We know, cookies are more fun. Trust us when we tell you what you already know, though - the foods that go into your body become your body. Garbage in,

garbage out, they say. More importantly, too many calories will prevent you from hitting your weight targets, just through sheer, unstoppable physics. Get down with the fruits and veggies, and

limit breads and fatty meats to the absolute musts.

Pro tip: Start your day with sixteen ounces of water. It will help fill you up and protect your body from the heavy

workouts to come.

Another indispensable tool is measurement. If you don't know how well you're doing, it's basically impossible to improve. Keep a log of your workouts, your diets, your weight... any metrics

you can maintain will help you make progress.

What gets measured gets managed. No joke.

Especially when you're already big, it makes sense to start small. Don't try to dive into a marathon. You will hate yourself and you will run the risk of inviting your

heart to explode.

Instead, walk to get started. The incremental long-haul will be the key to this whole game. Fitness is not a light-switch, it is a life-long process. Don't be

discouraged if you can't go from zero to one hundred, that's a bad idea anyway. And don't get down if you fall off the wagon one day, just get right

back on it the next. Starting small will help keep this possible.

Workouts in the water are a great way to stress your body with minimum resistance. Swimming, aqua jogging, water polo... whatever your choice, the water is your friend.

Yoga is great but it sure does want you to stand on one foot a lot. Tai chi tends to be a little more grounded and balanced, allowing you to

work your body without going into precarious poses. It's also the kind of activity that scales really easily to whatever you can give, making it great for incremental improvement.

Burning the fat is going to mean little without developing the muscles underneath. Ease into a steady routine of weighted workouts to increase your overall power, even as you sweat

away the pounds. Squats, bench-presses and swiss ball work are all members of the good idea family for bigger guys, just remember to take it slow and build steadily, week

over week. Remember, marathon, not sprint.

At last, the dreaded C-word. On the days when you're not doing strength training, you have to hustle up at least a little. Here's the trick: Whatever you're doing, do it in

intervals. Blast at your full capacity for sixty seconds, then chill the heck out for the next thirty. Try to keep this going for around fifteen to twenty minutes at least.

In the short run, you won't be too overwhelmed. In the long run, you'll see some serious results.