Hate how all the guys you know only lift weights a few times a week, skip the treadmill, eat twice as much as you, and still manage a 6-pack while you struggle to reveal any pack at all? Maybe it’s time to take a few tips from the boys!

As members of the fairer sex (holla!), we have some major obstacles to staying slim that guys will never have to deal with. The bloating and hormonal changes that come every month obviously suck. And the cravings don’t help us lose those extra pounds, either. While it’s true that both guys and girls get cravings, women are more likely to crave chocolates and sweets, whereas guys are more likely to crave meat (which happens to be filled with protein, makes you feel full longer and is generally better for your body). See the problem here? We should take a hint from the boys and switch to more protein-oriented snacks! Before reaching for the chocolate, go for some string cheese, a turkey and cheese wrap, or cottage cheese with fruit. If you’re still craving sweets after that, try mixing some protein with it – like almonds and chocolate chips.

While most ladies prefer free weights (or just skipping weight-lifting entirely), guys opt for the larger machines and weights. Unfortunately for us, this means that most guys burn 30% more calories every day because they have more muscle mass. If you’re still under the misconception that you will get larger and more masculine from lifting, never fear. They’ve done tons of studies that show no increase in size – only an increased muscle to fat ratio, which translates to more calories burned while you’re just sitting there! Again, more muscles = more calories burned. So how do you know how much weight to lift? You should only be able to do 10-12 reps at a time with a weight. If you can do more, it’s too light. If you can do less, it’s too heavy.

But it’s not just our hormones and our workouts that differ from the guys – it’s our overall mindset, as well. The MSNBC article says women are more likely to try to become “perfect overnight” and give up everything cold turkey. Guys tend to stay away from perfection. If they accomplish 80% of their weight loss goals for the day, they are satisfied. And allowing themselves the chance to “mess up” now and then is what keeps them successful in the long run. If we ladies can accept the fact that some days will be great and others will just be OK, we’ll see more success (or leaner, more toned bodies) in our future. Stop feeling guilty after eating some junk food – no one’s perfect. Enjoy the flavors and tastes, and get back to trying to eat healthy right after! The all-or-nothing mindset will backfire, guaranteed.

Finally, the way we women tend to look at food is also holding us back from our goals. For many women, eating is a more emotional experience. A University of Minnesota study found that “women are twice as likely as men to binge because they’re depressed.” This becomes even more important when you also know that “women are also twice as likely as men to be depressed” in general!  I blame those stupid yogurt commercials… Either way, food means comfort for a lot of women. Guys don’t view it in the same way. Food is for sustenance and other activities – like playing basketball, running or playing video games – are for entertainment. Take a hint from the boys and find something active to do to lift that mood. Take a dance class, go for a long walk, read a book… Whatever you do, stay away from the kitchen!

If you want to lose weight like a dude, you need to think, eat and exercise like a dude. It’s that easy.

Your cheat sheet to losing weight like a dude:
1. Don’t deprive yourself
2. Do something active when you’re upset
3. Eat protein when cravings hit
4. Lift weights

If only you could snap your fingers Sabrina-the-Teenage-Witch style and have your workout completed and your body looking Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition ready.

Well God is great, but he’s not that nice. Instead, he leaves us messages and makes us feel a little guilty, like the other day when I was waiting for my nails to dry (instead of working out) and I found this pamphlet next to the drying station: “14 Tips and Tricks for Looking Great in Your Swimsuit.” I flipped through the list, somehow managing not to smudge a nail, and now I will share these really great tips with you. (Don’t thank me, thank God. God or the nice Vietnamese people who placed these pamphlets on their drying station).

Brought to you by “Pilatesyourway.com”

1. Mix strength training with cardio. You aren’t going to get Madonna’s arms if you just run every day. Adding a little weight training into your routine (be it with pilates, yoga, or actually lifting some weights) will help you tone all the right extremities and – bonus! – muscle burns more calories than fat. Woo hoo!

