If you learn one thing from FitWatch, I hope it's this: there are no quick fixes when it comes to losing weight and getting fit. None. Zero. Nada. Zilch.

Yet there's a little part inside of us that wants the weight gone NOW. No, not even NOW. We want it gone YESTERDAY.

And then that's when we resort to desperate measures and try to find shortcuts. But shortcuts will have you going round in circles, not knowing which way to turn.

Here are the top three worst weight loss shortcuts. Doing one of these is bad enough. But all three? That's a recipe for disaster.

When it comes to losing body fat, slow and steady wins the race. You're more likely to keep the weight off if you don't try to drop a gazillion pounds in one day.

But sometimes you just want to speed up the process a little bit. Or maybe you find the fat is coming off a little more slowly than usual

You're doing everything 'right' but you just want to add a little more fuel to the fat burning fire.

Here are five simple things you can do to lose body fat faster in a safe and healthy way:

I bet many of you are familiar with Dr. Mehmet Oz, the cardiologist who has his own show (Dr. Oz) and was a frequent visitor on Oprah. He has an engaging personality and always seem to want to help you get healthy. He's a real doctor, so you can trust everything he says, right?

Not necessarily.

I used to watch Dr. Oz's show when it first came out. I had to stop. The show was too over the top, for me. I tried to watch one of the shows last year, but it seemed ever worse. More "Take this supplement and it will solve all your problems." Unfortunately, it's too easy for people to get caught up in the hype.

Julia Belluz and Stephen J. Hoffman wrote an excellent piece on Slate.com called, Dr. Oz' Miraculous Medical Advice. In it, the writers look at the research that Dr. Oz is basing his claims on. The expose will shock you if you're a fan of Dr. Oz.

In a world run rampant with fad diets, quick fixes and bogus claims, the most basic formula for weight loss has become lost in all the noise. Cries of "Why am I gaining weight?" are being answered with complicated eating habits:

• Eat this.
• Don't eat that.
• Eat this with that.
• Don't eat this with that.

It gets so confusing, don't you think?

But when you understand the basic formula for weight loss, you'll never be at the mercy of the diet companies again.

Let me take you back to the basics:

If you want to get serious about dropping pounds, you need to track your progress on a weekly basis. Creating a weekly 'feedback loop' will help you pinpoint what's working for you -- and what isn't. What you're looking for is a pattern of progress over a period of several weeks. Don't get discouraged if you see a loss and then a slight gain.

Here are four ways you can track your weight loss progress. You can use one method -- or all four. The key is to track on weekly basis, at the same day and time, under the same circumstances. Tracking weight along with body fat percentage gives you a better indication of your body mass composition (fat weight vs. lean body mass).

One question I see a lot is "What percentage of carbs, protein and fat should I be eating?" It gets confusing because companies always seem to be pushing low carb, low fat or high protein eating.

It's important to know how much carb, protein and fat you're eating because they play different roles in your body. You want to give your body the right kind of energy -- and everybody has different energy needs. Don't eat 'low this' or 'high that' just because everybody else is doing it.

Let me quickly take you through why your body needs carbs, protein and fat, where you get them and what percentages are recommended.

Toning pants are workout pants made with compression panels that make it harder to move your legs. The idea being if you're working harder to move your legs while walking or working out, you'll "tone" your leg muscles much more quickly. In fact, Fila USA (TM) says their toning line "dramatically improves workout efficiency." But do toning pants really work?

When it comes to counting calories, what do these words have in common:

• Bowl
• Glass
• Plate
• Bag
• Scoop
• Handful

Give up? These are typical serving sizes used by most people. People who underestimate how much they eat in a day.

I bet you use these serving sizes, too. How many times have you served yourself a bowl of cereal, a glass of wine, a plate of spaghetti or a bag of chips?

Hate to break it to you, but these are just words; not serving sizes. Not in this universe, anyway!

When it comes to cutting calories to lose weight, you need to know the proper serving size for the foods you eat. And once you know the right serving size, you need to take it one step further. You need to measure out your portion of food each time until you can estimate the right amount of food to serve yourself.

Bottom line, you need to stop mindlessly dishing out the food and know the actual serving size instead.

Here are six foods where you need to get the serving size right if you're going to drop the pounds:

Usually, when you think about ab exercises, you picture yourself on the floor, grunting through a variety of grueling crunches. Hardly something you'd do anywhere, anytime -- and definitely not something you'd do in a room full of people outside of the gym, right?

But there's one ab exercise you can do while grocery shopping, giving a presentation at work, sitting on the bus, walking down the street -- really, anywhere, anytime.