How do I lose the fat on my stomach, thighs, etc...

This is one of the most common questions and misconceptions around. The fact is that there is no such thing as "spot reducing". You cannot lose fat in any one area. Doing inner and outer thigh work doesn't give you thin thighs and doing sit ups doesn't give you the "six pack". When your body burns more calories than it takes in, it will then turn to use the stored energy in fat. It's as if, at the end of the day, your body requires that you pay for all of the activity you had that day. If you didn't takein enough calories to pay for it, then you have to go to the "fat bank" and make a withdrawal. Your body "withdraws" the fat fairly evenly throughout the body. It has nothing to do with wherethe work took place (i.e. abdominals in curl ups) Wherever you happen to carry the most fat cells will be the last place to get lean. This is because you never actually lose the fat cells, they just lose their size.

So how do you decrease the fat cell size? How do you lose the fat? A combination of modifying your diet and increasing physical activity. Aerobic exercise burns the most calories per workout, so you should make that your priority. Aerobic exercise (cardio) is continuous rhythmic exercise using large muscle groups. Biking, stepping, swimming,walking, hiking, jogging, skating, aerobic dance, etc..... are all good aerobic options. Do the type of exercise that you enjoy most, varyit so you get the most out of your workouts and won't become bored or overtrained. Sometimes people do the same workout all the time and they end up with chronic injuries. The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends that aerobic exercise be done 3-5x a week for 20-60 minutes. See the question above for recommended intensity levels of your Cardio (aerobic) workouts. If this type of exercise is new to you, focus on creating the exercise habit first. Try 10-15 minute daily exercise bouts at an easy pace. Gradually work you way up to twenty minutes. When you can comfortably do 20 minutes, then begin to increase
your intensity. You should begin with a warm up of about 5-10 minutes and a cooldown of the same length. Warm up should raise your body temperature and slowly increase your heart rate and then the cooldownwill allow your body temperature to lower and slowly lower your heart rate.

Strength Training is important too. It doesn't burn as many calories as Cardio, but it builds muscle. Having more muscle will make you stronger and help you burn more calories. The American College of Sports Medicine has recommended that the average person should do resistance (strength) training at least 2x a week, covering the major muscle groups, with one set of 8-12 reps to achieve basic health and fitness benefits.

Working the muscles builds strength and lean mass. As you gain muscle your body requires more calories just to exist. So you can lose fat more easily. To best benefit your weight loss efforts, do sets with 8-12 reps. You need to be lifting (in perfect form) enough weight so that by the time you get to the 10th-12th rep, you could not do another good rep. If you can do 12 reps at that weight after 2 workouts then it is time to increase the weight a little bit. You may only be able to do 8 reps at this new
weight but you will gradually work your way up to 12 reps and have to start the process all over. Remember that the more
muscle you have the easier you will burn fat.

The less your total percent bodyfat is, the less fat in your "trouble" areas.