Your Best Body Ever: The Workout

This is the moment to get real

By Shaun Chavis and Su Reid-St. John

Love your shape—starting right now—with this five-week plan that gets you strong, toned and thoroughly thin (15 pounds down in just 5 weeks).

Whether you want to tone up after an indulgent holiday or finally drop that 10, 20, even 50 pounds, we've got the plan that will truly transform your body. We built this simple slim-down around the three key strategies that actually lead to weight loss.

You're spelling out your goals

Writing down the reasons you want to drop pounds gets your invested in the positive changes you're about to make. And reading that list whenever temptation hits is like a quickie intervention that keeps you strong.

Next: You're burning maximum fat...

You're burning maximum fat...

...and building calorie-blasting muscle. Workouts that combine cardio and strength burn more calories per minute than other methods, so we created a metabolism-boosting routine to get you fast results. Bonus: The more muscle you build, the more calories you'll continue to torch throughout the day.

You're eating hunger-stopping foods

Plenty of diets starve you, leaving you hungry enough to eat your iPod—and what's next? A calorie pile-on and a failed plan—not for a lack of willpower, but a lack of sustenance! Real success comes from eating the good-for-you foods proven to fill you up. 

Find those kind of bites here: 5 Weeks to Your Best Body Ever: What to Eat

Put these secrets together, and you can shed pounds fast—and build the kind of muscle that helps you keep it off for good.

Best body secret: Put it in writing!

Reminding yourself every day why you want to get slim keeps you focused and on track, says Judith S. Beck, PhD, psychologist and author of The Complete Beck Diet for Life. Jot down all your reasons (try to come up with at least 15 to 20), and keep your list handy – whether it's on your smartphone notepad or an old-school sticky note on your fridge or in your handbag.

"People who write this down—and read it daily—are significantly more successful than those who don't," she says. "Read your list every morning, because you never know what you day is going to be like, and pull it out at your most vulnerable moments, too."

Best body secret: Burn fat and build muscle!

The most effective way to get rid of flab isn't to spend countless hours on the treadmill. "Circuit training—doing both quick, intense cardio intervals and strength training—blasts fat and calories faster than anything else you can do," reveals trainer and exercise physiologist Amy Dixon, who created this workout. 

In fact, a new study confirms that circuits incinerate more calories per minute than other methods—and burning off excess fat is the key to getting slim. Plus, when you add strength, you create muscle that continuously burns fat and calories.