During a week of fun in NYC and Rhode Island visiting friends and attending my alma mater, the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, I had the pleasure of hearing Dr. Deepak Chopra, Dr. Iyanla Vanzant and Dr. Joseph Mercola. What energizing and motivating speakers they are! I returned home very inspired and rejuvenated. At the same time, I noticed that my body had attracted an extra 5 pounds of belly fat!

As you might imagine I really do not like feeling this way, so I had to pull in the reigns and cut out the 3 Cs (chocolate, chips and crackers) for a few days and focus more on home cooking and riding my bike. It's so easy to let go of your health and stop eating well when you feel stressed or when you are traveling, but it's just as easy to get back on track.

In this article, I'll share with you my top 5 tips for burning belly fat. I believe if you follow these simple steps, you too can feel really great in your body. Try it and let me know how you feel. I love hearing from you!

1. Make up your mind that you are ready to change and then commit to giving it your 100% effort!

2. Stop eating chocolate, cookies, muffins (to avoid a muffin top waist), candy bars and other sweet, processed treats for a week or two.

3. Replace processed crackers with gluten free flax crackers, the brand I like is "Mary's Gone Crackers." To curb your cravings for crunchy treats, eat more fruits and vegetables like carrots, celery (boring, I know, but they are crunchy), and crisp apples - organic, of course.

4. Stop eating all chips at least for a week or two. Chips are nothing but fried corn or potatoes, chemicals, additives and salt. Replace them with other salty,  crunchy alternatives like nori and dulse. Olives and raw nuts are a really wonderful substitute, too.

5. Exercise! Seriously you gotta use it or you'll lose it. You may be thinking that you don't have time to exercise, but that is just an excuse. I recommend getting your calendar, Smartphone or day planner out right now and schedule in exactly when you can exercise this week. Ask a friend to help you keep your promise to yourself. (On a side note, just because you exercised today doesn't mean you get free reign to eat more or eat "whatever" you want.)

I fully believe that if you take these tips seriously, you can lose that little extra padding around your middle. Plus, just following these tips in general and incorporating them into your lifestyle every day will help you start feeling more radiant. And helping you to feel more radiant is what I'm all about. So, here's to you and your health!