The Flat Belly Diet Review
Anyone on a diet will probably want to target their belly area, among other things. The developers of the Flat Belly Diet promise a flatter belly in just a month. This diet was created by professionals in the health and fitness industry – Liz Vaccariello and nutrition director Cynthia Sass MPH, RD. By diminishing bloating and cutting belly fat, this diet can allow dieters to lose 15 pounds in 32 days and have a much flatter stomach.
Nutrition
This diet plan is much like the Mediterranean Diet, where participants are encouraged to eat fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, seeds, lean proteins, and monounsaturated fats like olive oil.
The first part of the diet involves reducing stomach bloating with a 4 day anti-bloat phase. This portion of the plan involves consuming no more than 1200 – 1400 calories per day, and encourages dieters to drink a special beverage called “Sassy” water which is a concoction of lemon, ginger, cucumber and spearmint. This 4 day phase will eliminate any bloating from excess water retention, and will jump start the diet.
After these initial 4 days, participants are allowed to have about 1600 calories per day, for approximately 28 days. During these days, dieters should consume 4 meals per day, each consisting of 400 calories. Meals should be eaten 4 hours apart to keep the metabolic rate up. Dieters are able to choose a specific meal or snack pack that is specially designed for this diet plan. This allows participants not to have to count any calories. Each pack is properly balanced with all the necessary food groups for optimal health and to help reduce belly fat.
Pros
There are many medically sound principles involved with the Flat Belly Diet, such as the encouragement to eat whole grains, monounsaturated fats, reducing daily caloric consumption and limiting fatty foods. This diet not only helps to reduce belly fat, but also helps to improve heart health for an overall healthy lifestyle adjustment. There are many options for dieters, so that they can enjoy a wide variety of food choices.
Cons
A lot of the weight initially lost on this diet may simply be water weight, due to the quickness of such weight loss. Anyone looking to lose strictly body fat will need to do so in a slower, more prolonged diet plan that will ensure most of the weight lost is fat. Sticking to food “packs” that are provided on this diet may be difficult to stick with if you decide to go out to eat or decide to try this diet on your own by preparing your own meals and snacks. There are also many medical professionals who state that spot reducing is not possible – rather weight is lost all over the body when on a diet. In addition, there is no sound support for the theory that monounsaturated fat specifically targets belly fat.
The Bottom Line
Regardless of whether this diet actually specifically targets belly fat or not, this plan is quite healthy and will provide a complete healthy eating lifestyle, and will be sure to help dieters lose weight in all areas of the body.
