Besides burning calories, exercise helps your brain stick to a diet.  Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh studies overweight adults for two years, and found that the participants who didn’t follow a 3-hour-per-week exercise plan ate more than the 1,500 calories per day the study allotted.  The reverse was also true – sneaking in extra snacks sabotaged their workouts.  You need diet AND exercise to maintain long-term weight loss.  Both actions serve as reminders to stay the course, reinforcing your fat loss goals and drive.

Here is one of my favorite lunch time feasts – it has fat-burning protein, monounsaturated fat and lots of fiber!  And even a non-cook like me can whip this up in no time:

Cook 2 cloves of minced garlic in olive oil until fragrant.  Add 1 pound of peeled shrimp (I like to take the tails off as well), sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook until the shrimp is no longer pink, about 3 minutes.  Mash an avocado with 2 Tablespoons of minced onion (the dried kind is good), 1 teaspoon of garlic, 1 teaspoon of diced chili, a squeeze of lemon juice, salt and pepper.  Serve the shrimp and guacamole with heated high-protein, high-fiber tortillas.