Diets are not my thing. I’m a picky eater with some dietary restrictions, and most diets out there are heavy with foods that I either can’t stomach or don’t like. This makes sticking to these diets hard. Add to that my own concerns about the healthfulness of restricting certain foods and eating more of others, and you’ve got a recipe for a Grade-A skeptic and the perfect person to review The Flat Belly Diet by Prevention magazine Editor-in-Chief, Liz Vaccariello, and nutritionist Cynthia Sass, right?
It seems there are a million ideas and plans out there to help people lose weight. While most are backed up with scientific evidence and logical theories as to why they contribute to slenderizing your body, choosing one that you can live with can be a challenge. When I first heard about this diet book that specifically targets belly fat, I thought, “Sure it can,” in my usual sarcastic inner monologue. Then I found out who developed the diet and the studies behind it, and thought it was at least worth investigating further.
The idea is simple. You reduce calories and add a serving of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) to every meal. These include nuts (peanuts, cashews, pine nuts, etc.), healthy oils, avocados, dark chocolate, and other foods that are not usually recommended for most other diet programs. These work together in small servings with other foods to keep you full and energized throughout the day. The plan is designed so you eat every four hours, totaling four meals at 400 calories apiece.
The inclusion of MUFAs at every meal is what helps facilitate the removal of belly fat. This fatty acid has been shown to help prevent the accumulation of fat in this area and aid in removing what is already there. This, coupled with the overall decrease in calories, makes this plan very logical to my skeptic’s mindset.
The book itself is on par with most other diet books out there. The first part introduces the reason the diet was created, why it’s important to target this area, and then how the diet works in both scientific and layman’s terms. There are great explanations about the dangers of belly fat, how MUFAs work and all sorts of other tidbits about how the mind and body work together in the weight loss journey.
Article comments
1 - sidder
a good a tip is to eat small meals of 300 calories each 3 to 5 times a day.