Get Lean Program 12-week program completed!

This last month of my Get Lean Program, I have lost another 1.4kg that gives me a total loss of 4.5kg over the 12-week period.

I have started more challenging workouts at Intermediate Level and added more weights for resistance exercises. I am becoming leaner & fitter.

I am now 63.5kg, but I still need to work harder to get smaller improvements & eventually get down to 60kg. I also have to train extra, because at the end of June 2012 I have this challenge where I want to be able to do more full push-ups than my husband!

I managed to overcome my ‘plateau’ and as recommended by Belinda, I now need to have a short break before starting the program again.

I am taking an ‘active break’ for 2 weeks:
 - Exercise: Yoga & Pilates, and leisure walking/cycling/swimming with my family
- Nutrition: Eating more raw food including a 7-day detox with Renee from Raw Chi Food

I can’t wait to start Get Lean Program again, there is still a lot more from it I can get out of and I want to move to the Advanced Level workout program before the end of the summer.

I get one-2-one coaching from Belinda electronically, she is fantastic: although she is in Panama & I am in the UK, she always responds promptly to my questions. The Get Lean Forum is also a great community of like-minded people supporting & communicating with each other!

I finally found a nutrition & exercise program that works: The Get Lean Program.

Check my next post where I will give you my raw food detox experience!

Do follow me on Twitter @valeriemyburgh to see my progress and hopefully get inspiration from my journey!

I Need to Lose Weight by Eating Organic-How Can I Afford it

My DSP followers and blog readers keep me motivated. I want to pay it forward by answering your common nutrition questions. Here’s a great one: I need to lose weight by eating organic. How do I accomplish this without ending up in the poor house?
First, let me just reassure you that your ability to lose weight is not dependent on whether you eat organic foods or not. If you follow the right eating plan, you can achieve successful weight loss results without going organic. However, if you want to invest in your long-term health, an organic diet is definitely worth considering.
If you’re a regular reader, you know that I’m a huge advocate of organic foods. I know what kind of garbage farmers and manufacturers use in conventional foods, that’s why I don’t buy them. I’m not going to sit here and pretend that organic foods aren’t pricy, because they are. However, there are ways to add organic foods to your diet without going broke.

Get Rid of the Junk and Eat Sensibly

Processed junk like cereal bars, granola bars, protein shakes and low-fat cookies can put the squeeze on your wallet. Once you rid your grocery list of junk, you’ll be surprised how much moola it will free up. Put the leftover money to good use and buy a few organic food items.
How many of us eat way more than we should? Think about it. The more food you eat, the more you’ll have to buy, and the costlier your organic diet will be. If you learn to manage your portion sizes and stop eating once you’re full, you’ll not only lose weight, you’ll save money too.

Buy Selectively and Bargain Shop

I’m a pretty thrifty gal. If I get wind of a good sale, I’m there. When you find great sales on organic meat or poultry, rack up. You can pop the extras in the freezer and use them later on down the line. If you can never seem to catch natural poultry or meat on sale, buy whatever gets you the most mileage out of your dollar.
Pick and choose the kind of produce you buy organic. Produce with thick skins such as bananas, broccoli, cauliflower, lemons, asparagus and melons tend to resist pesticide penetration. So if push comes to shove, you can buy the conventional versions of these foods.
Thin-skinned and leafy produce like spinach, apples, nectarines, bell peppers, strawberries, lettuce and grapes absorb pesticides like sponges; so buy these types of fruits and veggies organic whenever possible.

Garden and Buy From Local Farmers

Have you seen the price of tomatoes lately? Whoa. You know organic tomatoes are super easy to grow and you don’t even need a yard to do it. You can get a decent size pot and grow enough tomatoes to last all summer long.
Tomatoes aren’t the only things you can put in your garden. Radishes, cucumbers, spinach, onions and herbs practically grow themselves. If you’re serious about going organic without going broke, don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty.
If you want fresh, affordable produce, visit your local farmers’ market. The local farmers who sell at these markets usually limit or eliminate the use of pesticides on their fruits and vegetables. The produce goes straight from the farm to the market, so there are no added expenses for shipping or packaging.
There’s no need to dive into an organic lifestyle head first. It took me three years to completely transition. I started slow and inched my way up until I got where I wanted to be. You can do the same thing. Simply start by replacing a few of the foods you consume regularly and then take it from there.
Don’t spend another day confused about nutrition. Let The Diet Solution Program show you what it means to eat healthy, lose weight and feel great about yourself.

Get Lean Program Momentum Phase: 1st Month completed!

This first month was the Momentum Phase and it has been amazing! My motivation did not fell me and I only had 3 days where I didn’t workout: 1 day was my birthday, 2^nd day was Mother’s day & the 3^rd day was during a crazy weekend!

I can see some definition on my arms & legs. I am starting to see a glimpse of my abs too! I made sure I regain good night sleep and have now more energy than before...

The nutrition plan has not only been good for me but also for the rest of my family: my husband & children love Belinda’s recipes and found them really tasty. Following the nutrition plan has helped me to be more organised in the kitchen and overall improved my time management!! 

	Start	Now	Difference
Weight	68kg	65.8kg	-2.2kg
Full press-ups	3	7	+4
Knee press-ups	34	42	+ 8
Tricep bench dips	33	27	-6
Plank (seconds)	30s	51s	21s

I have exciting news about the Get Lean Program: Belinda has now re-launched her site and upgrade the E-book version of Get Lean Program into one that includes workout video downloads with Beginner/Intermediate/Advanced levels: this will help a lot, particularly for those who are not confident exercising by themselves. I bought the upgrade yesterday and I am so excited as I will be sure to improve my technique & challenge myself to higher level of fitness!

Month 2 is Acceleration Phase and I should see more weight loss thanks to a more efficient metabolism. I need to make sure sleep is a key priority, as I have now started to have my daily workout between 5 & 6 am!

Overall I am confident I am on track to achieve my end goals...

Do follow me on Twitter @valeriemyburgh to see my progress and hopefully get inspiration from my journey!

