Lose the Lies Lose the Weight

Salad Smarts: What You Need to Know to Shed Pounds Quickly

2007-05-08T05:41:00.000-07:00

Many people assume all salads are low calorie and a great weight loss choice. Nothing could be further from the truth. It all comes down to what you put on your salad. If you want to lose weight, you need choose your salad ingredients wisely.

Pile on several cups of darker greens such as romaine or spinach. These greens have more folate, vitamin A, and lutein. Avoid iceberg lettuce which has less nutritional value.

Choose a variety of colorful vegetables, some yellow, some green, and some red, to get a mix of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Avoid vegetables that have been prepared with oil such as grilled onions.

Choose about 100 calories (about 3-4 ounces) of lean protein. Choices include tofu, grilled chicken, turkey, or beans. Avoid proteins like chicken salad or fried chicken that are calorie-packed.

Choose your toppings wisely. This is where many people turn their salad into a caloric nightmare. Avoid toppings like cheese, bacon bits, fried noodles, or croutons. Top sparsely with grated parmesan, dried fruit, slivered almonds, walnuts, or sunflower seeds.

Choose a fat-free dressing or 1-2 teaspoons of olive oil with unlimited lemon juice or vinegar. If you choose your favorite high-fat salad dressing, place 2 tablespoons on the side of your salad. Dip your fork lightly in the dressing to drastically cut calories. If you want to get a great physique, never pour high-calorie or even reduced-calorie dressing all over your salad.

A smart salad has about 400 calories while a fat-promoting salad can easily have over 1,000 calories! That is assuming you do not go back to the salad bar for seconds. By choosing your salad toppings wisely, you could realistically save 600 calories per meal. Multiply that by 30 days. You just saved 18,000 calories. That equates to 5 pounds of monthly weight loss just by making wise nutrition decisions.

Now that you know what to choose for your salad, you can begin eating for weight loss results! For more great information, order Lose the Lies Lose the Weight, http://www.losethelieslosetheweight.com/ by Laurie Bell.

Fast Track to Better Health-4 Easy Tips

2007-04-28T16:25:00.000-07:00

Would you like to feel younger, look great, have more energy, confidence, enthusiasm, and zest for living? Well, you can do just that. It all begins with your decision to change.

Do these four things and your health, appearance, and energy level will rapidly improve.

Revamp your kitchen. What foods sabotage you daily, if not hourly? Well, grab a trash bag. Get rid of the sabotage foods right now. If you feel it is not right to waste food, realize this: Those trashcan foods will rapidly go to your waist, which is wasting your health. If you feel guilty about eliminating those empty calorie foods, donate the money they cost you to a shelter.

Shut the television off for a week! Yes, you heard me right. The prime reason you feel you do not have time to exercise has to do with your sedentary lifestyle. The average person watches 28 hours of television weekly. By turning the TV off, you will actually become restless. You will wonder what to do. Replace your unproductive poor-health promoting TV habit with exercise.

Weight yourself at the same time every day. It will stop you from suddenly gaining 10 pounds! If you are up more than a pound or two, cut back on your eating and exercise consistently.

Get a food journal and calorie counter book. Set a daily caloric goal. The average woman will lose 1-2 pounds weekly by eating between 1,200-1,500 calories daily. The average man will lose 2-3 pounds by eating between 1,800-2,100 calories daily. Track everything that you eat. Writing it down ends the selective memory.

You only live once. What are you waiting for? Do you want to look great, feel younger, and have more energy? Revamp your kitchen, shut off the TV, weigh yourself daily, and get a food journal. These steps will keep you on the fast track to better health.

Get In Great Shape - What It Really Takes!

2007-04-25T05:37:00.000-07:00

Commercials bombard you with promises you can easily get in great shape. Supposedly those beautiful people used an ab machine for 10 minutes, three times a week and now, they look fabulous. Or, skimming past the checkout line, you notice magazine headlines: Eat what you love and lose. Walk your way to a trim you. Or, lose 30 pounds in 30 days.

It is time to be logical and realistic with yourself. How many thousands of meals did it take you to put on all those unwanted pounds? It took years of poor nutrition and exercise habits to get out of shape. The weight will not suddenly come off with some hyped-up product or 10 minutes of exercise!

Stop looking for weight loss shortcuts. Accept that getting in shape requires effort and knowledge.