2. Don’t eat 2-3 hours before bed. This is by far the hardest rule for college students. Um, my roommate and I have Jimmy John’s and Coldstone on speed dial. But your metabolism slows down when you sleep (Translation: eating pizza/brownies at 2am is much worse than eating those same foods at 7pm), so you may really want to try this little tip out.

3. Eat Breakfast…ALWAYS. (Or if you sleep till noon like me, eat soon after waking up.) Experts say your breakfast will not only keep you from binging later (avoiding the problem in numero dos), but it will kick start your metabolism for the day. Breakfast should include protein (think eggs) and complex carbohydrates (oatmeal, Kashi cereal, whole grain toast).

4. Eat regularly throughout the day. Going Rachel Zoe “I only drink Venti Starbucks teas. OMG, I die! (Literally.)” style won’t help your figure. When you don’t eat, your body thinks you are starving and begins to store fat as a means of survival. The more often you eat, the more adapted your metabolism is to working at burning everything up.

5. Exercise correctly. I can’t tell you how many times I have seen people at the gym doing crunches so wrong. There is a reason your 1,000 crunches a day aren’t producing abs like Kara DioGuardi’s. You aren’t doing it right!!! Set up a one-on-one appointment with a trainer in your gym to make sure you’re doing everything the right way. Oftentimes, they’ll provide these for free, so ask!

6. Eat fat to lose fat. Your body needs fat, plain and simple. It helps your immune system; makes your hair, skin and nails healthy; and so much more. Make sure to incorporate some healthy fats into your diet every day. Choose olive oil, nuts, avocado or nut butters.

7. Variety in exercise. The same 45 minute stint on the elliptical will stop challenging your body and will decrease results. Keep your muscles guessing by switching it up each day (and keep your mind guessing by putting your iPod on shuffle). Try running on the treadmill one day, add a little stationary bike into the mix, try a kick boxing class once a week. Just shake things up a bit (literally and figuratively).

8. Enjoy yourself. Impossible you say? Not so! Run outside, swim, kick box, dance, etc. Just find something you like to do. You are more likely to continue an exercise program if it’s something you enjoy doing. Duh.

9. Drink lots and lots and lots of water. 8 glasses a day is recommended for the average Joe (or Josie),  but if you exercise (or, ahem, drink) you need to up that number. Even being mildly dehydrated radically affects how your body performs.

10. Set exercise appointments with yourself. We have all been there: “I’ll go in an hour” and somehow that hour turns into 6 hours later and you are still on your butt watching the American’s Next Top Model marathon (even though you’ve seen all these episodes 3 times) and your workout has gone out the window. If you make a set time to do it each day and make working out part of your schedule (like class and student groups), you will follow through.

11. Eat a lot of protein. Protein helps your body recover and repair after a workout. Upping your protein intake will decrease your soreness and will help result in a longer and leaner body. Ideas include: a few slices of turkey after a workout, a hard boiled egg, or pick up a Magic Bullet (Editor’s Note: BEST. PURCHASE. EVER!) and make your own protein shakes.

12. At the start of a fitness plan, do not be overly aggressive. You will hurt. A lot. You are more likely to stay motivated if you slowly build. Start small – just get moving!

13. Limit your alcohol consumption. Um, okay, so maybe wait till after graduation to follow this one. But really, alcohol not only leads to late night eating (and beer goggles, but that’s a whole different post), it also doesn’t require digestion – the carbs and dietary fats in your favorite vodka tonic are changed into body fat in minutes. Minutes! Such a depressing fact, I know.

14. Always stretch. Stretching improves blood flow, flexibility and muscle recovery. And it feels so, so, so good. Just keep in mind: 1) you should hold each stretch for 20 seconds to get the benefits, 2) you should never force a stretch – only go as far as you can comfortably, and 3)  NEVER bounce. Ever. Ever ever. It is bad for those muscles!

Alright, so now that I’ve done my duty of passing on these tips it’s really about time that I get back to that America’s Next Top Model marathon. I kid, I kid.

Well, sorta. I’m gonna watch it… just on the treadmill.

WTF?

Whenever I see workouts in magazines/online that tell me that I need 23,494,201 pieces of equipment to get a full-body workout all I think is, “I’ll stick to the elliptical thankyouverymuch!” But while the elliptical is a great cardio workout, it’s not enough to get into shape and stay healthy. A girl’s gotta lift some weights.

