First, let me make myself clear. There's no such thing as a magic cream, lotion, or potion that will completely rid you of your stretch marks. Believe me on this as I've tried them all. Yes I too HAD stretch marks and tried every type of cream on the market only to be disappointed time and time again.

So when you ask me about how to get rid of stretch marks once and for all, there's only one answer that will work. And the answer is?losing weight. I know, it was not the easy answer you were looking for. I originally did not like this idea but believed it was the only way to rid myself of the stretch marks permanently. How much weight to be lost will be determined on your body type and how serious you are about the commitment to burning the fat.

There's one more catch. Not only do you have to lose the weight, but also lose enough to where your skin becomes tight, or the term normally applied is "ripped". It sounds difficult, but if you think about it, it's not really that hard if you're already on your way to dropping those pounds. All you'd have to do is shed just a little more weight for your skin to tighten up.

You see, when you have stretch marks, you notice that your body is kind of sagging in that area or the skin is not firm enough. When you lose the weight enough to reach the point of firmness, the skin stretches out and becomes really tight eliminating the stretch marks altogether.

? First thing on the agenda is to get your nutrition up to par. Rid yourself of all sugary foods and drinks (cookies, pastries, sodas) and replace them with water and snacks such as mixed nuts, fruits and even some energy bars will do the trick to fill the gap. Coffee is fine as long as you replace the sugar with a sweetener. If you can't live without breads and pasta, then simply replace the white variety with whole wheat and limit your intake as they contain loads of carbohydrates, and when you're losing weight you'd want to limit your carbs as much as possible.

? Next up is exercise. To boost your metabolism for optimum fat loss, it is necessary to work with weights. Notice how I said to work with weights and not cardio. You can perform cardio but ONLY after your workout lifting weights. Not much cardio is required though, 15 minutes should be enough to finish the session. The reason is that after a weight lifting workout, research has shown that your metabolism stays elevated for up to 15 hours! With cardio exercise, your metabolism only stays revved for only 1 hour. You notice the difference? When you see people at the gym on the treadmill for hours on end, but yet continue to look the same. Now you know why?

? Don't fool yourself and think if you exercise that particular body part affected with the stretch marks that you will burn the fat in that area. I'm sorry, but that's not how things work. That is called "spot reducing" and it doesn't work. For instance, if you wanted to get rid of the fat from under your arms and all you did was tricep curls thinking that it will burn off in that area. Wrong! You will have to burn fat from your whole body in order to lose weight to that specific area.

If you follow those steps then you'll be well on your way to getting rid of those stretch marks once and for all. It's not easy at first but give it a months time and you will begin to notice that it becomes a much easier and normal routine to follow.

Good Luck and be healthy!