Reviewer: Lynda Keating
The name of the program is the goal of just about every overweight person on the planet – Get Lean!
The sales page promises a flexible, easy and healthy way to lose weight fast, with pictures of it’s creator Belinda Benn showing just what’s possible if you follow her exercise and nutrition program.
But, who is Belinda Benn and why is her program any different to the dozens of others that make similar promises.
More importantly, is Get Lean the weight loss plan that is finally going to help you shift those unwanted pounds and get healthy?
Get Lean With Belinda Benn
They say a picture paints a thousand words and a quick look at the before and after images of Belinda Benn on the Get Lean sales page will tell you quite a bit about her, as well as what she’s been able to achieve thanks to the program she has developed.
From an overweight 37 year old executive that hadn’t done any exercise in her life, she transformed herself into an international fitness model, and achieved the kind of look and lifestyle that most of us would love to have.
Of course, while some of us might be in the same position Belinda was, we might look at this kind of transformation and think that it’s beyond our reach. Belinda is the first to admit that she experienced a ‘total life revolution’, but she’s also very quick to point out that the Get Lean program, which is designed for both men and women, has been put together in such a way that, with a bit of effort, pretty much anyone can achieve the same.
What’s In The Get Lean Program?
When you first sign up there seems to be a lot of information to download. However, Get Lean isn’t like numerous other diet programs which tend to give you information overload and expect you to be able to adopt a totally new exercise and eating regime overnight.
Get Lean appreciates that no matter how committed you might be to losing weight and getting fit, the kind of lifestyle change that you’re looking for requires a lot of advice and information, but everything is laid out in a sensible and easy to follow way, with the different guides working very well together.
There’s even a useful 6 step guide that directs you to the specific parts of the program that are most important, for those who want to get started right away.
You’ll find a beautifully presented PDF of the Get Lean program itself, which sets out Belinda’s philosophy and talks about the various aspects of your life that can have an impact on whether or not you’ll achieve your weight loss and fitness goals, as well as what you need to do to give yourself the best chance of success.
This PDF contains your Get Lean Nutrition Guide, which has recipes and menus for each of the 90 days in the program, all put together in a simple and easy to follow format that allows you to track your progress day by day.
The recipes are delicious, and very easy to follow. You don’t even have to worry about making shopping lists, Belinda does that for you. And, get ready to be just as impressed when you open up the Get Lean Celebration Cookbook. In this 143 page cookbook Belinda gives you menus, recipes, and the shopping lists for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter etc. Who says you have to starve yourself to lose weight? Not Belinda that’s for sure!
You also get her 6 week fat-burning workout program. This has been designed to stimulate your fat burning metabolism, as well as tone up specific muscles that will help to improve your overall body shape. Toning the right muscles and burning body fat is the most effective way to deliver the kind of improvements in your body shape that you’re looking for.
In addition to the fat-burning exercise plan there are further guides on how to get the one thing that most of us trying to lose weight crave – a flat stomach. With a guide on how to get a flat belly fast, and an exercise program that specifically targets your abs, these are a great addition to the exercise and nutrition program.
To complement all of the written guides in the program, there is also an inspirational audio file for you to listen to. In this, Belinda outlines why Get Lean is more than just a diet and exercise plan and how, if you follow the steps that she lays out, the mental exercises she gives you can be just as effective as the physical ones. I found Belinda’s voice and the background music very soothing and easy to listen to. It runs for about 17 minutes.
The Pros and Cons of Get Lean
Perhaps one of the most appealing aspects of the Get Lean program is the approach it takes to the mental aspect of weight loss – in terms of how you feel about your body and your attitude towards a better diet and more exercise.
Belinda highlights the fact that your thoughts and mental attitude play a huge part in how successful you are going to be in achieving the body you want. For most people this path to success starts with reprogramming the way they think.
Get Lean seems to be one of the few weight loss programs that considers the mental side of healthier living, rather than just the physical side. Belinda explains the relationship between your thinking and whether you are happy with how you look, as well as what you need to do to improve this. There is a strong focus on developing a positive mental attitude, and believing in yourself so that your mind is working with you, not against you.
Developing a positive focus and overcoming negative thoughts and feelings about previous weight loss mistakes will dramatically increase your success on the program. The key message is that, it doesn’t matter how many times you might have tried to lose weight and failed in the past, don’t beat yourself up about it; following the Get Lean program with a renewed focus on the positive, and using recognized self-improvement techniques like positive thinking, goal-setting and visualization, will help you to succeed this time.
As well as mental support to help you achieve your goals, there is also a lot of physical support. When you sign up you are given a priority e-mail address to use if you have any questions, or want to get in touch with Belinda. You are also enrolled in her 12 week follow up support program – helping you through the first few weeks as you get used to your new way of life.
Get Lean is a flexible approach to losing weight and as well as the standard 90 day program for you to follow, if you’re new to losing weight, worried about your will power, or simply want a more balanced approach, there is a more flexible 6 week option that should still leave you looking leaner and feeling fitter.
On the downside, you’ll still need will power and be prepared to work. After all, if you could get the body you want by simply sitting back and taking it easy, we’d all look great and there’d be no need for programs like Get Lean. But, Belinda promises that the effort you put in will be worth it once you start seeing the results; and her weekly support via e-mail will help those who need a little more encouragement and motivation.
As I mentioned at the beginning there is a fair bit to download, but it doesn’t take long and I didn’t have any problems. If you do, don’t worry, Belinda will help you. There’s only two files to unzip, the Think Lean audio file and the other free gift you receive, the motivational wallpapers, which I have to say are absolutely stunning! *See below. The sales page says you get 6 wallpapers, but you actually get 12. This was the only mistake I found, and not a bad one considering you get more than what’s advertised!
Why This Program Might Be Right For You
Get Lean doesn’t take a one size fits all approach. Rather than simply telling you what to eat and how to exercise, Belinda appreciates that everyone is different and is going to have different goals when it comes to their weight loss.
The program gets you to focus on where you are now, and where you want to get to – providing the guidance and information you need to set realistic goals that are individual to you.
Whatever you want in life, setting short, medium and long term goals, and rewarding yourself when you achieve them, has been proven to dramatically increase your chances of success, and by harnessing this potential, the Get Lean program helps you to develop the right mental approach to losing weight and getting healthy.
And The Verdict Is….
The Get Lean program is promoted as an effective and healthy way to lose weight quickly, but it is in a completely different class to the large number of ‘quick fix’ crash diets that make similar promises.
Rather than simply presenting you with the diet you need to eat and the exercises you need to do to lose weight, the program’s approach is more a re-education about the kind of things you need to do to enjoy a healthier lifestyle.
Belinda treats this as a journey…an enjoyable journey.
She outlines what you can expect from the different stages of the 3 month program, and the kind of changes you should look at making to your lifestyle in order to achieve your new weight loss goals.
Overall, the program provides a thoroughly enjoyable and comprehensive approach to developing healthier habits, with excellent advice on a wide variety of topics, from the most effective types of exercise and how to avoid the most common diet pitfalls, to the right kind of natural supplements to take and the best ways to cook your food.
Belinda Benn’s Get Lean is one of a new generation of weight loss programs that takes a more holistic and positive approach to getting in shape and feeling great.
Rather than the ‘no pain, no gain’ approach of so many programs, that often leads to guilt and ultimately resentment when you fail, this program takes a sensible approach, one that is very positive and empowering.
You really feel that, no matter who you are or how you’ve failed to lose weight in the past, Belinda truly believes in you and that with the help of her Get Lean program you really can finally achieve the body and lifestyle you’ve been longing for. After all, she did.
