Ladies’ Home Journal Exclusive: How Maria Menounos Dropped 40 Pounds!

Maria Menounos covers the April issue of Ladies’ Home Journal and shares an exclusive excerpt from her upcoming book The Everygirl’s Guide to Diet and Fitness: How I Lost 40 Lbs and Kept It Off – and How You Can Too!

After gaining 40 pounds in college, the Extra co-host slimmed down, but struggled while living off a diet of junk food that kept her in and out of the hospital for exhaustion, malnutrition and dehydration. Today, Maria has found her way to a strong and fit body through interviewing the world’s leading diet, fitness and health experts, combining their advice to keep the excess weight off for good.

Here are 3 of Maria’s diet and fitness tips as featured in LHJ’s April issue:

Step 1: Set a Deadline

You can’t just say, “I want to lose weight…someday.” It’s that kind of loose talk, without a guideline, that discourages you from getting started and undermines success. My goal was to stop overeating, make healthier choices and lose weight slowly over the course of one year. Trying to rush or do crazy crash diets does not give you sustainable results. And I never focused on losing a specific number of pounds. I just knew by the end of a year I wanted to look and feel great, whatever my weight was.

Step 2: Keep It to Yourself

When you tell others you’re trying to lose weight, you’re just putting pressure on yourself. Weight loss is tough enough – why make it any harder?

Step 3: Tie It to an Event

If you have a specific event in mind, it gives you extra motivation. Maybe you want to get in shape for an upcoming class or family reunion. Maybe you’re going on vacation or just want to look good on the beach in the summer. My event was the Miss Massachusetts USA Beauty Pageant. I knew there was a swimsuit portion of the show and if I was going to be in a bathing suit in from of thousands of people, I wanted to be in the best possible shape.

I really like all three of Maria's tips {especially number 2!} and plan on incorporating them in my life to help me achieve my fitness and weight loss goals. I'm really looking forward to her book - I'll definitely be purchasing it! If you're a fan of Maria's you can find an exclusive clip from her new reality show, Chasing Maria Menounos, here on LHJ.com. Until next time...