The solution to achieving a fabulous physique requires excellent diet and physical activity lifestyle habits. Do not waste one more moment looking into those appealing diet pills, tummy crunchers, meal replacement bars, or fat burners.

There is a lot of bogus information. For example, it absolutely does not work to overeat every single weekend. You spend all week just burning off your weekend calories. Many people at the health club workout religiously yet they never lose weight simply because they overeat every single weekend.

You may falsely believe you can eat whatever you want because you exercise. That is wishful thinking. Working out is not enough to lose those unwanted pounds.

Weight loss requires a caloric deficit. Even if you exercise, you still need to count how many calories you consume daily. Is this popular advice? No! But, do you want popular advice or effective advice?

After two kids, at 42 years old, NO liposuction, NO gastric bypass surgery, just good old fashioned hard work and good nutrition, I'm fit. Try doing what is proven to be successful.

Getting in great shape requires knowledge, physical activity, plus good eating habits. Once you get the weight off, you need to continue your high level of physical activity plus eat well for the rest of your life.

Decide that you are seriously ready to work at weight loss. You are tired of being fat, depressed, discouraged, angry, and letting food and laziness control your entire life. Spend some time reading the articles on my website, http://www.losethelieslosetheweight.com/.

Learn from someone who understands the diet lies. When I believed the weight loss lies, I lost NO weight!

When you are seriously ready to change, get my book, Lose the Lies Lose the Weight. What are you waiting for? Fitness IS within your grasp. Take that first step!

3 Foods to Banish for Rapid Weight Loss

2007-04-17T04:42:00.000-07:00

Drop these high calorie, nutrient poor foods and you are guaranteed to lose weight.

Banish sugary refined carbs. Satisfy your sweet tooth with the natural sugars found in juicy watermelon, pineapple, mangoes, berries, and other fresh fruit. Snack on dried fruit like apricots or enjoy a baked cinnamon apple.

Banish deep-fried foods. Fried foods rapidly pack on the pounds. Satisfy your cravings for crunchiness by baking seasoned sliced potatoes, dipping crunchy vegetables (carrots, jicama, cauliflower) in fat-free dip, or having one serving of baked chips.

Banish white flour products. White flour products contain virtually no fiber or nutrients, quickly digest and store as fat. Because white flour contains little or no fiber, you will not feel satisfied for long so you will keep eating. Buy whole grain products, fruits and vegetables which are high fiber and nutrient-packed. You will feel satisfied longer, plus consume fewer calories.

For steady, rapid weight loss, eliminate sugary refined carbs, deep-fried foods, and white flour products. These foods lead to Obese City.

Your health matters. Treat your body with respect. If you got a new Lexus, would you put in the cheapest, low quality gasoline you could buy? Or, would you treat your expensive car well? Think about this: you are much more important than a car! Make wise decisions at every meal. That is how you will get in shape quickly!

To Lose Weight Quickly, Cut Your Eating in Half!

2007-04-12T05:10:00.000-07:00

How many years have you spent looking for just the right diet book or exercise plan? How many times have you believed the lie that you just need to cut carbs or eat just the right foods and you will lose weight?

Weight loss is simple. To lose weight you must eat a lot less than you are currently eating.

I recently met a 62 year old woman who lost 70 pounds. Naturally, I asked her what she had done. She made one major change that was very, very easy to implement. She worked out and cut her eating in half.

This is easy to do. Whenever you eat out, restaurants serve at least twice as many calories as you need. Ask for half your meal to go in advance.

When you are preparing a sandwich, cut it in half, wrap it, and put half in the fridge. Think about the typical amount of food you would put on your plate, then serve yourself half that amount.

If you usually drink two glasses of wine, drink one, or switch to water or a diet soda.

To lose weight, you need to create a caloric deficit. This means your body needs to burn more calories than you take in daily. Many of you eat considerably more than you realize. To lose weight, you need to know exactly how many calories you eat daily.

Get a notebook and calorie counter book. Track your calories. Do not lie to yourself and pretend that you never overeat. Of course you do! That is why you are reading this blog. You are tired of being fat (just as I was) and you are ready to change.

The average woman will lose weight by eating 1,200-1,500 calories daily. The average man will lose weight by eating 1,800-2,100 calories daily.

Once you track your calories for a week, you will quickly find that you have been eating approximately double what you need to lose weight.

