Even in high school I complained about my back hurting when I did sit-ups. My friends told me to not bring my back so far off the floor. Others told me to make sure I was on a hard surface. And even with the ab chairs and devices that are supposed to make it easy for you to have six pack abs, it is a challenge, especially if your back is not strong.

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.

With my reporting background, I did research into this mystery. There has to be a way that is easier. Maybe if I lost the weight first, it wouldn't be so hard on my back? Still, I knew with all the people fighting the same problem - fat around the thighs, face, or back, there was a solution that would work better than getting down on my back and painfully working those abdominals. My research led me to two important discoveries.

Food plays such a big part and if you want to turn me off at this point, you can - but it does mean a lot in any diet to burn fat. The reason is because there are actually foods that burn more fat than they put on the body. It's true - you can find these fat burning foods and work them into your diet slowly. As you do, they will be more enjoyable and you will eat this way long term.

Next, you want to find a way that works those areas of your body with fat without breaking your back, in my case - or straining any other area. And the way to do this is to use a strategy I found called static contraction. This is putting stress on a muscle group one time and holding it to what they call -failure-. But for you and me, that means instead of doing 25 sit-ups, do just one, but hold it for 15 to 30 seconds, or until you can no longer.

The body then starts to think that muscle and stamina is needed in that area and begins to burn the fat off and build muscle. It happens because the body is lead to believe a lot of stress will continually be put in that area. Now you can't do just one and you're done - you have to do this every time you work out. You just don't need to subject your back to all the strain.

When you use those two techniques and your great food choices, you'll burn fat quickly. It's just a natural function of your body that the fat will be burned off first and the muscle will build later. Watch what you eat in addition to your fat burning foods. Don't make the process more complicated by eating junk or loading up on any one food. Eating living things, like vegetables, and less processed foods - well, you know that helps a lot.

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!

Tags: Weight Loss Exercise //