Q: i was doing cardio for 30 minutes, 6 days a week, for 5 weeks. i was sort of eating healthy (half the time i was starving), and i did light/moderate weight training at home w/ no equipment 2-3 a week. weeks 4 and 5 i was doing HIIT. anyways, i don't think i lost any weight. but everyone keeps telling me my face is smaller. i don't notice it. is this possible? yet i still have a gut and semi-formed manboobs. what is going on? was i doing something wrong? although i try eating healtier (i.e. not starving myself), i haven't exercised in 6 weeks. i feel so bad. what should i do Mike? please help.

A: Let me try to address all those things... First off, no matter what else, 5 weeks isn't a whole lot of time for any program to give good results. You have to remember all worthwhile things take a lot of time and effort and losing fat is no exception. You can't lose a gut in five weeks even on the best of the best programs. Hang in there for a long run -- months, maybe even years.

Having said that, it's certainly quite possible that you may start seeing the changes you described. Looking slightly thinner at the same weight is very common for beginners and is an indication of having lost some fat and having built some muscle in its place. HIIT and light weight training you did helped you along there. Unfortunately you can't expect such progress to continue for much longer, so you'll want to optimize your program...

First off, eat better -- no starving yourself again! When trying to lose fat you should undereat slightly so you always feel a little hungry, but nothing like starvation. Starvation is one of the worst things you can do to yourself when trying to lose fat. A starving body will want to hang on to its fat because it sees it as the last life reserve. Instead it will burn muscle for energy driving your metabolism lower and lower. So fill out http://www.mikesfitness.com/content/fitnessguide to see a suggested diet and try to follow it closely in spirit, just substituting foods that are roughly equivalent to one another to your taste. Again, give this new diet time to do its work -- it will first have to wake up your metabolism before effective fat loss can start. It may take a month or longer just to do that. After that, aim for weight loss of around 1 pound per week.

For exercise, keep HIIT but cut it down to 3-4 times/week max. Try to get access to a gym or at least heavy dumbbells for home so that you reach muscular failure in under 12 reps of any one exercise. Check out my recommended training programs here -- they include a couple you can do at home. Pick any one of the programs that you like that fits the equipment available to you, but do try and get heavy dumbbells at least.

Finally, don't ever get down on yourself because that just serves no purpose whatsoever. Even if you fall off the wagon, just pick yourself up and get right back on it. Good luck!