The Benefits To Models From the Mediterranean Diet

Three Factors Relating to Beauty and the Med Diet Regimen
While it is important for fashion and fitness models to maintain their chiseled and attractive looks, many other men and women are also concerned with their appearances. Therefore, many people in different parts of the world oftentimes find themselves trying to learn more about what fashion and fitness models do to maintain their looks and appearances.
When it comes to discerning what a fashion or fitness model does to look their best, their regimens normally encompass three routines:

• cosmetic
• fitness
• dietary

In the 21st century, a growing number of fashion and fitness models are relying on the Mediterranean diet as part of their dietary routines. There are three primary reasons why these fashion and fitness models are relying on the Mediterranean diet to keep them in top notch condition.
The Med Diet Assists in Weight Management
It goes without saying that fashion and fitness models are concerned - some would say 'obsessed' - with their weight. We live in a day and age where being in good physical shape matters on many levels.
Right or wrong, many societies the world over place a great deal of importance on a person's ability to be able to maintain a healthy weight. This emphasis on being thinner transcends the obvious health issues associated with avoiding becoming or staying overweight.
When it comes to keeping weight down, many health conscious fashion and fitness models do turn to the Mediterranean diet as opposed to the fad diet schemes that gain so much media attention all of the time. Through the Mediterranean diet, these fashion and fitness models are able to control their weight but do not have to sacrifice their health in the process.
The Mediterranean Diet Fosters Great Looking Skin
When it comes to pursuing a career as a fashion or fitness model, skin care and skin appearance is absolutely vital. Scientific research in the past thirty years has conclusively demonstrated that there is a definite connection between the appearance of a person's skin and his or her diet.
When it comes to skin care and appearance, many people have come to appreciate the benefits of the Mediterranean diet. Because the diet includes a selection of food items that are rich in anti-oxidants, the Mediterranean diet is proven to assist in maintaining youthful looking skin.
Anti-oxidants work to neutralize the negative effects of free radicals. It is the presence of free radicals in a person's system that causes skin to age prematurely.
The Med Diet is a High Energy Regimen
Fashion and Fitness modeling are demanding careers. In order for a person to succeed in either one of these occupations, it is important for that person to have the energy level necessary to satisfy a very demanding schedule.
Because the Mediterranean diet is a well balanced regimen, it works to provide a person with a plentiful supply of energy. Drawing calories from a wide range of healthy foods, a person who follows the Mediterranean diet finds his or her self energetic and able to meet the demands of even a very full schedule. Here's were you can see download my eBook and several free bonuses.

I Need to Lose Weight and Fast: Which Diet Plan Should I Use?

If I had a dollar for every time someone came up to me and said, “I need to lose weight and fast,” I’d be stretched out on the sandy beaches of Hawaii without a care in the world. Low carb, high protein, liquid and cabbage soup – with all the diet plans on the market, how on earth do you choose?
Most of these diets are just a bunch of hype; so personally, I wouldn’t touch any of them with a 50-foot stick. Sorry to break it to you (I always gotta be the bad guy), there are no shortcuts to weight loss. The most effective way to lose those stubborn pounds is by using a common sense approach that favors nutritious eating over dieting.

The Lure of the Fad Diet

When people want to lose weight, they want to do it quick, fast and in a hurry. Fad diet marketers take advantage of this desperation and use the promise of lightning speed results to reel you in.
Quick does not always equal better. In fact, when it comes to permanent weight loss, slow and steady always wins out in the end. Here are two of the main reasons faddy-type diets don’t work:

• They don’t deliver long-term results. Most fad diets require you to drastically reduce your caloric intake. This causes your metabolism to respond by slowing down. Once you revert back to your regular eating habits, you’ll gain the weight back just as fast as you lost it.

• They mangle your health. Fad diet plans deprive you of some of the key nutrients you need for good health. This can result in malnutrition, zapped energy, damaged organs, hair loss, and loss of lean muscle tissue. Sounds like a fun way to drop a few, huh.

4 Simple Rules of Eating to Lose Weight

Losing weight is certainly not the easiest thing to do, but if you remember these four simple rules, you’ll never have to hop on the fad diet bandwagon. You can lose weight gradually (remember slow and steady) and keep it off for good.

1. Stay away from processed foods. These foods are full of high fructose corn syrup, salt and chemical additives that can cause weight gain, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension and cancer. Yep. This includes those frozen diet meals that some weight loss programs encourage you to buy.
2. Leave the sugar alone. Sugar is riddled with calories. If you use it to sweeten foods and beverages everyday, you can easily rack up too many calories and hinder your weight loss efforts.
3. Eat enough food. If you’re hungry all the time, you are probably not eating enough food to fuel your body. If you don’t eat enough, your body will hold on to stored fat instead of burning it off. This is not what you want to happen when you’re trying to lose weight.
4. Stay hydrated. Water is important when you’re trying to slim down because it helps to metabolize fat and eliminate toxins and stored fat in the body. So drink up!

Where Does Exercise Fit In?

When you follow a healthy eating plan, you’ll likely lose weight, even if you don’t workout. However, unless you add exercise into the mix, your metabolism will eventually slow down and you won’t see the results you want.
Your exercise routine should consist of both cardio and weight training. Relax ladies. Training with weights won’t turn you into the Terminator; it will simply help you build muscle mass and sculpt a lean, fierce frame.
Getting in the habit of working out several days week can be tough, especially if you already have a lot on your plate. Choose exercises you enjoy. This way, you’re more likely to stick with a program.
I know what it’s like to want to lose weight fast. I’ve been there and I feel your pain. Unfortunately, there are no shortcuts to permanent weight loss (believe me, I’ve looked). The best way to achieve long-term weight loss without jeopardizing your health is with proper nutrition and exercise.
Making the decision to lose weight is the first step to looking good and feeling even better. Watch this video to get advice on the age-old dilemma of, “I need to lose weight and fast.”

