Q: what kinds of meals should a on the go college student like myself eat? i want to lose my gut and 15 lbs. what kind of exercise should i be doing if i want to lose my gut? is the 'no equipment at home' workout plan that you describe really successful? how can it be without any weights. i would rather walk but i guess weight training is better. i don't know.

A: The fat-burning nutrition plan is going to be the same for everyone, only the portion sizes will change. For you as a college student it may be difficult to get or afford some of these foods as well as find time to schedule all the meals into your day. So you'll have to make some compromises. Start with my fat-burning diet and replace foods and meals in it with ones that have roughly equivalent nutrition, but suit your schedule. For example:

• Get a 'light' wheat bread and make tuna sandwiches with hardboiled eggs or a little mayo. That given you a complete protein-rich meal that can sit in your backpack for a full day and can be eaten in 5 minutes. 2 pieces of light wheat bread, 1 can of tuna, and 2 eggs will give you about 400 calories with 50 grams of protein, 25 grams of carbs, and 10 grams of fat -- a good replacement for just about any meal in the fat-burning diet.
• Same idea, but with a little more preparation: pre-pack a chicken or tuna salad.
• Buy a protein powder and have protein shakes 2-3 times/day when you absolutely cannot get real foods. Just make sure it's a pure protein powder with no added carbs.
• A nasty concoction that nevertheless can be easily taken with you in a bottle is a mix of whey protein, a bit of old-fashioned oats, and a tiny bit of peanut butter. It also makes for a complete meal and tastes surprisingly good. It does look weird and people will be looking funny at you :) 2 scoops of whey, 1/3 cup of raw oates and 1 tablespoon of peanut butter will give you around 600 calories with 50 grams of protein, 50 grams of carbs, and 20 grams of fat.
• Never skip meals in the cafeteria if you're on a dining plan. Even bad cafeterias will have something that'll make a half-decent meal. A chicken salad is always there (go easy on the dressing, use olive oil instead if you can). Eat veggies on your meal plan because you probably won't be getting them in the meals you cook/prepare yourself.
• Pass on (the holiest of college holies) pizza, beer and other junk. If you're absolutely forced into ordering something go for hot wings without sauce/dressing. When going to fast food places, stick to chicken salad choices.

As far exercising, chances are your school has a very good gym ready to be used for free or for a low fee. Do that if you can. The no-equipment plan is good, but it won't give you the same results as the gym full of freeweights of all sizes. If you absolutely cannot use the gym, consider getting a few different pairs of dumbbell and check out my dumbbell-only program. If you can get dumbbells heavy enough you'll be able to do many of those exercises in 6-12 rep range optimal for burning fat and building muscle. Hope that gives you some ideas!