There are ways you can beat the flab and improve the way you feel when time is of the essence — and you don’t have to starve yourself, invest in unsafe weight loss supplements, or double up on workouts to achieve results.

Instead, try this flexible approach that lets you pick from weight-loss tips that work but won’t completely ruin or disrupt your life.

Choose at least four of the follow time tested weight loss tips, and work them into your schedule for fourteen days straight. If you feel ambitious, tack on a few more. The more changes you make, the more weight you can expect to lose between now and the end of two weeks.

A sports or energy drink, fruit smoothie, or light beer — each serving contains about 100 calories. Yet these beverages don’t satisfy you the way 100 calories of food does, so they’re a waste. Other liquids may be high in sodium and carbohydrates, which trick your body into retaining water, puffing you out.

Water, on the other hand, has zero calories and carbs and little to no sodium, making it the perfect slim-down drink. And, strangely, it actually helps flush out excess water weight as well as jumpstart your metabolism. If water is too boring for you, add lemon wedges or mint leaves using an infuser.

The simple carbs in white rice, spaghetti, and sandwich rolls can wreak havoc on your weight because they’re digested very quickly, leaving you hungry and more likely to overeat later.

Instead of replacing these foods with healthier whole-grain bread products, which contain filling fibers that can sometimes trigger bloating, sub in vegetables for the 2 weeks—instead of rice, try cauliflower “rice” made by grating cauliflower. And instead of chips and dip, go for carrots and dip.

The complex carbs from vegetables are also digested more slowly than simple carbs , so you’ll remain full longer. And because veggies are mostly water, they help flush out excess water weight.

Any workout that gets your heart rate up will burn calories. But you’ll use more calories if you pick a cardio routine that engages multiple muscles simultaneously.

Three cardio heavy workout to consider to get your metabolism revving and fat burning: spinning, cardio kickboxing, and boot-camp workouts. Half an hour of each torches 200 to 300 calories while toning up your arms, legs, and core so everything appears sleeker and tighter.

You’ll burn even more calories per session if your workout incorporates interval training: alternating short bursts of intense cardio with slower activity.

This is the one exception to the stick-to-water-only rule: Just as a coffee run makes your morning at work more productive, a pre-exercise cup of java with a splash of skim milk (about 11 calories) or black (just 5 calories) will energize your workout. You’ll burn more calories without realizing you’re pushing yourself harder.

Not that you needed an excuse to hook up with your guy every night, but the fact is, this position is a fat blaster. Being on top means you do the rocking, and the more active you are, the more calories you burn.

Sex also pumps levels of feel-good neurotransmitters, endorphins, helping you ride out food cravings. Get on top in reverse-cowgirl (i.e., facing away from your guy) to give your thigh and butt muscles an extra push (and deeper pleasure).

This gym-class staple will help sculpt muscle, so you’ll sport a more streamlined appearance. Do a set of 50 squats as soon as you wake up in the morning and right before you sleep. Squats work your core, butt, hips, and thighs. Remember, as you build stronger muscles with the squats, add some free weights (if you don’t have weights, use large detergent bottles) to keep you challenged and away from the dreaded plateau.

Cutting out one indulgence — such as the chips you have with lunch or the chocolate dessert you eat after dinner — can subtract a few hundred calories from your diet, which translates into less flab. Believe it or not, tour body won’t even notice their absence.

It’s packed with nutrients that build muscle tone and give your skin a healthy glow. Some nutritionists claim that consuming a portion (doesn’t matter how it’s cooked) may immediately make your face look a bit more contoured.

That extra half an hour, whether you sleep 5 hours or 8, can refresh you enough that you will make better food choices (in other words, no quick sugar fix for breakfast in search of energy) and won’t feel lethargic and skip the gym. More restful sleep (7 to 8 hours is best) also boosts your metabolism. And because your body builds muscle while you snooze, getting zzz’s equals better muscle tone.

Numerous studies have shown that getting less than 5–6 hours of sleep per night is associated with increased incidence of obesity. There are several reasons behind this.

Research suggests that insufficient and poor-quality sleep slows down the process in which the body converts calories to energy, called metabolism. When metabolism is less effective, the body may store unused energy as fat. In addition, poor sleep can increase the production of insulin and cortisol, which also prompt fat storage.

How long and how deep someone sleeps also affects the regulation of the appetite-controlling hormones leptin and ghrelin. Leptin sends signals of fullness to the brain while ghrelin tells your brain you’re hungry.

Without a properly functioning leptin and ghrelin, you’re constantly hungry and nothing you eat will ever make you full – double whammy.

So, sleep more and sleep well.