Tracking your calories may not be what you want to hear BUT IT WORKS! I have kept my weight off since March 1987. I know what works! In a future blog post, I will add some of my chubby pictures.

Get started on your fitness goal today. Get a notebook. Track your calories and cut your eating in half. Please email me at laurie@losethelieslosetheweight.com. I will look forward to hearing of your progress and providing fitness support.

Control Your Eating This Easter! Party Survival Tips

2007-04-07T06:12:00.000-07:00

Easter is a celebration of a new beginning. Jesus died on Good Friday and rose from the grave on Easter Sunday to give new life to everyone who chooses to believe in him!

Use Easter as a springboard for a new beginning to your weight loss plan. On Easter, when you get together with friends and family, focus on socializing, not on the food. Just because everyone around you is wildly indulging, that does not mean you have to. When they gain weight it will be their problem, not yours!

Here is an easy way to NOT feel deprived when you do not pig out. Look at the waist sizes of all the people who are indulging. Are they fit, trim, and healthy looking? Or, do their seams look like they are ready to split?

If you want to become fit, trim, and healthy looking, you cannot blow your diet every time there is a get together. In our country, there will always be an excuse to overeat. Do not do it!

Your body registers every calorie, even on your wedding day.

Here are 7 easy-to-remember tips that you can apply at social events.

1) Eat something light before you arrive.
2) Go to the party with the intention of socializing, not indulging.
3) Drink water with a twist of lemon or lime.
4) Stay away from the food table.
5) Allow yourself one low calorie appetizer.
6) Eat a small meal, around 500 calories.
7) Focus on your desire to get in great shape.

Follow these tips and you will wake up Monday morning feeling awesome! Fitness is a day by day decision. You need to be aware of everything you eat, every day. Take a look at my picture on the top left of this website. That is a result of being aware of what I eat and drink. I am 42 years old with 2 kids. No lipo or gastric bypass, just basic fitness knowledge. I know what works. Learn from someone who lives the fitness lifestyle.

If I showed up at your Easter celebration, you would not see me eating those fattening, empty calorie foods or desserts. If you don not eat it, you don’t have to wear it on your hips and thighs.

For the complete picture of what fitness requires, read my book, Lose the Lies Lose the Weight, http://www.losethelieslsoetheweight.com. It will get you to your fitness goal.

Don't Wait Until You Feel Motivated to Exercise!

2007-04-03T05:07:00.000-07:00

You probably feel that you will eventually get in shape. You are simply waiting to get motivated. Understand this. Motivation will never suddenly drift your way. You cannot buy motivation.

You are not going to wake up one morning and suddenly feel motivated. It just will not happen. Do you wait until you feel motivated to go to work? Do you wait until you feel motivated to wash your hair, brush your teeth, cook, clean, or eat. No! You just do these things because you need to. Guess what? You need to treat your fitness exactly the same way.

So, beginning today, toss the I will wait until I am motivated thinking right out the front door. Do something now.

If you are not sure where to start, the easiest thing to do is join a health club. Get a phone book. What are you waiting for? Get your local phone book. You want to get fit, right?

Look under health clubs. Call for rates. Ask about enrollment fees, joining fees, and their monthly rates. Do not believe you cannot afford it. Do you hesitate for one minute to write a $50 check to your cable company every month or charge $50-$75 for dinner at your favorite restaurant? Or how about $80 for a new outfit or shoes?

Once you narrow it down to the three best health clubs, drive to each one. Look for cleanliness, friendliness, a variety of cardio, strength training machines, and free weights. Look for a club that has certified personal trainers. Meet one. Enroll. Arrange for your personal training session first thing tomorrow morning.

I am going to be waiting for you to email me with any questions you have about health clubs. I am not going to give you the next step until I hear from you. Send an email to bell@losethelieslosetheweight.com. I will look forward to guiding you toward getting in the best shape of your entire life.

If you cannot afford a personal trainer, for now, you may use the workout plans in the book, Lose the Lies, Lose the Weight, http://www.losethelieslosetheweight.com.

Your Weight Loss Secret Weapon

2007-03-23T07:48:00.002-07:00

You may feel you don't eat that much. You rarely eat dessert. You never drink soda. You always get your dressing on the side. You just don't understand where that extra weight came from.

