fat. If there is one time during the day when you can have simpler carbohydrates, this is it.

On the days you don't work out or just do cardio, you can continue on with your regular meals. Since you won't be as active, you won't need to worry as much about taking in the calories from the pre- and post-workout shakes. (If you ever plan on doing intense cardio (like sprints, running hills, etc), then you should have your pre and post-workout shakes. Intense cardio relies on the body much like weight training does, so recovery is essential.)

At some point or another, almost all of us are going to cheat on our diet. Expecting 100% perfection of yourself can add to the stress in your life. Instead of struggling for perfection, schedule in some cheat meals when you know you'll need them. Whether you have an intense craving for a slice of apple pie at your favorite coffee spot, or want to dig into a piece of pizza watching TV with your family, a small-scale treat every once in a while is a-okay.

The additional calories from this cheat will also help keep your metabolic rate healthy, which is important to prevent it from crashing. One cheat every two to three weeks is a good place to start, and then you can adjust the frequency based on your progression. Remember that you should keep it controlled. Your cheat meal isn't an all-you-can-eat buffet, but a chance to indulge and get rid of any cravings you have.

It's also a good idea to schedule your cheat meals on days when you know you'll be eating out at a restaurant. Eating-out healthy can be a difficult experience. Unless it's a cheat meal, make smart ordering choices by asking for sauces on the side, choosing grilled meat over fried or battered, and swapping pasta or rice for vegetables. If you've got a cheat meal planned, then you can be a little more playful with the menu.

The same policy goes for alcohol. You should try and avoid drinking alcoholic beverages as much as possible. They're filled with empty calories, but can be consumed in moderation. If you're going to have one, alternate it with a glass of water, and be sure to choose a lower-calorie cocktail.