How to Lose Weight Safely With A Mediterranean Diet

If you're persuing a way to lose fifteen pounds in two weeks, a high protein diet, a low carb diet, a fruit diet, a no fat diet, a blood type diet, a juice fast, a diet named after a place in Miami, a grapefruit diet, a cactus diet, a coffee and cigarette diet, a diet that includes sweets, a diet based on your body type, a diet based on an ancient religion or a diet based on your hair color, then this article is NOT for you.
Fancy Fad and crash diets, such as the ones described above are not only unhealthy but they also most often cause rebound weight gain. Also most diets, even though diet gurus write them, cause an initial weight loss but the ultimate result is that you gain all of the weight back the minute you go off the plan. If you don't gain it back within a couple of diets, you are likely to gain it all back plus a bit more within a year. Crash diets dehydrate you, low calorie diets put your body into starvation mode so you plateau so you can't lose one more pound and high protein diets stress your kidneys and clog your arteries.
So how does one lose weight?
There is only one answer to this question.
You need to expend more calories than you are taking in. Restricting certain foods, eating so-called fat burning foods, or dehydrating yourself with special pills or teas does not do it. It is simple math. The only way is to eat a little less and exercise a little more. Here is the equation below:
Eating Less + Exercising More = Weight Loss.
This is not a magical formula, it is just logic. It is also not a fast way to lose weight. As I have mentioned before, this is not an article about how to lose ten pounds in three days or 30 pounds in a month. It is about safe, healthy weight loss.
In order to lose weight safely and without putting yourself at risk for such health hazards as dehydration, kidney failure, malnutrition, exhaustion, nervous dysfunction, tooth loss, dull hair, wrinkles, cellulite, sudden heart failure or stroke and lose the weight so that it stays off, you should lose no more than approximately two pounds a week!
Although that might not sound like a large amount of weight to lose it actually is! If you lose 2 pounds a week that means you can achieve a weight loss of ten pounds a month! If you only have twenty pounds to lose then your weight loss is not only quite rapid, but you have the extra guarantee that it will stay off because you have followed a sensible exercise plan that did not involve starving, exhausting or depriving yourself. If you are willing to drop your impatience and desire for immediate gratification and stick to an exercise plan and healthy eating habits, then a Mediterranean Diet is for you. Remember being slim is only good if you are able to enjoy it!
Do You Need to Lose Weight?
Fascination with Fat
If you want to lose weight, you first need to assess whether you need to actually lose weight or are simply a fashion victim. Unfortunately this society is fascinated with fat - who has it and who doesn't. As we are persuaded by so many images in the media that persuade us to believe that you can never be too thin, many of us are bad judges of our actual body weight.
If you are under the age of eighteen and reading this book, the first thing you need to do is consult with your parent about your plans to lose weight. Have her make an appointment with a physician so that he can indicate to you whether or not you are a candidate for weight loss.
If you are an adult, it is possible that you may not be overweight and are just trying to be, as Bridget Jones put it in Bridget Jones Diary 'a stick insect with eyelashes.' It is also very possible that you know you need to lose weight but have no idea where to start.
If you are obese and you know it, then you have to check with a physician first to see how your health is before you embark on any exercise program or plan. The same is also true if you have any kind of medical condition but especially a thyroid condition or heart condition. Discuss the Mediterranean Diet with them. Some physicians may not recommend a weight loss program for those who are over 40 due to genetics and hormonal changes some people naturally just round out or gain weight in a way that simply cannot be changed. If your doctor tells you your spreading hips are due to menopause or genetics, believe him! It is not clever to fool with Mother Nature.
Publisher & author: Roy Barker. Roy has an indepth and long established background with the vitamins, minerals and health industry and has researched and experimented with many diets over a thirty year period. Roy is also the author of Safe and Easy Weightloss, a downloadable e-book based on the famous Mediterranean Diet and often used by those with heart conditions and those who seek an effective and safe way to shed weight and more importantly, keep it off. Here's were you can see download my eBook and several free bonuses.

I’m Really Overweight-Help Me Lose Weight

I remember being overweight, and desperate to find a solution to help me lose weight. After a few failed attempts, I finally dropped the weight and I’ve managed to keep it off for years. So how did I do it? Since that darned magic pill didn’t work, I had to lose the weight the old fashioned way. I committed myself to the cause, ate healthy and got off my hump and exercised. If I can do it, so can you.

Whip Your Eating Habits into Shape

We live in a nation of processed foods. The result of this is a skyrocketing population of fluffy adults and children. When you’re overweight, you are at risk for diabetes, heart disease, hypertension and other illnesses that can reduce your quality of life and send you to an early grave.
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it ten thousand times: processed foods are no good. Do yourself a favor and boot these items out of your diet. Replace them with healthier, natural foods like fresh fruits and vegetables, fresh fish, lean meats, poultry, beans, legumes, seeds and raw nuts.
Don’t delude yourself into thinking you can change your poor eating habits overnight. Keep in mind, bad eating habits are easy to develop, but they’re not as easy to change. It helps if you start small by making gradual tweaks to your diet.
For instance, you might make it a point to trade in your morning doughnut for a bowl of oatmeal, a piece of nitrate/nitrite free bacon and some fresh fruit. If you eat out everyday, scale back, and commit to preparing healthy, low-cal meals at home at least twice a week.
On the days you eat out, replace a few unhealthy foods with healthier menu choices. For instance, instead of ordering a bag of chips or a side of fries with you sandwich, opt for a small salad. Continue to make small dietary changes every couple of weeks until your poor eating habits are a thing of the past.

Get Up and Get Moving

When you’re trying to whittle your waistline, it’s all about the burn, baby. Once you remove all of the processed junk from your diet, you’ll automatically reduce your caloric intake and lose weight. However, if you don’t do something to set that metabolism on fire, it will slow down and you won’t see any additional weight loss results.
You don’t have to take the “whole hog” approach to exercising to see results. The most important thing is that you do something to get your body moving. Jump up and down for 10 minutes or take a stroll around the block – if it’s more physical activity than you normally get, you’re good.
Of course, as your fitness level improves, you’ll have to add to your exercise routine to keep those weight loss results coming.

