Sounds like you're doing some homework.. Cutting the pop and upping the water is a great start! Congrats on downing the smoking that can zap you for sure. IMO Get your diet in order. Find a good calorie range for your self and check some of the stuff on the nutrition forum and find a good fat/carb/protein ratio for yourself. Let me get this right you're mainly wanting to loose fat??? If thats the case doing cardio is a must, and it looks like you have started. But if you really want to see a drop in the body fat get a good diet in order. A long term diet change will help you out more than anything.

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You come into the world weak, and you will leave the world weak. What you do in between is up to you!