Oh, I kinda lied about shortcuts.. there are some safe ones.
-Green Tea
-Look up thermogenic foods. They're your best friends.
-Ice water. Your body has to burn calories to bring ice water up to body temperature. If you drink a gallon of ice water daily, your body burns about 140 calories. Not bad for drinking some water.
I also read Hacker's diet - really great book for those who are tech minded. The author did a great job at simplifying everything and explaining the mechanics of it all
I really liked the whole eat-watch analogy!