Get Committed to Your Healthy Eating Plan

When we talk about losing weight, we always tackle the nutrition and exercise side of things. Let’s talk for a bit about the commitment dropping weight requires. Losing weight and keeping it off is hard work; it requires some serious lifestyle changes.
There are going to be times when you feel discouraged and disappointed, and days when you experience setbacks. If you’re committed – and I mean really committed, you’ll be able to pull yourself up, dust the cake crumbs off, and press on. If you’re not ready to dig your heels in and put in the work, you’ll be disheartened by the results.
Losing weight with proper nutrition and exercise can make you feel healthier and produce lasting results. Watch this video to learn how The Diet Solution Program can help you lose the fat and keep it off for good. If this program could help me lose weight, you can do it, too!

Free Weight Loss Hypnosis For Everyone From The Famous Harley Street in London

London, England – A leading media fitness and diet expert has teamed up with one of Harley Street’s leading Hypnosis / NLP therapists  Trevor Hoskisson to offer free home study weight loss hypnosis to help reduce the obesity crisis across the world.
Weight Loss Mind Power For Life is a groundbreaking new eight day weight loss hypnosis and NLP system that focuses on dealing with the 8 key problem areas of people who struggle to lose weight…

• Sleep
• Motivation Mindset
• Focus
• Comfort Eating
• Motivation To Exercise
• Eating Habits
• Emotional Eating
• Stress

By approaching each of these areas and then concentrating on the ones which resonate with the user most, those with weight problems can significantly change their habits by tapping into the subconscious mind.
Simon says: “Hypnosis is quite misunderstood due to ‘on stage’ entertainment, and that’s why it’s important to educate about the huge benefits that hypnosis can have on somebody that wants to lose weight. A lot of the time people yo-yo diet again and again and they repeat the cycle because their habits have been hard wired. That can be changed”.
Those looking to get started with weight loss hypnosis can get started by watching the free video at www.weightlossmindpowerforlife.com and then entering their details to claim their first free hypnosis session ‘Super Sleep’.
“We decided to give away the sleep session because it’s such a common problem related to weight loss and not many people realise it” added Simon.

 For more information on Weight Loss NLP / Hypnosis click here to find out more information

Squeezing Healthy Meal Plans into a Hectic Life

Just like a lot of you guys, I’m super busy. There are things I just don’t have time to do. However, no matter how hectic my life gets, I always make time for healthy meal plans. Is it easy? Not always. But good health is something I value; so the extra time I put into planning and preparing wholesome meals is well worth it. No matter how rushed life gets, you too can find time for good nutrition.

Plan Your Menus Ahead of Time

Instead of playing mealtimes by ear, plan your menu a week in advance. Weekly menu planning only takes a few minutes, but it can make working healthy meals into your life a lot easier. You can create a simple menu template on your computer or you can take a blank sheet of paper, divide it into sections and write down your meals and snacks for the week.
Some of you might find it more convenient to use a dry erase board for menu planning. There’s no right or wrong way to create a menu. It’s all about what works best for you. The only stipulation is that the meals you plan must be nutritious (no processed foods allowed). Once you finish making your menu, stick it on the refrigerator or somewhere else that’s visible.

Get Your Grocery Shopping Done in One Swoop

Preparing for Healthy Meal Plans. Plan a Menu, and Impulse Buys Will Be Thwarted.

You’re more likely to stick with a nutritious meal plan if you don’t have to make a mad dash to the grocery store everyday. Use your preplanned menu to make a list of all the foods you need to prepare your meals. Designate one day a week for grocery shopping so you can get it over with.
Take your list with you to the store so you won’t forget anything. No more running back and forth to the market because you forgot important ingredients. Using a list also helps you stay on track and reduces the temptation to fill your buggy with cookies, chips and other junk.

Prepare Extra Food and Keep Meals Simple

Prepare more food than you need for one meal so you can have leftovers for the next day. For instance, instead of preparing half of a chicken for dinner, go ahead and pop the whole thing into the oven. When you get ready to eat the leftovers, simply heat them up. Cooking enough for more than one meal reduces your time in the kitchen and makes mealtimes less taxing (take it from the queen of leftovers).
Gourmet meals are nice (and yummy), but they’re overrated. Unless you’re throwing a fancy dinner party, the meals you prepare don’t have to bear any resemblance to a gourmet meal. If you enjoy cooking this way, it’s perfectly fine. But if you’re short on time, quick dishes like salads topped with boiled eggs or salmon work for any meal.
When you live life at record speed, sticking to a nutritious meal plan can be tough. However, if you want to lose weight and improve your health, squeezing time out of your busy day to plan and prepare wholesome meals is important. Give the tips above a try – they just might work for you.
Want a jump start on healthy meal plans? The Diet Solution Program can help. Don’t spend another day with a diet that takes up all of your time!

New Study shows Mediterranean Diet To Be Great For Weight Loss And your Heart

Known as the heart health diet, the Mediterranean Diet soon became popular, but its role may be changing. In the 1960s it was discovered that some people in the Mediterranean, particularly those from Crete, had a significantly longer life expectancy than people elsewhere in the world. Their diet, which is high in vegetables, meat, pasta, beans, cereals, olive oil and wine, seemed to have the ability to protect them from heart disease and stroke.
Today though, it may become known as a weight loss diet. Spanish Researchers studying the eating habits of 1,547 men and 1615 women aged 25-74, recently found that the more closely subjects followed the diet, the lower their body fat levels became. This was surprising, because, in other studies it had been seen that Mediterraneans were not exactly slim and that contrasted sharply to the usual expectation that if you're fat, you're more likely to die of a stroke or heart attack.
The Mediterranean diet, is lower in foods like pastas, cheese, red meats, milk and lard than a common European diet, which some believe account for the difference in longevity. But sticking to lower glycemic carbs like the beans and cereals also causes a lower insulin response which is linked to the storage of fat in our bodies. Low carb advocates say that the Mediterranean diet works even better when its modified to lower the carbs, believing it will speed up the fat loss while continuing to provide the positive heart benefits.
So get the best of both worlds. Eat like Crete, with a low carb twist. And speed your way to quick weight loss and a long healthy life.
Karen Wild is an author and contributing writer for the popular www.healthy-low-carb.com an online information source for low carb diets, free low carb recipes, diet basics, books, product reviews and informative up to date dieting research. Here's were you can see download my eBook and several free

