text: Ok I'll start off by saying I'm NOT a doctor - but I have worked out in the past with the goal of bulking up and sliming down. There are some basics to meeting your goals ... if you want to slim down, you have to cut calories and exercise more - if you want to bulk up - you have to eat like there's no tomorrow and exercise/lift weights/etc. When I was in slim down mode I cut calories (easy stuff like cut cokes (>150 calories a piece) out of my diet and I started on an eliptical - that took about 10 lbs off - but I stayed at that weight until I tried a different type of exercise - I got on a treadmill and lost another 5 - just by doing a different type of exercise. Also - DON'T worry about putting on any muscle - you want to loose body fat and build muscle - which burns body fat - you have got to eat enough to sustain your muscle mass - if you stop eating and restrict calories too much then you will actually burn muscle and put on fat. Be sensible and MOVE more than the lazy person in the cube next to you at work - most people put on weight just because they don't move enough to burn what they take in every day.\n\nEat sensible.\nCut the stupid stuff out (get a bottle of water instead of a coke and if you can stay away from the man-made sweeteners)\nMove. Stairs, park farther away, do a minimum of 30 minutes a day on that treadmill.\n\nDon't give up hope - you'll see results more quickly than you think!!