Vaccariello Liz - Flat Belly Diet!: Diabetes

FOR THE MILLIONS LIVING WITH DIABETES, SO THEY CAN LEARN HOW DELICIOUS AND FILLING HEALTHY FOOD CAN BE!

Liz and Gillian

We dedicate the Flat Belly Diet to the readers of Preventionall 11 million of youwho have told us in no uncertain terms that belly fat is your biggest physical challenge.

O UR GRATITUDE to the Rodale family. For generations, through their magazines, books, and online properties, they have been committed to a special mission, that of giving people the tools and inspiration to live their whole lives. Our most heartfelt thanks to CEO Maria Rodale and former CEO Steve Murphy, whose leadership means Rodale is the kind of company where creativity is nurtured and the highest standards are setand metdaily.

Like magazines, books are a collaborative effort, and this one is no exception. Very special thanks to Gregg Michaelson, Karen Rinaldi, Beth Lamb, Jenny Sucov, Bill Stump, and Marlea Clark, who were there at the beginning. To Robin Shallow, who never met an idea she didnt improve, and Bethridge Toovell and Lauren Paul, who are tireless in their enthusiasm, support, and belief in this plan.

You would not be holding this book in your hands without editor Andrea Au Levitt. All thanks to her dedicated team, including Marielle Messing, Carol Angstadt, Chris Krogermeier, Sara Cox, JoAnn Brader, Hope Clarke, Brooke Myers, and Liz Krenos. We couldnt have crossed the finish line without Gillian Arathuzik, Sari Harrar, and Steven Edelman, who worked relentlessly to make this plan diabetes-friendly, design all-new delicious Flat Belly Diet recipes, and run our test panel. Wed also like to extend our gratitude to the initial test panel members, who bravely sought flat bellies as our guinea pigs during the spring of 2009. Thank you, Donna Branson, Jay Hargis, Anne Harrington, Phil Hernandez, Susan Hoar, Beth Gregory, Steve Lipman, Paula Martin, and all their families for providing us with the essential insights that helped us develop this book beyond daily meal plans.

Big hugs to Preventions dazzling creative director, Jill Armus, and deputy art director Maureen OBrien, for their vision of Flat Belly Diet! Diabetes. And to Prevention fitness director Michele Stanten, whose expertise makes Chapter one of the most authoritative sources of information on banishing belly fat with exercise.

Thanks also to Susan Graves, Courtenay Smith, and Polly Chevalier for their wise counsel and endless and sunny support. And to the smartest photo team in the business, including Preventions Danielle Planells and Leah Vinluan. Our deep gratitude to original Flat Belly Diet! coauthor Cynthia Sass, MPH, RD, and former brand editor Leah McLaughlin, who were critical to developing the original plan upon which this is all based.

Finally, thank you to our husbands, Steve Vaccariello and John Arathuzik, for putting up with all the latelate!nights and helping us come up with creative recipe ideas, and to our daughters, Olivia and Sophia Vaccariello and Molly Arathuzikwhose birth, conveniently one week late, helped Mommy keep her deadline! We love you all!

YOUR BELLY FAT and your blood sugar. The two are tightly entwined, linked by a simple cause-and-effect equationthe more belly fat you have, the greater the odds that blood sugar issues will touch your life someday (or already have!). Once upon a time, scientists tell us, the ability to store fat in our torsos was an amazing, lifesaving asset. But as you stand in front of your mirror or sit in your kitchen flipping through the pages of this book, I suspect that the belly behind your waistband is a source of frustration and worry. Same goes, Im thinking, for your blood sugar: If youve been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes or with prediabetes or are concerned about your risk for developing diabetes, I bet youd like to feel that you control your blood sugar rather than having it control your life. And, of course, who wouldnt like a flatter belly?

Im here to tell you that you can accomplish both.

You can lose your belly fat. You can erase stubborn pounds. You can protect yourself from developing type 2 diabetes. And if you already have diabetes, you can gain tighter control over your blood sugarand lower your risk for serious complications such as high blood pressure, heart disease, vision problems, kidney failure, and nerve damage. The great news: You can accomplish all of these important goals without feeling hungry or deprived or signing up for a lifetime of bland and tasteless food. Yes, my friends, you can have pasta! You can get there because youre eating four delicious meals a day, each one packed with real food that just happens to be research-proven to take aim at diabetes and belly fatincluding nuts, peanut butter, chocolate, olive oil, avocados, and olives.

You read that correctly! On the Flat Belly Diet Diabetes, these bellyflattening, blood-sugar friendly, super-satisfying treats are in the mix of healthy foods youll eat at every meal. This isnt just a nice theory. Rigorous scientific research and the real-life experiences of our own Flat Belly Diet Diabetes test panelists prove that this plan works, at every level, to fight fat and pamper your blood sugar.

PREVENTION MAGAZINE PUBLISHED THE original Flat Belly Diet! in 2008and as editor-in-chief at the time, I was amazed by the outpouring of enthusiasm for this innovative, belly-blasting plan and by the response from people with one specific issue: blood sugar. Time and again, women and men who had diabetes, or were at risk for it, asked me: Will this plan work for me? Some readers didnt wait for an answer. One, Lisa Stevens, an Illinois woman with type 2 diabetes, really got my attention when she shared that shed lost 17 pounds in 4 months, whittled 5.5 inches from her waist, and improved her

Could we formulate a version of the Flat Belly Diet that meets the specific health needs of people withor at risk fortype 2 diabetes? Could it help with blood sugar control and with lowering diabetes risk for those worried about this important health threat? And, could it target the belly fat that makes us buy oversized shirts and elastic-waist pants, too?

In early 2009, a study conducted by preventive medicine expert David Katz, MD, an associate professor adjunct at the Yale University School of Public Health, gave us an important piece of the answer. Dr. Katz put the Flat Belly Diet to the test. He tracked nine extremely overweight women as they followed this eating plan for 4 weeks, and the results were nothing short of amazing. The study volunteers lost an average of 8.4 pounds and trimmed as much as 3.9 inches from their waistlinesbut that wasnt all.

Their visceral fatthe deep and dangerous abdominal fat that wraps around internal organs and pumps harmful, diabetes-related chemicals into the bloodstreamshrank significantly. Measured via high-tech magnetic resonance imaging equipment at the beginning and end of the study, visceral fat shrank by an average of 20 percent and in some women, by as much as 40 percent.

And signs of insulin resistancea body-chemistry glitch youll be hearing more about in this book because it triggers type 2 diabetes, prediabetes, and an even earlier and very common health condition called metabolic syndromewere reduced, too. In other words, the foods and portions youll eat on the Flat Belly Diet Diabetes take aim at two major diabetes triggers: visceral fat and insulin resistance.