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Live extra lean. Transform your body for life. And never feel bad about food again. As one of today's most beloved personalities on TV and hailed by Peopleas the country's hottest bachelor, Mario Lopez is arguably known as much for his glowing personality as he is for his rock-hard abs. In his first diet book, Extra Lean, Lopez imparts his fool-proof plan for permanent weight loss while eliminating the guilt from enjoying the foods you love. The Extra Leanplan trains your body to constantly burn fat by following three simple steps: 1) Balance your daily intake of carbs, protein and fat 2) Practice proper portion control and 3) Eat frequently throughout the day. Along with health physiologist and personal trainer, Jimmy Peña, and renowned nutritionist, Dana Angelo White, Mario clearly identifies optimal combinations of daily nutrients, transformative eating habits and invigorating mental conditioning tools that will truly redefine your approach to food. By following this plan, your metabolism will become a fat-burning machine allowing you to splurge on special days, weekends or vacations with little to no effect on the scale. With over 40 delicious and easy-to-follow recipes and a seven-week meal plan, Extra Lean is the complete program to change your body and the way you eat for life.

Mario Lopez is currently the host of the long-running entertainment program Extra, and Randy Jackson Presents America's Best Dance Crew. In 2008, People named him "Sexiest Bachelor", and he competed as one of America's favorite contestants in Dancing with the Stars and debuted on Broadway in A Chorus Line.

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Introduction: Live extra lean

I love food. I love taking care of my body. I enjoy life to the fullest. I live extra lean.

When you live extra lean, the results are happiness and health. Through this proven plan, I’ll teach you how to get the body you’ve always wanted and remove the guilt from eating the foods you love to enjoy.

Extra lean is the conditioning to make your body continuously burn fat, while enjoying food even more than ever. This approach teaches you to be smart when it comes to eating, so that you can truly appreciate what it means to live a fulfilling and energetic life. There are three key components in training your body to become extra lean. It is vital to follow these three simple rules to get your body to become a strong, efficient, and healthy fat-burning machine:

Balance your daily intake of carbs, protein, and fat

Practice proper portion control

Eat frequently throughout the day

Balancing your daily intake of carbs, protein, and fat is the first, and possibly most important, rule because it requires you to consume the basic nutrients necessary for your body to operate at its best. I’m all about balance, so I never cut any of these out of my meals or snacks. There are specific ratios of each nutrient that your body needs daily and, if you follow them properly, you can reach a level of efficiency that will allow you to eat whatever you want. This book simplifies the ratios of these nutrients so that you are able to know when you’ve reached your balance at every meal. It also provides knowledge about fundamental nutrition and an informative run-through on which types of carbs, proteins, and fats are healthiest and best for your body. Of course, focusing on whole, nonprocessed foods is a crucial component. Finally, this book introduces you to an array of incredible foods that are both delicious and great for your body.

Practicing proper portion control is knowing when to stop eating and understanding how much you should be eating. The key is to monitor your serving sizes. And the basic logic is that if there’s less on your plate, you will eat less. First you have to redefine your “normal” serving size. Once you do, your mind and body will recondition themselves, allowing you to feel full and satisfied with the “right” amount of food. Also, learning your limits when it comes to the amount of food you eat will especially help in balancing all the types of foods you crave. Portion control is the most powerful tool in eliminating guilt.

Eating frequently throughout the day allows you to better control your portions and speeds up your metabolism, making your body burn more of the unwanted fat and calories instead of storing them. As you practice this rule you may be feeling that eating more often is slowing down your weight loss, but it is actually speeding up your metabolism. Think of your metabolism as a furnace. In order to keep the fire burning, you have to constantly put something in there to maintain the heat. The same is true for your metabolism. You have to eat throughout the day in order for it to keep burning the fat. Doing so will help you lose weight more quickly and keep you feeling full and satisfied.

Following these three rules is all you need to maintain your weight and to burn fat daily. The reason being is that all three combined help you focus on what is most important when it comes to food and weight loss. This way of eating will jump-start a healthy lifestyle and in turn you’ll have more freedom to eat whatever you want. I love food and that even includes a cheeseburger and fries from time to time. My entire life has been about living extra lean and that’s allowed me to always enjoy food.

My life in the Lopez household always revolved around food. Cooking meals and eating right are how my mom and my sister showed me love and affection. Food was such a big part of our lives and we always tried to eat as a family. And despite my busy lifestyle and career and frequent traveling, I always look forward to and make time for meals, especially those with my mom and sister.