The truth is, if you take in even one more calorie daily than your body burns, you won't lose weight. This could be an extra pea. Even healthy food can make you fat! An extra 100 calories a day adds up to one pound gained per month or 12 pounds per year. Do you realize how quickly you consume 100 calories? A small glass of juice, one banana, or eight unshelled peanuts quickly add up to 100 calories!

No one believes they eat that much. Or, no one wants to admit they eat that much. The problem is, you likely do not know how many calories you consume. The solution? You need to use your weight loss secret weapon: a food journal.

Keep a food journal. For the next seven days, list everything you eat and drink. Eat the same as usual. List every morsel! List the grocery store samples, food eaten while you cook, and remember to list those snacks!

If you think listing everything is too much work, you especially need to keep a journal. Your subconscious realizes listing everything makes cheating difficult. Listing everything you eat or drink will quickly end your selective memory. Listing everything will show you how quickly calories add up and make you accountable.

When one week is up, analyze your data. Buy a food scale, measuring cups, and calorie counter book. Two excellent calorie counter books are The Complete Book of Food Counts by Corinne T. Netzer and The Most Compete Food Counter by Annette Natow and Jo-Ann Heslin.

Measuring or weighing your foods plus using a calorie counter book is critical for learning how many calories are in everything you eat and drink. After calculating your calories for seven days, do you realize you were overeating? Great! Being honest with yourself means you are ready to begin eating for permanent weight loss.

After the seven days are up, continue recording everything you eat and drink. This will create caloric awareness of your foods and beverages. Once you are aware of calories, you will not need to measure your foods or keep a food journal.

The average woman will lose 1-2 pounds per week by consuming 1,200-1,500 calories daily. The average man will lose 1-2 pounds daily by consuming 1,800-2,100 calories daily.

Are you ready to change? Are you serious about getting in shape? Then, it is time to make a change. Use your weight loss secret weapon: your food journal.

We never repent of having eaten too little. -THOMAS JEFFERSON

Check out our new website just launched on March 18! We offer great tips and insights, including free workout plans and free weight loss book excerpts! http://www.losethelieslosetheweight.com

Lose Your "Lies" and Lose Your Weight

2007-03-21T04:48:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the first installment of the Lose the Lies Lose the Weight Blog!

Dear Reader,

Have you ever noticed those unbelievably fit men and women and wondered how they do it? Well, here's your chance to learn how fit people think, eat, move, and live. This new Lose the Lies Lose the Weight blog will teach you the fitness lifestyle so weight loss and body shaping success will come naturally for you!

Since this is our first issue, I will provide my background on my weight loss struggle and how I became so interested in helping others beat their weight battles.

When I was 15 years old, my parents retired from their North Dakota farm and moved to the city. Within three months, I gained 25 pounds and the adjective chubby with my new citified, sedentary lifestyle.

My weight-loss battle began, using weapons ranging from fasting and over-the-counter diet pills to sporadic exercise. Nothing worked.

Fast forward to today. I am a 42-year-old mother of two sporting a six-pack on the cover of my just released book, Lose the Lies Lose the Weight, which explains how I did it and how you can too.

I started winning the battle of the bulge in my junior year at Minnesota State University, Moorhead. My turnaround came on like an epiphany. I did some math. I realized if I kept gaining five pounds a year, I would weigh 175 pounds at 30, 225 pounds at 40, and 275 pounds at 50. Putting my self-doubts aside, I joined a health club in Fargo the next day. In March of 1987, I began living the fitness lifestyle.

Your mindset, getting ready to succeed, is an important part of getting fit. Many fitness authors do not prepare you for the psychological challenges you will face as you strive to get in shape. In the first six chapters of Lose the Lies, Lose the Weight, I teach you how to get mentally prepared to win at weight loss.

In Lose the Lies Lose the Weight, http://www.losethelieslosetheweight.com, I destroy the weight loss lies such as (Everyone gains weight as they get older) and (You will never look the same after having kids.) I also identify 10 destructive lies people tell themselves, six manipulative lies they hear from others, four nutrition and two exercise lies.

Getting fit requires honesty with yourself (no lies, no excuses) knowledge, discipline, and motivation. In each blog post, I will share my knowledge so you will be able to get in the best shape of your entire life. I am looking forward to helping you achieve your fitness goals.

Yours in good health,
Laurie Bell

P.S. Check out our new website just launched on March 18! We offer great tips and insights, including free workout plans and free weight loss book excerpts! http://www.losethelieslosetheweight.com