News, Recipes & Workouts — lean protein
Getting Back On Track With Your Weight Loss
When it comes to weight loss, "tomorrow" is the most dangerous word in the English language. If you're serious about losing weight, and not seeing the results you'd like, it's time to stop living the way you've been living. The price you pay is very high for the cheap thrill that food gives you. In the end, it might even cost you your health. How you're living today directly affects your tomorrow. So, what will you do differently?
I receive emails seeking advice, all too often, from people with a habit of doing a week or two of strict, metabolic boosting eating and then falling off the weight loss wagon into a pile of cookies or store-bought protein bars. They want to know what they can do to stick to the plan, or should they even try. The first thing I tell them is the reason most people fall is that they think they need to be perfect with their eating. It's important to understand that perfection does not exist.
Most of us fall because we become too legalistic about our diets. Rather, our diets should be treated as a habit of making better choices, requiring us to decide what our actions will be. This makes us responsible for our actions, and the outcomes.
You know the old saying; "If you keep doing what you've always done you'll just keep getting the same results. To expect anything different is the very definition of insanity." Quite honestly, there is a lot of insanity surrounding the foods that will keep you from reaching your goals.
Have you ever told yourself; "I'll just have a little"? Sorry to say it, but that little bit is what's stopping you from reaching your goals.
It's at these very times to remind yourself that perfection does not exist. Focus on daily progress, not daily perfection. You have more control than you think when it comes to making food choices. But if you keep falling off the wagon, it's possible you may need a few tools to help keep you on track.
These tools make losing weight faster and easier because they:
- Help kill hunger and cravings that cause you to fall off-plan
- Boost metabolism by 25 percent, so you burn more calories all day long, even while asleep. This is especially important when you decide to go off-plan because it will help keep you from gaining weight.
- Block cortisol (stress hormones) levels from rising, which helps prevent weight gain in the belly, hips, and thighs. Blocking cortisol is more important than you think. Stress causes your body to produce excess cortisol levels, and the only way to melt belly fat is by reducing these levels. It's not an easy job and the very reason you need to attack belly fat with a 1, 2, 3 punch.
STEP #1: BOOST METABOLISM AND BLOCK CORTISOL LEVELS
Looking for a delicious shake recipe that will not only tantalize your taste buds but rev up your metabolism as well? Look no further — here's my Melt Belly Fat Birthday Cake Smoothie:
STEP #2: KILL HUNGER AND CRAVINGS
Here is your supplement stack:
- LynFit Accelerator with Raspberry Ketones to accelerate the process and trick your body into acting like a thin person. A lean person will burn fat more efficiently. (If you're highly sensitive to caffeine you may want to skip the Accelerator. The stack will still give you what you need, so follow the steps without Accelerator.)
- LynFit Carb Edge with Forskolin to help enhance thyroid function and balance blood sugar levels, which is the secret to killing your cravings and managing hunger.
- LynFit Cutting Edge to force your body to burn off that stubborn body fat for fuel.
STEP #3: AVOID THE AFTERNOON ENERGY CRASH TO ESCAPE CRAVINGS BEFORE THEY BEGIN
Should you find yourself unable to suppress the urge to eat junk food, adopt the 80/20 rule. You're already following it; you just don't know it.
For the most part, you're eating your favorite foods every couple of weeks — it's inevitable. It's going to happen, and you should expect it. So, the best solution is to plan it ahead of time. If you plan for it ahead of time, you can cheat and still lose weight. Have a little pep talk with yourself. Sit down and tell yourself to try the 80/20 plan.
On the Advanced Metabolic Boosting Meal Plan, you can eat on plan 80 percent of the time and go off the plan 20 percent of the time and still lose weight. That's the beauty of this plan. In fact, this is the only plan that takes into consideration that you live in the real world, you're human, and that you cheat once in a while.
Planning in advance when you cheat also puts you in control of the binge vs. the binge controlling you. It also changes how you emotionally respond to a binge—no guilt, because it's all a part of your weight loss plan. You'll accept the situation, not struggle in vain against it. You'll eat less and know exactly what to eat, and how much. The scale will go up slightly, but you'll be back on track in no time.
Although there are physiological consequences to binging on junk food, I'd wager that most of the damage comes from the stress we inflict on ourselves—the internal fight and refusal, which only causes us to binge more. The refusal to accept the inevitable situation, combined with the guilt and shame you're piling on yourself for losing that fight.
