Stephen Fry: audiobooks helped him lose 80 lbs in six months

How audiobooks can help you lose weight -- for less than $10 a month!

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Stephen Fry isn't a household name in America, but in Britain, he's a major star.

Fry, 51, performs regularly on stage and screen, is a game show host, a bestselling author -- and one of the most popular people on Twitter, with thousands of loyal followers.

At 6', 5", Fry is a big star in more ways than one.

But like lots of middle aged people, he started to pack on the pounds.

At first, he could brush it off; after all, they say the camera adds ten pounds.

Soon, however, Fry realized he had ballooned to almost 300 pounds. He had to do something.

In a recent article for a British newspaper, Stephen Fry gave out his diet and exercise secrets. He started by cutting out bread and sugars, and later he gave up red meat.

He lost about 80 pounds in six months.

Fry also revealed something that really struck home with me. As he told the interviewer:

'I never thought I would say this, but I genuinely enjoy going to the gym. I spent years mocking them, but now I'm one of the converts.

'What has helped enormously has been the audio books I listen to while I'm walking. I've written myself a list of great novels and am slowly working my way through them.

'At the moment it's Tim West reading Anthony Trollope. It's sheer pleasure, and largely uninterrupted. I've discovered that wearing white earphones means that people can see what I'm doing and usually don't disturb me.'

Like Fry, I've also found that listening to audiobooks (or, "talking books") on the treadmill has made a big difference.

I've lost a couple of dress sizes over the last few months, and that's part of the reason why.

I don't know about you, but I hate to think I'm wasting my time. And that's how I felt when I was on the treadmill. After about five minutes, I'd think: "I could be cleaning the house right now" or "I should send that important email to my client."

So I cut my workout short.

But then, I felt guilty for doing that. AND for wasting my money on that gym membership or on buying my own treadmill.

It was a cycle of frustration and guilt. And that's not a recipe for weight loss success.

When I joined an audiobook book club, my workouts changed for the better.

I started listening to books using my iPod while I walked on the treadmill, and immediately got a new attitude and outlook.

I told myself I was "multi-tasking", not wasting time!

If I listened to books by business gurus (and there are lots of those available), I'd joke to myself that I was "getting my MBA" while I worked out.

And if I listened to classic fiction or the latest bestsellers (and there are thousands of those to choose from, too) -- well, I was "exercising my mind AND body"!

I've been a member of Audible.com for a few years now. That's where I get my talking books and they have lots to choose from.

The price is decent -- certainly compared to the cost of a new hardcover book.

Audible.com has all the latest books (about 60,000 different titles) for only about $8 each.

Or like me, you can get an annual membership that works out to a few dollars a month, and build up points for free talking books, and get other bonuses.

You just download the audio file to your computer, then transfer it to your iPod or other mp3 player -- Audible.com books are compatible with all the major models out there.

You can even listen to audio books using your Blackberry.

So that's my story (and Stephen Fry's). Nothing really earth shattering, just common sense.

Combining Audible.com talking books with my treadmill workouts has made all the difference in the weight loss results I saw.

CLICK HERE to check out the options at Audible.com --and even get a couple of FREE audiobooks to try out.

(You can try out Audible.com F-R-E-E for two weeks -- and yes, you can keep the books you downloaded, of course!)