Lack Of Sleep May Be Keeping You Fat

You might not be aware that the amount of sleep you get has a direct effect on how much weight you are able to lose. Studies have shown us that the body’s capacity to burn fat is affected by how much sleep you get every night.
Studies that have investigated the link between sleep and weight loss have made two significant findings. Firstly, the body burns fewer calories when you sleep less. Secondly, when you don’t get enough sleep, your body tempts you to eat more.
A study by Dr. Christian Benedict of Uppsala University in Sweden found that men who are sleep-deprived but still eat the same amount of food as usual burn between 5-20% less calories than when they get enough sleep. The team discovered that even just a single night of missed sleep slows down the body’s metabolism the next morning.
On top of this, it’s also been found that sleep deprivation leads to more cravings to eat. Another study by Marie-Pierre St-Onge of the New York Obesity Research Centre found that people who were deprived of sleep fed themselves an extra 300 calories on average during the day in comparison to well-rested people.
These two studies are just two of many research studies that provide evidence that sleep-deprivation is directly linked to gaining weight. The findings from research suggest that sleep plays a part in how your body manages the hormones that control your hunger. When you are tired, you are more susceptible to giving in to your desires to eat fatty foods.

If you are trying to lose weight yourself, don’t neglect the importance of getting enough sleep. If you are someone who has trouble falling asleep at night, you may be able to benefit from sleep hypnosis.
Sleep hypnosis is a method of relaxing your body and mind to help you drift into sleep. It has often been used to cure cases of insomnia.
Contrary to what many may believe, hypnotherapy is very safe and can’t cause you any harm. In fact, it is a much safer method for falling asleep than many of the over-the-counter sleep inducing products that you can find. Using medication to fall asleep can leave you dependant on drugs, whereas sleep hypnosis can help you fall asleep naturally without having to put any manufactured drugs into your body.
Sleep hypnosis helps train your body and mind relaxation techniques that allow you to sleep peacefully. Because of the stresses that occur during the day, stressful thoughts can occur that are stored in the subconscious mind.
When you try to sleep at night, the subconscious takes over. If there are lots of stressful thoughts floating around it will have difficulty relaxing and drifting into sleep. The purpose of sleep hypnosis is to eradicate this problem by helping your mind to relax deeply and do away with the stress that prevents you from resting.
Getting a good amount of sleep will help you lose weight in many ways. First of all, being as your body has more time to refresh, your bodily systems such as your metabolism will be working at full force. This means you will burn calories much quicker.
Also, if you are feeling lethargic, it’s more likely that you’ll be tempted to graze on unhealthy snacks. If you are feeling refreshed on the other hand, you will feel less urge in the body to fill up on unhealthy foods.
There’s great news as you can get a FREE Sleep Hypnosis session!!

Diet Plans to Lose Weight Need Not Be Complicated

With all of the conflicting information about nutrition, it’s no wonder people give up on their diet plans to lose weight after only a few days. Dropping weight can feel like an uphill climb, but it doesn’t have to be this way. Don’t let others make the process more complicated than it actually is.
Don’t get me wrong, losing flab certainly has it challenges (trust me, I’ve been there). I’m simply saying if you’re armed with the right information, slimming down is not as hard as it seems. If you boot all the processed foods out of your diet and replace them with nutrient-dense, natural foods, you’ll lose weight and feel healthier before you know it.

Fresh Fruits and Vegetables

Adding a variety of fresh fruits and veggies to your daily diet can help you get the vitamins and minerals you need to support important functions of the body. For instance, calcium helps support bone health. Vitamin C helps the immune system thrive. B vitamins work to ease stress, and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. And vitamin A supports healthy vision and skin.
Fruits and vegetables are rich sources of complex carbohydrates and fiber. Carbs are important because they provide fuel for the body. Fiber regulates the bowels and expands in your stomach to help you stay full longer. The longer you stay full, the less you eat, and the more likely you are to drop body fat.

I have always been a supporter of free roaming chicken, grass fed meets, and whole organic eggs. It just makes sense.

Poultry and Beans
When you make beans and poultry a part of your regular diet, you are giving your body the protein it needs to maintain good health. Protein is referred to as the building block of the body for a reason. This nutrient is found almost everywhere in the body. Without it, you’ll face problems like fatigue, skin ulcers, sleeping difficulties, weakness and organ damage.
Skimping on the protein can also cause crankiness, depression, anxiety and other mental issues. Also, when you add this compound to your diet, you are less likely to overeat because it makes meals more satiating and helps control your appetite.

Lean Meats, Fish and Raw Nuts

Adding lean meats to your diet will ensure you get the iron you need to build hemoglobin and transport oxygen to the cells in your body. When you don’t get enough iron in your diet, your chances of suffering with iron deficient anemia increases. Symptoms of anemia can include fatigue, problems regulating the body temperature, headaches, dizziness and weakness.
The importance of fat in the diet is underrated. When you avoid eating healthy fats, you do your body a huge disservice. Healthy fats build the brain, provide the body with energy, help produce hormones, and provide cushion for your internal organs.
Fats also enable the body use vitamins more efficiently. Make fish and raw nuts staples in your diet so you can get some of the fats you need for good health.
If you rid your diet of processed junk and replace them with the foods listed above, you can shed unwanted pounds without frustration. The weight isn’t going to come off overnight, but it will eventually come off. Oh, and remember. No diet plan is complete or 100 percent successful without exercise.
If you don’t have a plan, trying to lose weight can be frustrating. Let The Diet Solution Program provide you with effective diet plans to lose weight.