But where? And how?

Typically, the weight room on college campuses is the “man’s domain” (as we control the cardio machine kingdom), so walking in there – never-mind actually using different machines while frat guys look on with tongues hanging out – seems less than appealing for many women. You think I’m gonna do some squats while that meat head looks on? No thank you.

And that’s pretty much why I designed this workout. The routine hits all the important areas of the body and doesn’t require a lot of time, equiptment, or beefy guys staring at you as you fumble with the inner/outer thigh machine. All you need is one flat bench and a set of weights, anywhere between 5 and 15 pounds depending on your strength level.

I recommend starting with the biggest muscles (legs) and then moving on from there, but the order is totally up to you!

Weighted step ups
Works: hips and thighs

Grab one of your weights in each hand and stand directly in front of your bench. Step up with your left foot, then your right, then down with your left, then right. Repeat 12 times on the left side for one set, then 12 times with your right leg leading. Do three sets of 12 on each side.
Expert modification – switch step-up leg after each full up and down motion. Also, add a bicep curl while standing on the top of the bench for an added challenge.

Weighted lunges with one leg up on bench
Works: hips and thighs

Place your left foot on top of the bench, right foot lunging straight behind you (far enough back that your heel is in the air), and a weight in each hand at your side. Dip your right knee toward the ground as if in a lunge, and then come up. Repeat 12 times per side, three sets per side.

Weighted calf raises with stability challenge
Works: calves and abdominals

Stand atop the bench with a weight in each hand at your sides. Your heels should be hanging slightly off the back edge of the bench. Dip your heels down below the line of the top of the the bench, and the slowly rise up onto your toes. It will be hard because the bench is squishy! Flex your core to keep your balance, and repeat 12 times, three sets.
Even harder: Challenge your core by lifting one foot off the bench and doing raises on only one foot. Alternate sides.

Chest press
Works: chest

Lay flat on the bench on your back with a weight in each hand. Bring elbows to 90 degree angles at your sides, in line with your head, palms facing up. Press up slowly and bring weights toward each other. Lower. Repeat 12 times and three sets.

Standing bicep curls/hammer curls
Works: biceps

Standing with knees bent and feet shoulder-width apart, take one weight in each hand and place arms at your sides with elbows at 90 degree angles, palms facing in toward each other. Slowly raise weights at the same time toward your shoulders, keeping elbows close at your sides. Lower to 90 degrees, not going any lower. Repeat three sets of 12.

Triceps extensions
Works: triceps

Stand behind the bench, feet shoulder width apart, knees slightly bent, shoulders back and tummy held taunt. Join both hands behind your head holding a weight, arms at 90 degree angles. Slowly straighten your arms out above your head, and then return to the starting position, not going past 90 degrees. Keep the area from your shoulders to your elbows completely stable. Repeat for three sets of 12.

Ab pusher
Works: abdominals

Lay face up on the bench with your legs straight up in the air. Holding one weight with both hands, arms straight above your head and parallel with your legs, lift (don’t’ curl) your shoulders up to the ceiling, pushing the weight upward toward your feet. Be sure to keep your abs pulled in and tight, and be sure to press upward toward the ceiling, rather than curling your neck. Three sets of 12.

Leg throws / up-downs
Works: Abdominals

Lay flat on your back on the bench, with legs straight up in the air. Place your hands behind your lower back or your booty. Slowly lower your legs straight down so they are in-line with the bench then lift them back up. Lower them again, this time off to the left, then lift them back up. Lower again, this time to the right, then back up. Repeat 12 times or as many as you can do!

Weight training is really important, and now that you have a quick and easy workout, there’s no excuse to skip it. Not only does it increase your metabolic rate, but it can help prevent osteoporosis, increase lean muscle mass, help to prevent injury (when you stumble, maybe drunk), improve your balance (in 4’’ heels or otherwise), enhance your physical and mental health, and help you to feel better and look better!

Sounds worth it to me!

