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Flat Belly Diet
The Flat Belly Diet is written by two editors from Prevention magazine. Liz Vaccariello and Cynthia Sass have modeled their diet around a traditional Mediterranean diet.
The book is available for $25.95 . There is also a cookbook for $27.95.
The diet claims that – not only will the scales go down – but “[...] it targets the second type of fat–visceral–which is much more dangerous and difficult to lose”.
Diet Basics
The Flat Belly Diet is based on monounsaturated fats (also called MUFA: Monounsaturated Fatty Acids). Every meal should have a MUFA component (that ideally replaces the saturated fat content).
Meal plans are set at 1600 Calories per day.
Look for low Calorie meal ideas here.
Recommended Foods Containing MUFAs
- Oils
Canola oil, flaxseed oil, olive oil, peanut oil, pesto sauce, safflower oil, sesame oil, soybean oil, sunflower oil, walnut oil. - Nuts and Seeds
Almonds, almond butter, Brazil nuts, cashew butter, chunky natural peanut butter, dry-roasted cashews, dry-roasted peanuts, dry-roasted sunflower seeds, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios, roasted pumpkin seeds, smooth natural peanut butter, sunflower seeds, sunflower seed butter, tahini (sesame seed paste), walnuts. - Olives
- Dark Chocolate
The rest of the diet is very similar to a Mediterranean diet:
- Fruit (in season)
- Vegetables (in season)
- Whole grains
- Limited red meat intake
Exercise
The program recommends exercise – and provides a series of cardio workouts, and full body resistance training exercises. However the marketing of the diet claims “no exercise required”.
These exercises could be used with the Flat Belly Diet.
Overall
The marketing claims surrounding the Flat Belly Diet are excessive at best, and false at worse. Example: Targets unhealthy belly fat first!, Lose up to 7 lbs and 5 3/4 inches in just 96 hours!, Zero Exercise Required! Eat the foods you love and never go hungry.
This market-speak is simply designed to sell product – without any firm evidence to back it up.
However, there is research backing up the claims made about MUFAs. In a number of studies it has been shown that replacing saturated fats in the diet with monounsaturated fats results in a small weight loss, and an improved cholesterol profile.
Provided the marketing material is not taken too seriously, this is a healthy diet, and, when followed will probably result in weight loss. The claim that it will specifically target visceral belly fat seems to have little basis in research however.
References
- Substitution of saturated with monounsaturated fat in a 4-week diet affects body weight and composition of overweight and obese men, British Journal of Nutrition, Vol 90 Issue 3 Sep 2003. Piers et al.
- Cholesterol reduction using manufactured foods high in monounsaturated fatty acids: a randomized crossover study, British Journal of Nutrition, Vol 81 Issue 6 Jun 1999. Williams et al.
Stoni: i too was a very heavy coffee drinker. i reduced myself each day by one less cup per day until i was down to one. i did not suffer withdrawal from it by weaning myself off. give it a try.
I am a 45year old male, 5’11. Started the diet on Lent(started at 220 and currently 200), i gave up all meat and fried foods. For exercise i did cardio. A lot of it, minimum 2x a day-45minutes per. walking on a treadmill, recumbent bike, stationary bike, ellyptical trainer. usually 15 minutes per a machine until i hit 45minutes. All i ate was highfiber oatmeal, cup of fruit(canned without the syrup) for breakfast, steamed vegatables for lunch(equivalent of 5 servings per day), for dinner 1-2 salmon burgers. For snacks in between meals, it was 1 serving of walnuts, almonds,pistacchios, table spoon of olive oil, and serving of dark chocolate. When i wanted something sweet it was no fat strawberry yogurt. So when Lent was over i celebrated and had grilled chicken pasta. When i hit 200, i had fried catfish. I will only eat fried foods maybe 2x a month(catfish). Still wont eat redmeat, but a grilled porkchops once a month now i celebrate my weight loss goals. Eventually i want to get to 185, i can honestly say it works for me. My cardio is good, i can run for 30minutes straight on a treadmill at 6.5mph. My stomach is flatter to the point where i believe a 6pack abs is attainable. My waist is smaller than my size 36 jeans, I can start to see the indents. So i will continue, no meat, taking my lunch to work saves me money from eating out. When i do eat out, i eat what i want. I am going to continue until i get the 6pack and meet my weight goal of 185.
Are you able to have ANY kind of small amount of coffee on the 4 day anti bloat? I am worried about caffeine withdraw as I am a big coffee drinker and want to make sure this transition is a smooth one, also what about alcohol after the 4 day anti bloat? What is the best alcohol to have after the 4 day
actually i have to reduce upto30kgs so plz guide me
@ken, send them the money and they’ll send you the book.
Please send me the book!!
i have a book & would like to order another
I am trying to find where I ordered “Fat Loss Shortcut”. Can you give me the e-mail address? I need to cancel one part.
My belly not so big but, i want it flat as a pancake the way it used to be! =]
Is wine allowed on the flat belly diet? And if so how much? While I’m at it is any other alcohol allowed?
Thanks
i am 35 yrs woman.my weight 50 kg.i want 5 kg down.i have
a problem belly fat.pls help me.i want a diet that easy to follow.
I tried the Flat Belly Diet and stuck with it for about 8 months (then I got pregnant…lol…) and I lost 43 pounds on it! I lost 6 pounds the first week alone! It is this diet’s simplicity that attracted me to it… If you follow the diet’s instructions and get a bit exercise as well, it should work for you too. Here is the biggest reason why most diets don’t work – we think of them as DIETS! Make the Flat Belly Diet food your LIFESTYLE – don’t be on a DIET but have a HEALTHY diet. Eat healthy and be healhy… It’s common sense, really…
I have some questions about the 4 day jumpstart diet and am not able to find the answers in your book. Could you give me an email address I can direct these questions to you, or better still a phone number that I can speak to someone.
Thank you.