Flat Belly Diet is a diet book by Liz Vaccariello (vice-president and editor-in-chief of Prevention) and Cynthia Sass (Prevention's nutrition director). The book was first published Rodale Books in October 2008.
The authors claim that this diet can help dieters lose 15 pounds in 32 days, as well
as several inches of belly fat, the body fat many experts now claim is
particularly unhealthy fat, especially for women. In only 96 hours a
dieter can lose 7 pounds and over 5 inches. All of this, according to
the book and the advertisements, can be achieved without exercise or
without giving up favorite foods.
There are two parts to the Flat Belly Diet: a four-day jump-start period
that is supposed to flush out the system, followed by a four-week
eating plan. The jump-start phase allows only 1,200 calories a day; the
four-week phase increases calorie intake to 1,600.
The Flat Belly Diet begins with a 4-day jump start, known as the
Anti-Bloat Jumpstart. The first 4 days are the most restrictive of the
diet. The book gives a very specific menu for those 4 days with the
focus on foods the authors claim will immediately relieve “belly bloat”
and prepare the dieter to embark on the regular diet starting on day 5.
One of the major components of the 4-day anti-bloat jump start is
"Sassy Water," named for Cynthia Sass. Followers of the Flat Belly Diet are also told to avoid coffee, tea,
sugar alcohols, and carbonated drinks, and instead drink two liters of
“sassy water” (a mix of ginger root, cucumber, lemon, and mint leaves)
every day.
How to make "sassy water" find in the next article of this app.
After the 4-day anti-bloat part, the dieter begins the real diet
which stresses a MUFA at every meal. MUFAs are mono-unsaturated fats
like those found in some oils like olive oil, some chocolate like
semi-sweet chocolate, some nuts and seeds, olives and avocados. The
authors claim that it’s this regular ingestion of MUFAs that helps
target belly fat and is credited with helping the dieter feel more full
and satisfied after each meal.
By eating MUFAs at every meal, the Flat Belly Diet claims it can flatten your stomach and help you lose belly fat permanently.
Other key principles of the diet include eating 4 meals a day,
instead of three, with the daily calories of about 1600 spread evenly
between the 4 meals, for 400-calorie meals. During the four-week period of the flat belly diet, each meal must have a
MUFA and dieters are told never to go more than four hours without
eating.
While 1600-calories a day is
a standard amount many weight loss diets aim for, the Flat Belly Diet
encourages things most other diet don’t, like including chocolate in
your meal plans to benefit from the MUFAs contained in the chocolate as
well as keeping the dieter from becoming discouraged at the idea of not
being able to enjoy favorite foods like chocolate (and peanut butter,
another high-calorie but MUFA-rich food that’s allowed on the Flat Belly
Diet! and typically left out of other weight loss diets).
Important: Consult your doctor before starting this or any other weight loss program.
Important: Consult your doctor before starting this or any other weight loss program.
