Zero Belly Diet test panelist Bryan Wilson, a 29-year-old accountant, lost 19 pounds and an astounding 6 inches from his waist in just six weeks on the diet, and he attributes his success to the Zero Belly shake recipes in the program. "I love the shakes. I added them to my diet, and almost immediately I lost the bloat," Bryan said. "I'm a sweet craver, and the shakes were an awesome alternative to bowls and bowls of ice cream I would have had." That’s why, this year, I wrote Zero Belly Smoothies. Protein drinks are great ways to get a monster dose of belly-busting nutrition into a delicious, simple snack. But most commercial drinks are filled with unpronounceable chemicals that can upset our gut health and cause inflammation and bloat. And the high doses of whey used to boost protein levels can amplify the belly-bloating effect. The Zero Belly solution: Try vegan protein, which will give you the same fat-burning, hunger-squelching, muscle-building benefits, without the bloat. Lose weight in less than 30 seconds, with the 100+ proven recipes in Zero Belly Smoothies!

We know you love your Jessica Jones marathons, but it’s important you enjoy your meals sitting at your kitchen table—not in front of the television. Why? Carolyn Brown, MS RD of Foodtrainers told us that not only do the commercials for unhealthy food and drink increase our craving for junk but because TV is so distracting, it also makes it harder to notice how full we’re becoming until we’ve scarfed down too much. Science agrees with Brown: A recent study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that paying attention while eating can aid weight loss efforts while distracted eating can lead to a long-term increase in food consumption.

Dieters and ETNT staffers alike fell head over heels for green tea this year—and it’s easy to see why: The brew, the cornerstone of The 7-Day Flat-Belly Tea Cleanse, is packed with compounds called catechins, belly-fat crusaders that blast belly fat by revving the metabolism, increasing the release of fat from fat cells, and then speeding up the liver’s fat burning capacity. In a recent study, participants who combined a daily habit of 4-5 cups of green tea with a 25-minute sweat session (or 180 minutes a week), lost 2 more pounds than the non tea-drinking exercisers. Meanwhile, a research team in Washington found that the same amount of coffee (5+ cups/day) doubled belly fat. Make the most of the benefits from tea with The 7-Day Flat-Belly Tea Cleanse, by food journalist Kelly Choi and the editors of Eat This, Not That! Test panelists lost up to 10 pounds in one week!

Making your sandwich with two slices of bread is so 2014. Aid your slim down efforts by opting for whole-grain bread over white and preparing your sandwich "open-faced" style—the fancy name for kicking the top piece of bread to the curb. Doing so keeps about 70 to 90 calories off your plate. If losing some bread leaves your tummy rumbling, beef up your meal by munching on a cup of baby carrots or sugar snap peas. These pop-in-your mouth veggies are loaded with fiber and water, which can help aid satiety and weight loss efforts. For even more amazing weight loss tips, check out these 50 Best-Ever Weight-Loss Secrets From Skinny People.

According to Carolyn Brown, MS RD of Foodtrainers, the bigger your plate, the bigger your meal. Why? While smaller plates make food servings appear significantly larger, larger plates make food appear smaller, which can lead to overeating. In one study, campers who were given larger bowls served themselves and consumed 16 percent more cereal than those given smaller bowls. Swapping dinner for salad plates will help you eat more reasonable portions, which can help the pounds fly off your frame! To kick even more calories to the curb, use small red plates. Although the vibrant hue may not go with your dining room decor, the color can help you eat less, and in turn shrink those pesky love handles. In a study published in the journal Appetite, subjects consumed less snack food and soda when their plates and cups were red. Researchers suggest the color red reduces the amount we’re likely to eat by subtly telling the mind to stop noshing.

There’s a reason Eat This, Not That! hired celebrity trainer Mark Langowski to develop Eat This, Not That! for Abs, our e-book system for getting a six-pack in six weeks—he said it wouldn’t include a single sit-up. "I have been a personal trainer for over 13 years—during this time, I have learned a lot about a lot, but the most important topic that I discovered was 10 years ago when I found out how damaging sit-ups are to the discs in my spine," he told us. "It was after listening to genius professor Stuart McGill, who is head of spine biomechanics at the University of Waterloo, that I realized I had been doing more harm to myself and my clients by having them do traditional sit-ups." Instead, "throughout the workout section of the Eat This, Not That! For Abs, I explain how to train the entire body in a way that is activating the core muscles in every exercise you do. A squat may look like a leg exercise, but did you know you are also working your core muscles when done properly?"

You know that hitting the recommended five to nine daily servings of fruits and veggies can make it easier to slim down, but that doesn’t make it any easier to accomplish. A simple way to make it happen? Buy a fruit bowl. You’re more likely to grab fruits and veggies over less healthy options if they’re ready to eat and in plain site. Katie Cavuto MS, RD, the dietitian for the Philadelphia Phillies and Flyers, suggests keeping washed and prepared family-friendly veggies like cucumbers, peppers, sugar snap peas and carrots in the front of the fridge so they aren’t overlooked. Bananas, apples, pears and oranges fare well as sweet snacks and should be kept on the counter where everyone can see them.

"Repetition builds rhythm. Be boring. Most successful losers have just a couple of go-to breakfasts or snacks, says registered dietitian Lauren Slayton. "Make an effort to pinpoint these for yourself. ‘Hmm, I’m starving what should I have?’ doesn’t often end well. You can change the rotation every few weeks, but pre-set meals or workouts on certain days will help tremendously." Check out these 50 Best Breakfast Foods for Weight Loss—Ranked for some inspriation!

Do you consider products from specialty supermarkets to be healthier than those from other grocery stores? Or do you think that dishes from organic restaurants are all waistline friendly? If you answered yes to either of these questions, you could be derailing your weight loss efforts. When people guess the number of calories in a sandwich coming from a "healthy" restaurant, they estimate that it has, on average, 35 percent fewer calories than they do when it comes from an "unhealthy" restaurant, according to a study in the Journal of Consumer Research. Remember that the next time you reach for that package of Whole Foods’ Organic Fruit & Nut Granola. One cup of this "healthy" product contains almost 500 calories. Yikes! To stay on track at the grocery store, check out these 50 Best Supermarket Shopping Tips Ever.

This year’s Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee dropped their longstanding recommendation that we should limit dietary cholesterol. Decades of research have shown that it has little effect on blood cholesterol levels, and the government's outdated recommendations have done little more than send scrambled messages about the pros and cons of eating eggs and shrimp. So go ahead and scramble up an omelet—with the yolk—it’s not going to hurt you. In fact, eating the entire egg is beneficial to your metabolism. The yolk contains many metabolism-stoking nutrients, including fat-soluble vitamins, essential fatty acids and — most significantly — choline, a powerful compound that attacks the gene mechanism that triggers your body to store fat around your liver. To learn more about the flat-belly benefits of eggs, check out these What Happens to Your Body When You Eat Eggs.