Let’s say that you fixate on ‘toning up’ your arms and that you start doing bicep curls with three or five pound weights and a high number of repetitions per set. But after two weeks, you don’t see any results, so you give up.

Do you want to know why that didn’t work?

Because there is no such thing as toning up. All of those bicep curls that you do with three pounds weights? That starts you down the path that you want to go on, but what you’ve got to do is put down the puny weights and pick up those heavier bad boys.

If you were working with three pounds, move up to five; if you were at five, move up to eight and so on. Do 12 reps, rest for a minute, repeat the set and after another one minute rest, complete the final set of twelve. You don’t want to do two or three sets of 12 – 15 reps with such ease that you didn’t actually work the muscle.

Yes, the heavier weights can be intimidating but that’s no reason to stay away from them. Perhaps you’re afraid of ‘bulking up’. Well, fear not, because women simply lack the testosterone to bulk up and look anything remotely like those scary ginormous body builders.

And if those muscle heads at the gym intimidate you or you don’t want to deal with a gym at all, buying sets of dumb bells at varying weights are all you need to work out at home or in your room.

I know people who have been discouraged because they insist that they’ve bulked up when the truth is that they’ve built muscle under the fat stores that they haven’t lost. In the first couple of weeks that you start a weight training program, the scale will show a slight weight gain, but the scale doesn’t accurately track your progress – the fit of your clothes and how you look in the mirror are the true indicators.

Despite what’s been pounded into our heads about working out from infomercials and just plain false information, there is no such thing as spot reducing, no miracle instant cure and ‘toning’ just isn’t going to happen.

Muscles either get bigger or get smaller. You get stronger or you get weaker. We mistakenly use the word ‘tone’ to mean ‘get lean.’ So if you want those stronger muscles to show, then the only way to do that is to lose body fat.

Let’s go back to the arms scenario. Genetically, we are all preprogrammed to store fat in certain places first and unfortunately the last place you gain fat is the last place that you lose it. To lose fat on your arms, you can’t just work your upper body. What hinders our progress is looking at our body in parts, because if that is how you see it, then that is how you will work it. We need to shift our perspective and work the whole body in order to make the changes that we want to see.

There are three components to making those muscles show:

1) Weight training

2) Cardiovascular exercise

3) Healthy diet

Weight training is the absolute best thing that you can do to make real changes to your body. It will not give you instant results but over time, it is the most effective because the more lean mass that you have, the higher your metabolism. A pound of muscle burns about 60 calories per day. A pound of fat burns about 5 calories per day. Five pounds of fat is the equivalent size of a grapefruit; five pounds of muscle take up the space of a tangerine.

Cardio is also key but keep in mind that you can do cardio to your heart’s content, but if you aren’t properly fueling your body, then you’re shortchanging yourself. Your basal metabolic rate is the number of calories that your body burns if you don’t move all day. Whatever that number is, you should NOT go below that.

To help you along further, websites like Calorieking.com and Fitday.com are great tools for figuring out how many calories are in the foods that you eat and calculating how many grams of fat, protein and carbohydrates that you’re eating per day.

Working out doesn’t mean that you can eat whatever you want; it means that you don’t want any kind of nutritional deficit by eating the foods that are devoid of the nutrients that your body needs.

This website looks daunting I know, but someone recommended it to me and it really gives some great tips. You don’t need to go in and be able to bench 100 pounds. Work at your own pace and you’ll be amazed at the changes you see and how strong you can become.

I like to break it down this way:

Day #1: Chest, shoulders, back

Day #2: Legs and abs

Day #3: Biceps and triceps

As an example for day one, I recommend trying the following moves:

For shoulders: the shoulder press or rear delt row with free weights.

For the chest: the bench press, using free weights or the machine

For the back: dumbell shrugs, the lat pull down machine, and the barbell bent over row.

What’s great about this website is it shows you how to lift properly. Correct form means better and injury free results.

Alternate the muscle groups that you work and do not underestimate the importance of resting; you actually build lean mass while you are at rest.

So get your weight lifting gloves and get to work! In four to six weeks, you will be thrilled with the results.