Here's what the 80/20 plan get you: Acceptance! You learn to accept things you cannot change. You're no longer fighting a battle you most likely cannot win.
I can't think of anything harder or more stressful than struggling with food. I've struggled with it my entire life until I learned about the 80/20 rule.
You can live guilt-free. Guilt about eating junk food can actually cause you to gain weight and depress your immune system. By making a plan to "go off" for a meal as an occasional (1–2 times weekly) deviation from your regular schedule, rather than betraying your body, you remove the guilt. Make a plan, if you plan on losing.
I would encourage you to read this article I wrote previously about how to cheat and still lose weight to keep your metabolism in full swing, and how if you don't, it can alter the physiological effect it has on you.
As Kelly Clarkson says in her song: "Think Before You Cheat" so you don't hurt your health or destroy a month's worth of dieting. Most of the time it's not worth it anyway.
So, eat happily, just don't' forget to boost first!
- Lisa Lynn
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It's Time For A Refrigerator Makeover
According to government data, 64 percent of people are overweight or obese, which is defined as being 30 or more pounds over a healthy weight. If you're one of those people, and you're trying to lose weight, the first place you think of heading is to the gym, right? Wrong. Your weight loss journey begins with what you keep in your house. Let's bring it right on home — it's what you keep in your refrigerator. It's time for a refrigerator makeover!
Taking control of your weight starts with taking control over what you eat, and that begins with what you keep in your refrigerator. Studies prove that people eat what is in their immediate environment so it's critical that we fill our refrigerators with the kinds of food that support weight loss goals. Avoid temptation by not keeping the wrong types of food in your house.
In fact, you can actually set yourself up for success by strategically arranging your refrigerator so the foods you should be eating are staring you in the face every time you open the door. Weight loss is 90 percent diet so what you eat matters more than how much you work out. That's why it's so important to arrange your refrigerator this particular way. It's all about having healthy replacements for the foods we love.
First, focus on foods that promote weight loss that you can eat more of. There are specific foods you can eat, called thermogenic, meaning they heat up your metabolism. You'll burn more calories all day long. Thermogenic foods also:
- Re-calibrate your appetite
- Switch off hunger cravings
- Lower blood sugar levels while boosting health
LEVEL ONE: Eye Level — It's all about hydration
Remove the diet disasters: Juice (this includes all vegetable juices) and those so-called healthy milks (soy, coconut, all creamers).
Replace with metabolic boosters instead: Water (try bubbly zero-calorie waters), Iced Green Tea, and instead of milk use Melt Fat Milk (pre-made Vanilla Protein Shake that you can use in your coffee).
Hydrating your body can boost metabolism by three percent vs. drinking fluids that add calories. Using Melt Fat Milk can boost your metabolism by 25 percent instead of slowing it down the way coffee creamers can.
LEVEL TWO: Leafy and Low — The leafy green group
This is the food group that none of us eat enough of because it's easier just to grab the wrong foods that make us gain weight.
Remove the diet disasters: Avocado (high-fat), carrots (high-sugar), and tomatoes (technically a high-sugar fruit).
Replace with metabolic boosters instead: Leafy greens, spinach, romaine, and celery (the slimming superstar). Make sure you cut them up as soon as you get home from the store so you can grab-and-go when you feel the need to crunch.
Every time you eat a metabolic boosting vegetable it's like taking a diet pill. Greens have thermic super powers and rev up your metabolism every time you eat them.
LEVEL TWO (B): Low-Sugar Fruits — Not all fruits are created equal
Remove the diet disasters: Bananas and grapes
Replace with metabolic boosters instead: When it comes to choosing a good-for-you fruit, choose fruits that are full of fiber. The higher the fiber the better blood sugar level control. They will also keep you feeling fuller longer. Go for grapefruit (cleanses the liver which is great for weight loss), green apples (burns off hunger hormones), and Kiwi (full of fiber).
LEVEL THREE: Lean Proteins
Remover the diet disasters: Red meat (this includes pork)
Replace with metabolic boosters instead: When it comes to losing weight quickly and lowering cholesterol choose seafood (especially white fish). Seafood can super-charge your metabolism. Seafood contains iodine that helps enhance thyroid function and contains little to no fat. Keep in mind, the lighter and whiter the fish, the better it is for your metabolism. Choose flash-frozen or tuna in foil packets so you'll never run out.