Maria Menounos never had a weight problem until 15 years ago, when the then 17-year-old gained the freshman 40 (nearly three times what most freshmen gain). Maria realized she had a problem when her relatives began making unflattering comments such as "You want to be on TV looking like that?"
In other words, if the former Miss Massachusetts Teen USA didn't get back to pageant weight, her career was past! Unfortunately, her immediate solution, reaching for comfort food to deal with the discomfort of the situation, only made things worse.
For those who are not familiar with Maria Menounos, it has to be mentioned that Maria not only made it to the little screen ( she's a correspondent for "Access Hollywood" and "Today") , she's taken to the big screen in movies like "The Fantastic Four."That's quite an accomplishment!
Looking back, Menounos reveals her weight problem sprouted in high school when she got a job at Dunkin' Donuts, but really blossomed in college.
"The problem was I grew up eating super-healthy,"Maria explains. "My dad had Type I diabetes, and we never had sweets in the house."
Menounos took control of her eating when she started paying closer attention to portion sizes. That and her other winning weight-loss strategies are surely no secret( they're all over the media ) but here's her secret in a nutshell: no foods are off limits as long as you feed yourself a steady, but modest diet of nutritious, delicious food.
Maria Menounos explains in her book (it became a bestseller!) how she got back to a healthy 125-130 pounds by setting goals, keeping food logs and celebrating successes.
"Love your body," Maria claims. "Focus on your health, not your body's flaws!"
"It's not about being skinny, it's about being healthy!" Maria adds.
The question is:" How Maria Menounos managed to go from from a size 14 college student to the size 4 television personality she is today?"
Answer: Chili peppers, hot sauce, vinegar, grapefruit and lots of water.
In the Fitness magazine article, Menounos, a former Miss Massachusetts Teen USA, stated she started gaining weight when she went away to Emerson College in Boston. Highly competitive, she challenged boys to eating contests and fell into a high-carb "dorm diet" built around popular college food groups: pizza and French fries.
Within two years, Menounos had gained 40 pounds. Pictures of her from that time show a young woman with a full figure, but hardly what anyone would call fat. Still, the weight felt uncomfortable on Menounos’ 5-foot-8 frame. She also knew that she wanted to enter into the entertainment business.
"All it really took was a dedication to making better choices," Maria Menounos quoted as saying. "I didn’t consider myself to be on a diet. I never thought about a diet. I never weighed myself. I just started to cut back on everything that I was eating that was bad."
Just to mention that Maria Menounos lost the first 20 pounds in about five months all by herself!
"I worked on everything I ate for a week – every single thing," Maria explained. "I realized, "OK, my problem is carbs." So I started to cut back on my carbs and started replacing (them) with better food. I ate a grapefruit in the morning. I had heard that grapefruit burns fat, so it was the first thing I would eat. I ate a lot of spicy peppers and jalapenos and a lot of vinegar, which I already loved anyhow, because I also heard that burns fat."
It is well known that chili peppers and spicy food actually contain a component called capsaicin, which is found to suppress appetite and actually boost your metabolism so you burn more calories. Though grapefruit doesn’t actually burn fat, it contains a lot of water, which tends to fill you up so you aren’t as hungry.
The other smart thing Menounos did was to keep a gallon of drinking water with slices of fresh lemon in it in the refrigerator. Often, when people think they’re hungry, they’re really just thirsty. Drinking plenty of water fills the stomach. So, you don't feel hungry.
Another great thing about drinking plenty of water is that you don’t get used to drinking diet soda and soft drinks, because then you actually get used to that sugary taste and then your body starts craving those sugary calories.
After losing the first 20 pounds, Menounos realized she needed help from an expert to get the next 20 off. So, she paid $55 for one session with a personal trainer, who gave her a thrice-weekly workout routine that included both strength and cardiovascular exercises.
"Additionally, she runs on the treadmill, plays basketball with the Access Hollywood crew and works out with a trainer when she's home and does squats when she's on the phone," according to Fitness magazine.
Menounos revealed that she doesn’t deny herself treats. But when she indulges, she makes up for it.
"I think it’s a balance," Maria declared. "I definitely don’t deprive myself. I eat whatever I want, but in smaller portions. Then if I have a bad weekend, like I did this weekend, I’m going to make sure that the rest of this week I have fresh salads with fresh chicken on it — very healthy choices."
"So I get to eat what I want, but when I have what I want and it’s not good, I make sure I make some better choices for the next couple days." Maria added.
Maria Menounos , apart from eating healthily, she also works out a lot!
"I hired her ( personal trainer ) for one session, and she wrote out for me a general circuit program of jump rope, steps, push-ups, sit-ups, squats, and lunges," Menounos declares, who also put in up to 45 minutes four times a week on the elliptical. "In fact, I still have the piece of paper in case I ever regain the weight."
It has to be mentioned that Maria Menounos recently took up Krav Maga, an Israeli martial art. "I started it last year when I was preparing to go to Iraq. I wanted to be able to defend myself if I needed to, God forbid," Menounos claims. "But what I found was that it's the best overall workout I've ever experienced. It's cardio. It's strength. It's reflexes. It's everything."
Additionally, Maria runs on the treadmill, plays basketball with the Access Hollywood gang, works out with a trainer when she's home, and does squats when she's on the phone. "I squeeze things in every which way I can," Maria says.
"I eat a lot of chicken and tuna wraps, which are pretty quick to prepare. But when I have no time, I'll grab a slice of pizza," Maria Menounos reveals.
"If I indulge, though, I'll balance things out by switching to salad and fruit for the next meal." Maria adds.
"I've started drinking hot water all day, and I've lost about 12 pounds. It's detoxifying, it helps you digest and it curbs your appetite." Maria reveals.
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