About The Mediterranean Diet

It's not at all profound but the Mediterranean Diet is now recognized as one of the healthiest in the world consisting as it does of large amounts of fresh fruit and vegetables, salads,nuts,seeds, omega-3 rich oily fish, olives and olive oil and being comparitively low in dairy products and red meats.
The people of the Mediterranean region, particuarly Greece and Spain, are very fortunate to live in an area where naturally healthy food is readily and cheaply available. The incidence of heart disease and cancer are lower here than anywhere else in the western world and experts now believe this is due in great part to what has become known as the Mediterranean diet.
Modern farming techniques and world wide transport has changed most peoples diets dramatically in the past centuary and it is now widely believed that such changes have had an exteremely detrimental effect on our health. Fortunately the impact of these developments has not had such a catastrophic effect in Mediterranean regions where to a large extent traditional diets are still followed. Of course with the advent of Globalization and MacDonalds! this is sadly changing. However, we can all learn a lot from what has become known as the Mediterranean diet and by adopting it, vastly improve our health and longevity.
The foods that grow natuarlly and abundantly in that region and have always formed a part of the local diet are as follows:- Olives, avocados, oranges, lemons, garlic, wild asparagus, walnuts, almonds, tomatoes, artichokes, figs, pomegranates, cherries, strawberries, grapes, plums, spinach, broad beans, peppers along with many other of the more common fruits and vegetables. These provide large amounts of vitamins, minerals and fibre along with a wide variety of antioxidants and phytochemicals, the importance of which scientists are only now beginning to recognize as they discover more and more healthful benefits of including these elements in our diet.
Historically alot of the milk was produced from goats and cheese made from goats and ewes milk. Very little red meat is eaten and a large majority of the protein is supplied by oily fish such as sardines, mackerel, tuna, sword fish, boquerones and anchovies.
The main oil used is olive, traditionally cold pressed virgin, and this is used not only for cooking and in salads but also for putting on bread in place of butter.
All these foods provide a wide variety of nutriments which have an astonishing array of claims for improving our health such as lowering cholesterol, improving our immune system which thus not only fights infections but also helps to prevent cancer, increasing our metabolism, improving insulin sensitivity and thus lessening the risk of diabetes. It really has never been so true that you are what you eat. Certainly since moving to Andalucia and adopting the Mediteranean diet myself I have never been so healthy or managed to maintain my ideal weight so easily.
Of coures, in addition to all the healthy components of this diet there is the added fact that honey is often used in place of sugar and little refined carbohydrates are eaten.
All in all most experts now agree that the Mediterranean diet is the optimum diet
Here's were you can see download my eBook and several free bonuses.

My New Challenge: The Get Lean Program by Belinda Benn

I bought Belinda Benn’s Get Lean Program in January while I was doing my 5-week-detox challenge with USANA programme RESET. I felt inspired by Belinda’s story and felt it was the right workout program for me.

I took a few weeks to study and plan how I was going to complete this new challenge. RESET for 5 weeks gave me an excellent base to lose weight and now I am ready not just to lose weight but to also to shape the body I want.

Get Lean Program takes 12 weeks, Belinda says it takes 21 days to stick to a new habit and she recommends 110% effort and full commitment particularly for the first 3 weeks. So for me it made sense to have a break between RESET and Get Lean Program during the school February half-term.

When I came back from my holiday, although I had a great time...I indulged too much & didn’t do much exercise: the result I picked up some weight!! This is something I need to deal with and not beat myself up for it...each time I will go on holiday and unless it is one of my favourite Thalassotherapy Holidays I am bound to come back with a few kilos as extra luggage! It actually makes me more determined to re-focus.

My weight goal is still to be down to 60 kg by the end of June 2012. Although this new challenge is no longer just about losing weight, I am using 60 kg because that’s what I weighed when I was 25, fit & healthy. It is symbolic for me because I was not really living a healthy lifestyle at that time except working out 2 hours a day, but what strike me is that it is the only time in my life I didn’t care if someone took a picture of me! If I manage to regain this attitude, I will have achieved my overall goal that is feeling good about myself inside and outside... 

I am feeling very confident because in fact I only need to lose approximately 1.5 kg each month which is not a lot, but my fitness & physical goals are the most challenging & exciting!! I have 4 specific goals: dramatically improve the shape of my triceps and abdominals, reduce the appearance of cellulite. Finally, I want to be able to do more (FULL) press-ups than my husband... considering I am currently able to do only 2 or 3 full press-ups before collapsing!!

Today is Sunday and I am on Day 5 of this 12-week program and it should take me until the middle of May 2012.  Today’s workout tested my ability to do tricep bench dips and push-ups...perfect for my goals:

68kg (I am 2 kg behind, I need to be approximately 64.5kg by the end of March 2012)

Measurements: Waist 33”, chest 36”, hips 39”, Thighs 24” right & 23.5” left, bicep 13”

2/3 full press-ups maximum and a total of 34 knee press-ups within 3 sets

33 tricep bench dips

30 second lasting plank

For my abdominal goal, I am combining the normal 6 weeks Get Lean Workout Program with Belinda’s free bonus Breakthrough Abs 12-week-program.

After starting Belinda’s Get Lean Program for now a few 5 days, these would be my recommendations:

1.       1. Get organised and make sure you nutrition program is manageable, so you can easily have your food weekly shopping ready the day you start (my food weekly shopping and deliveries fall on a Tuesday, hence why I decided to start Get Lean Program on a Wednesday)

2.       2. I made lots of mistake at first on the correct portion of the recipes... I sometimes forgot to divide between 4 & 6: as a result I probably eat too much... no wonder why I didn’t feel hungry at all: now I make sure that I note the portion for 1 person on each recipe.

3.       3. I have tried many diet plans before that failed because I had to cook 2 different meals in the evening and at the weekend and it was too much for me to stick with. I have tested some of the evening meals on my husband & kids and I had fantastic feedback: they all said the meals were tasty which is great for me, easier to cook for all!! So from now on, all family meals are from Belinda’s Benn Get Lean Nutrition Program. I just make sure my portions are the right ones. So, if you also have to cook for others do test the reactions: at the end of the day, you will help others to eat a more balanced and nutritious (low glycemic) diet!

