Bob Harper, NBC's fitness trainer on The Biggest Loser:

• You have to clean your emotional house before you can start to incorporate diet and exercise. The first question you need to ask is: Are you really ready?
• How do you know you are ready? It's that inner resolve, when you finally look at yourself in the mirror and realize the time is now.
• One sure way to be accountable for what you eat and how it affects you is to keep a food journal.

Jillian Michaels, NBC's fitness trainer on The Biggest Loser:

• Start with baby steps to put yourself out there: a gym membership, a book on weight loss or fitness or join a Web site that offers support.
• Exercise changes the brain biochemically. It releases serotonin, endorphins, growth hormone and testosterone. After you exercise, you are going to feel like a million bucks.
• Document your ultimate goal and work your way backward to determine what your first step should be to achieve it.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, chief medical correspondent for CNN:

• If you look at the physiology of exercise and at the people who have lived the best lives, they tend to incorporate upper-body training into their workout routines regularly.
• Make a game out of eating seven different-colored foods throughout the day.
• Use free weights for upper-body training.

Bill Phillips, author of Body for LIFE and motivator:

• Make a conscious decision to accept responsibility for your health.
• Eat six small meals per day that are nutrient-rich and calorie-sparse.
• Make one day a week a free day to eat what you'd like. Results are much more sustainable in the long term when you can enjoy your favorites once a week.