Vaccariello - Flat Belly Diet! Pocket Guide

Prevention readers know a good diet from a fad. They tell me month after month that they like simple instructions, strategies inspired by science, and plans that make logical sense. Most important, they want a diet that will make them healthy and infuse them with energy. Thats why I made sure the Flat Belly Diet was designed by a registered dietitian with more than 15 years of experience helping people change their bodies and their lives with food. Any diet that contains fewer calories than youre used to eating will help you lose weight, but few weight loss diets actually teach you how to eat to lose pounds and maximize your health for life. Heres what makes the Flat Belly Diet different.

• Its packed with healthful foods. Ive heard that the hottest thing in Hollywood is a diet thats composed almost entirely of maple syrup, cayenne pepper, and lemon juice. Does this sound healthy to you? The Flat Belly Diet is loaded with foods you know are good for you: vegetables, fruits, whole grains, lean proteins and of course the all-healthy MUFAs. Its the combination of these foods that makes the Flat Belly Diet so tremendously beneficial to your health and well-being.
• Its calorie controlled, not low calorie. A registered dietitian designed the Flat Belly Diet to provide approximately 1,600 calories a day (which is the amount the average woman over the age of 40 needs to maintain a healthy weight), so its by no means a starvation diet. (The online service at flatbellydiet.com allows women and men to tailor the Flat Belly Diet to different calorie levels, suiting your age, gender, and activity level.) Even better, the plan is divided into four meals per day, and youre required to eat every 4 hours. Each meal provides about 400 calories, and I guarantee you will be pleasantly surprised by how much food this actually is. (Some of the original testers never got used to how filling the breakfasts were!) By spacing out your eating times, you ensure that you never feel hungry. Ever.
• Its delicious! Get ready for diet food that you will actually look forward to eating. Peanut butter? Guacamole? Chocolate? Weight loss? Yes indeed. Simply said, Prevention readers love the MUFA- rich meals! I have had hundreds of letters from satisfied Flat BellyDieters thanking us for giving them a way to eat that embraces their favorite foods.

• Its refreshingly easy. Since every meal is nutritionally well balanced and provides roughly the same number of calories, its simple to swap out meals. Plus, we provide the calorie count for every component of the meal, so swapping individual foods is a no-brainer. Even dining out is easy; simply select the FlatBelly Dietfriendly menu picks from the Restaurant Rescue on page 113.

A lot of people who read about the Flat Belly Diet on the Web or in the newspaper try to make up their own version of the plan. They might think that adding a dash of olive oil here or a slice of avocado there will somehow magically make them slim. Incorporating these healthy foods even when youre not trying to lose weight is a smart idea, but remember that MUFAs are calorie dense. If you want to lose belly fat, you must follow the Flat Belly Diet rules.

Every Flat Belly Diet meal and snack contains a MUFA-rich food plus other wholesome foods to total about 400 calories per meal. Its not necessary to make sure every meal is exactly 400 calories, but it is important that, over the course of a day, you get about 1,600 calories. If one meal is a bit over 400, make the next a bit under 400 and so on.

I dont have to tell you that a diet wont work if it makes you feel hungry or tired. Thats why on the Flat Belly Diet I ask that you eat every 4 hours. This should help you feel fueled and energized, prevent you from feeling hungry, hold cravings at bay, and keep your metabolism revved up, energized, and burning calories throughout the day.