There I was on the deck doing sit-up with my toes locked under the metal bar on the weight machine with my hands crossed over my chest. I could feel the burn in my abdominals, but my back was crying out with pain. In our guest bedroom we do have one of those ab chairs that you sit in and do sit-ups. We have all the equipment here to get in shape, but it just wasn't happening.

My background as a reporter helped me with my search to find what others were using successfully without injuring their back and getting to their goals quickly. It worried me that many professionals I ran into in the gym did not have a set opinion on a good routine for this. I was actually looking for a chapter out of the owners manual for my body - and I guess it hadn't been written on my fight to burn body fat.

In order to burn body fat quickly, I researched online and at the library for a period of about six months. And for you it might not be the belly, like it was for me. Maybe you have fat around the hips, the face, different areas - don't worry - because what I found will still work for you.

Two things will help you immediately, namely focusing on eating foods that burn calories. There are groups of food called fat burning foods that burn more calories than they leave on the body. Get into the habit of eating more of these foods in your diet. Do this slowly so they will become enjoyable to you and you will stick with the diet.

The next thing that works was to make our tummies think that we needed muscle and need to burn the fat away quickly. That sounds like some magic wish, but there is a way to do this. What I found was a strategy called static contraction which works with your muscles but only one contraction at a time. So instead of doing 25 sit ups, you do one - but you hold that one for 15 seconds or longer and then you're done.

The body begins to think that more strength is needed in that area so it immediately begins to build muscle fiber and to burn body fat in that area. Continue the stress and the process just gets better. So make sure you do this exercise each time you work out. If for another body area, just contract the muscles in that area and hold. Remember to do this often and the results you get will surprise you. Plus, no aching back! Now, combined these do one great thing for you.

With the muscle contraction and the fat burning foods you are on your way to successfully burning body fat quickly and the healthy way. This is a natural function of the body which burns fat before muscle and if it knows muscle is needed, will not let muscle be lost in the meantime. But watch what you eat - don't sabotage this system by pigging out on your old favorites. It won't work and you'll need to get back on the wagon. And there's one tip that will help you keep going long term.

Get into a good fat loss plan. I'm always telling friends that there are some great programs online that are designed around our lifestyle - sitting at a computer for a long time - and a great support team to match. The great part about this is that these people will actually help you be successful because it makes them successful as well - and they can get more people into their program. You, of course, make off with a great body!