4.      4. I have exercised before at a gym and in specific exercise workout sessions, so it is easy for me to follow the instructions of the Get Lean Workout Program e-books. If you haven’t, it is worth investing joining a gym for the first month at least or paying a few personal training sessions with someone who can go through the exercises and make sure you are doing them correctly.

Using NLP To Help You Lose Weight

Losing weight is as much of a mental battle as it is a physical challenge. Lack of belief or lack of motivation can often be what stops people from being successful with dieting. Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) is a technique of re-framing negative thought patterns and programming the subconscious mind to empower you to take positive actions.
To successfully apply NLP for weight loss, you firstly need to identify the negative thought patterns you have that are preventing your weight loss quest from being successful. Perhaps you have thoughts like “I’ve always been fat, therefore I always will be”, or “losing weight is hard”.
When you have identified the negative thought patterns that are holding you back, you can use NLP to reprogramme them. If you have been thinking in this way for a long time, your beliefs will have become ingrained in your subconscious mind. If this happens, your subconscious will ensure that the way you act is in alignment with these negative beliefs.
When you re-train the subconscious to believe that you are losing weight successfully, it will do everything it can to make sure your actions reflect this.
Here is a brief summary of the benefits of using NLP for weight loss:

• Re-trains your subconscious and changes your beliefs about food and exercise
• Changes the way you think about yourself
• Identifies and eliminates the fears that are holding you back
• Can help you change your habits and eliminate problem foods from your diet
• Triggers long-term lifestyle changes rather than a short-term fix

NLP Techniques

NLP for weight loss can be used to help you control your food intake. Many people have unhelpful unconscious thought patterns that cause them to eat irresponsibly.
Without knowing, many people associate eating fatty foods with pleasure, or as a way to escape stress. Being as these thought patterns operate almost on auto-pilot, many people do not stop to think about whether eating what they are about to eat is really a good idea.
NLP can change these associations so that the thought of eating unhealthy foods would fill you with negative feelings, while the thought of eating healthy foods would make you feel good.
Here is an example of an NLP technique that can change the associations you have with unhealthy food:
Firstly, visualize in your mind some of your favourite fatty snacks. Picture the image clearly in your mind. Next, relate this food to a disgusting image. Add a horrible image into your visualization such as you vomiting. To make the image worse, add a horrible smell and and a terrible taste to your visualization.
Visualize and imagine the nasty image, and the terrible taste and smell as intensely as you can. Do this a few times. Really experience how sick the image makes you feel.
After doing this a few times you will start to notice how that food is no longer attractive to you, and the thought of eating it makes you feel disgusted. This will compel you to avoid this food.
NLP is an indefensible tool to anybody who is trying to lose weight. Use it effectively and you can train yourself to exercise and eat healthily with ease.
There’s a fantastic FREE Video with sneaky mind tricks to help you lose weight using NLP by visiting

The Diet Solution Recipes: How to Make Your Own

Some people are intimidated by the idea of preparing healthy meals; so they either eat grilled chicken everyday, or they stick to theDiet Solution recipes listed on this site. Newsflash! These are not your only options for nutritious meals. Making your own healthy recipes is easier than you think. Simply start with the right ingredients and learn to channel your inner chef.

Choose Natural Ingredients

When you’re preparing your recipes, always use wholesome ingredients. With all of the different foods on the market, trying to determine what’s healthy and what’s not is kind of difficult. I have one rule that I follow – keep everything as natural as possible.
Natural foods include fresh produce, whole eggs, free-range poultry and lean meats. These foods are not processed and they do not contain trans-fats, preservatives or any of the other chemical additives that make them dangerous for human consumption.

Use Organic Fruits, Veggies and Meats Whenever Possible

Those of you who read my blog or follow the DSP program know where I stand with regard to organic foods. I choose organic meat, poultry and produce for my family because these foods don’t contain synthetic chemicals, sewer sludge or genetically engineered materials.
Besides, when I think about feeding my little one food that can potentially cause or contribute to life-altering conditions, it motivates me to buy organic every chance I get.
Despite what manufacturers say, your body was not designed to handle the toxins in processed foods.

Prepare Food Using the Right Kind of Oil

You’ll find a lot of recipes that require food to be sautéed, baked, fried or grilled. If you want to make your Diet Solution recipes as healthy as possible, forget about using shortening and vegetable oil. Instead, use olive oil, real butter or coconut oil–all organic of course. All of these oils are healthy and can add nutritional value to your meals.
Coconut oil is great for deep frying foods. Olive oil and real butter can be used for sautéing. If you try to deep fry your foods in olive oil or butter, you may set your kitchen on fire, so please, don’t do it! You can also use olive oil to coat your meats and vegetables before grilling or baking them.

Don’t Be Afraid to Experiment in the Kitchen

Recipes are not etched in concrete. You have every right to modify them by swapping out unhealthy ingredients for ingredients that are more nutritious. For instance, if you come across a recipe that calls for milk, you can make it healthier by replacing it with raw milk, almond milk, or coconut milk.
If you don’t like a particular food, or you want to give a recipe a different flavor, simply replace or eliminate the ingredients of your choice.  Also, don’t be afraid to get in the kitchen and use healthy ingredients to whip up a few original concoctions of your own. Chefs do it all the time. I’m definitely not a chef and I do it too.
Sometimes my self-created mixtures are a big hit and others times – not so much. The point is there are a lot of delicious, healthy recipes to be made; so get in that kitchen and start mixing! I’m always itching to try new foods. If you come up with a dish that you absolutely love, send me the recipe so I can taste test it.
You don’t have to deprive yourself of delicious meals to slim down with our Diet Solution recipes. Watch the video to find out some simple and basic ideas that are delicious and creative.  The Diet Solution Program will teach you how to eat hearty and still lose weight.

Is Your Microwave Meddling With Your Hormones?

