Spiker Ted - The New Abs Diet: the 6-Week Plan to Flatten Your Stomach and Keep You Lean for Life

For every American who has
taken up arms in the battle against obesity.
Today we begin winning the fight...

The New Abs Diet Cheat Sheet
And Portion-Distortion Decoder

M Y DEEPEST THANKS to the extraordinarily talented, hardworking, and dedicated people who have supported me, encouraged me, and inspired me. In particular:

The Rodale family, without whom the Abs Diet series of books would not have been possible.

Jeremy Katz, the original editor of this book, and Ted Spiker, the original co-author.

Jeff Csatari, who helped me revise and update The New Abs Diet.

Steve Perrine, the wisest consigliere any boss could ever have.

The entire Men's Health editorial staff, the smartest and hardest-working group of writers, editors, researchers, designers, and photo directors in the industry. In the future, when people talk about the glory days of men's magazine publishing, they will be talking about you.

My brother, Eric, whose relentless teasing shamed me into taking better care of myself.

My mother, Janice, who raised the two of us nearly single-handedly. Your strength and kindness guide my every action.

To my dad, Bohdan, who left this world way too early. I wish you were still here.

And to my stepmother, Mickey. Thanks for your guidance and support.

W HEN I WROTE THE ORIGINAL Abs Diet more than 6 years ago, some people thought it was written for beach volleyball players, body-builders, and people who aspire to prance around in front of large-format cameras wearing lace thongs. It couldn't possibly be for real men and women who have more pressing things to do than crunch washboard bellies in a gym all day long.

But then a funny thing happened. It wasn't the athletes or rappers or Victoria's Secret models who picked up the book, but tens of thousands of real men and women. People like you. They gave the program a shot, lost the stubborn pounds, found their hidden abdominal muscles, and, most important, dramatically improved their health.

Then they told their friends about it. And that's how The Abs Diet became a New York Times bestseller and spawned a half dozen other books, including The New Abs Diet Cookbook released in 2010.

I'm proud of the Abs Diet and the impact it has made on people's lives. But I'm not satisfied. Not yet, because so many more people still need to hear the message and learn the secrets to losing weight and firming up their bodies for life. I know that some critics see flat bellies as the modern American symbol of vanity, but dropping pounds, inches, and dress sizes is more than just a way to support the mirror industry. We are at a crucial point in our nation's history: We're too darned fat. Obesity has overtaken smoking as the leading cause of premature heart attacks in the United States. Imagine thatovereating is worse for you than smoking a pack a day. We've forced the smokers out of our restaurants and onto the sidewalk to light up, and yet you can still order an appetizer off the menu that delivers a day's worth of calories and enough grease to turn your colon into a Roman candle. Go figure.

Sixty-seven percent of the population142 million Americansare overweight or obese. And a new forecast by University of Chicago researchers estimates that the number of Americans living with diabetes will nearly double in the next 25 years to 44.1 million people.

But it doesn't have to be that way. And I know that the New Abs Diet can help. So, whether you are worried about pre-diabetes or your cholesterol numbers or you just want to flatten your belly in preparation for the approaching beach season, here's my promise: With this book you will improve your health and, yes, find your abs.

As the editor-in-chief of Men's Health magazine, and editorial director of Women's Health, I know that youno matter how flabby your belly; how many margaritas you consumed in Cancun; or how many diets you've triedcan develop a flat stomach. See, I analyze health and fitness information with the time and tenacity that you devote to your investment portfolio or fantasy baseball team. It's my job to find the fastest, best, and smartest ways for you to make tremendous gains in your most important investment: your body. And I'm encouraged by all the new research in nutrition and exercise science in the past 6 years, amazing strategies you'll put into practice later in the book. A flat stomachthat is, abs that showis a worthy goal because it's the ultimate predictor of your health. And you will get there even if you've failed on previous weight-loss attempts and have yo-yoed more than kids at a toy store. I understand your struggle. I've talked to and heard from thousands of people who have shared their weight-loss attempts with me. I know what you've gone through because I, too, know what it's like to feel fat.

As a latchkey kid growing up in the early 80s, I made every mistake in the book. I ate fast food instead of smart food. I played video games when I should've been playing outside. By the time I reached 14, I was carrying 212 pounds of torpid teenage tallow on my 5-foot-10 frame. I wanted to be built like a basketball player, but instead I was built like the basketball. And I paid for it with a steady bombardment of humiliation. My older brother, Eric, would invite friends to our house just to watch me eat lunch. Don't disturb the big animal, he'd tell his friends. It's feeding.

Like most kids, I learned my health habits from my parents, particularly my father. He was more than 100 pounds overweight for most of his adult life. Over time, he developed hypertension and diabetes, had a minor heart attack, and would have to stop at the top of a short flight of stairs just to catch his breath. A massive stroke ended his life at 52. My father died because he ignored many signals of failing healthespecially the fat that padded his gut.

But I got lucky. When I graduated from high school, I joined the Naval Reserve, where the tenets of fitness were pounded into me, day after day after day. Soon after I graduated from college, I joined Men's Health and learned the importance of proper nutrition andjust as importantthe danger of carrying around too much fat in your stomach.

Belly fatthe fat that pushes your waist outis the most dangerous fat on your body. And it's one of the reasons why the Abs Diet emphasizes losing belly fatbecause doing so means you'll live longer. Belly fat is classified as visceral fat; that means it is located behind your abdominal wall and surrounds your internal organs. Because it carries an express-lane pass to your heart and other important organs, visceral fat is the fat that can kill you. Just consider one University of Alabama-Birmingham study in which researchers used seven different measurements to determine a person's risks of cardiovascular disease. They concluded that the amount of visceral fat the subjects carried was the single best predictor of heart disease risk.

Whether you want to change your body to improve your health, your looks, your energy levels, or your sex appeal, the New Abs Diet offers you a simple promise: If you follow this plan, you will transform your body so that you can accomplish each and every one of those goals. As a bonus, the New Abs Diet will do something more than just enhance your life; the New Abs Diet is going to save it.