Do you store your food in plastic containers? Do you ever put plastic in the microwave? If so, think twice about it.
In the Your Plate, Your Fate series, you’ll learn about the dozens of chemicals found in our foods that mimic the hormone estrogen. These gender benders cause early sexual development in children, reproductive difficulties for adults, and they promote the growth and spread of cancer. And they’re quite common in plastic.
Researchers at Tufts Medical School were using plastic test tubes to store a line of estrogen sensitive breast cancer cells. That is, until they noticed the cells were multiplying wildly. Turns out the supposedly “inert” plastic test tubes were leaching a chemical that behaves just like estrogen.
When researchers at Dartmouth heated plastic wrap and vegetable oil in a microwave, they found the oil had “500,000 times the minimum amount of xenoestrogens needed to stimulate breast cancer cells…” Read that again if it didn’t sink in the first time.
The solution is simple. Use glass or ceramic to store your food. Never eat or drink anything that came into contact with hot plastic. Stay away from plastic water bottles (remember – they could have been heated in transit!). And avoid canned food, if possible. The inside of the cans are coated with plastic and the acid in the food breaks it down.
In the Your Plate, Your Fate series you’ll learn about the many other uninvited dinner guests that could be making you sick including:

• The cookware that leaches known cancer-causers into your meals – and it’s found in more than 80% of all cookware sold!
• The household staple that sucks up to 97% of the nutrients out of your food and a safe, time-saving alternative to choose
• The only two brands of canned foods that don’t contain BPA – a powerful xenoestrogen associated with prostate cancer, breast cancer and even fertility problems
• The family heirlooms that could be exposing you to dangerous levels of lead – a deadly metal that is high enough in 40% of Americans to significantly increase stroke and heart attack risk.

What is this Mysterious Mediterranean Diet?

There isn't really any one Mediterranean Diet! However, there's a whole swag of countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea. The basic Mediterranean Diet has common characteristics even if the sourrounding countries differ in culture, language and recipes to some extent.
Predominately, the diet is made up of:

• An extensive intake of fruits, vegetables, bread and cereals, potatoes, beans, nuts and seeds
• olive oil is a source of mono-unsaturated fat - common to the Mediterranean area
• some dairy products, fish and even poultry are consumed in sparing to moderate amounts, and some red meat(not much)
• eggs are consumed in low to moderate amount say 1 to 4 eggs a week
• fortunately wine is acceptable but in low quantities ie. 1 - 3 glasses per day

A good question to ask is - Does a Mediterranean-style diet follow American Heart Association dietary guidelines?
Mediterranean-style diets are often close to US dietary guidelines, but not exactly.
People who follow the average Mediterranean diet eat less saturated fat than those who eat the average American diet. In fact, saturated fat consumption is well within US dietary guidelines. More than half the fat calories in a Mediterranean diet come from mono-unsaturated fats (mainly from olive oil). Mono-unsaturated fat doesnt raise blood cholesterol levels the way saturated fat doe
The incidence of heart disease in Mediterranean countries is lower than in the United States. Death rates are lower, too. However, there are some who feel this may not be entirely due to the diet. Lifestyle factors (ie. more physical activity and extended social family support structures) may also play a part. At this stage this is just a theory. However the research tells all - the diet has existed for umpteen years.
If you would like further proof of the mediterranean diet benefits resulting from research and qualified researchers you could try visiting http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/348/26/2599 or http://my.webmd.com/content/article/67/80070.htm. Both of these sites give good food for thought(excuse the pun).
'Olive oil plays a central role, but it is not alone,' says Dimitrios Trichopoulos, MD, PhD, of Harvard School of Public Health.
'Its among the divine mix of several factors that, when used in combination, help provide strong evidence of something that is very important - eating the proper diet can significantly reduce your risk of early death.'
He and researchers from Greece studied some 22,000 adults, aged 20 to 86, from all regions of that country; most previous studies tracked only older people who were more likely to die during the study. The participants answered detailed questionnaires about their eating habits throughout the four-year study. Then they were rated on how closely they followed the key principles of the Mediterranean diet.
Sticking to the Mediterranean diet cut the risk of death from both heart disease and cancer. For every two points higher on this 0-to-9 scale - with top numbers going to those most closely following the Mediterranean diet - the death rate dropped by 25%.
The findings by Trichopoulos may also help explain why Asians, who typically use these other cooking oils, also have lower disease and death rates. Although they rarely use olive oil, they traditionally follow other principles of the Mediterranean diet - lots of produce, legumes, nuts, and minimally processed grains, with little saturated fat.
'The message remains the same, and is consistent with other findings: A diet lower in saturated fats and higher in monounsaturated fats, and potentially, polyunsaturates, will result in better health outcomes,' says Alice H. Lichtenstein, DSc, of Tufts University and a spokeswoman for the American Heart Association.
'If the main message that Americans get is to just increase their olive or canola oil consumption, thats unfortunate because they will increase their caloric intake and they are already getting too many calories. What they need to do is eat more fruits, vegetables, and legumes and fewer foods rich in saturated fats.'
Some of this information has been referenced from The New England Journal of Medicine, June 26, 2003. Dimitrios Trichopoulos, MD, PhD, professor of epidemiology, Vincent L. Gregory Professor of Cancer Prevention, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston. Alice H. Lichtenstein, DSc, senior scientist and director, Cardiovascular Nutrition Laboratory, Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Researcher Center on Aging, Tufts University, Boston; spokeswoman, American Heart Association.
So in a nutshell, there is sound evidence that the Mediterranean Diet can help reduce heart disease, cancer, weight gain and of course reduce the risk of early death. However, it would be a mistake to think this outcome is based on the use of Olive Oil alone. The diet is diverse and allows for taste and creativity which is often lacking in most other diets. This alone warrants further investigation from those who seek a healthy, easy diet that has flavour and is fullfilling. Remember too that just as in all worthwhile diets, moderate level exercise should not be overlooked.
Publisher & author: Ray Darken. Ray has an indepth and long established background with the vitamins, minerals and health industry and has researched and experimented with many diets over a thirty year period. Ray is also the author of Safe and Easy Weightloss, a downloadable e-book based on the popular Mediterranean Diet. Here's were you can see download my eBook and several free bonuses.