The Flat Belly Diet - Final Results

I've completed 31 out of 32 days of the Flat Belly Diet! By Liz Vaccariello and Cynthia Sass, RD. I've lost an impressive 8 lbs but I have to confess that I cheated the last couple of days. No, I haven't been into the ice-cream again. I actually cheated by repeating the last 2 days of the intitial 4 day "jumpstart" portion of the diet and I'm sure I dropped another 1 or 2 lbs because of it. Well, I'm ready to move on to another diet. I don't think I'd want to do this diet long term. I missed having things like yogurt and eggs but I'd definitely recommend this diet for a month.
Likes - I definitely liked the 4 day "jumpstart" to the diet. I would use the 4 day "jumpstart" again if I had been eating poorly - lots of junk food and I just wanted to feel better. I also really liked the sassy water. Unlike most diets where you feel like you're forcing yourself to drink 8 glasses of water a day, this was very easy to drink. I also liked being able to eat things like olives, peanut butter, nuts and pesto as "MUFA's" (mono-unsaturated fatty acids) are a must with every meal.
Dislikes - The diet consists of 4- 400 calorie meals a day. I just can't lose weight on that many calories. I often cut out a meal and replaced it with a 100 - 150 calorie smoothie containing only milk and frozen fruit. I was also not keen on 6 days of exercise a week. I found this not very doable. Lastly, I was not thrilled with many of the recipes. They just felt like they were lacking something.

Stats for the Flat Belly Diet!
Weight - lost 8 lbs
Bust - lost .75"
Waist - lost 1.5"
Hips - lost 1.5"
BMI - 32.95

Totals to date
Weight - lost 12 lbs
Bust - lost 1.5"
Waist - lost 3"
Hips - lost 2"
Initial BMI was 35.22 - down 2.27 to 32.95

My next diet choice really isn't a diet. It is The Beck Diet Solution By Judith S. Beck, Ph.D. The premise of this book is to teach dieters to control their eating through cognitive behaviour. While completing the exercises in the book, you are to follow any healthy diet of your choice. I have chosen Weight Watchers. Stay posted!

Flat Belly Diet - Struggling

The Flat Belly Diet isn't suiting me as well as I would like. I'm finding it difficult to lose weight on 1600 calories a day. 1600 calories allows me to maintain my weight but not lose. I am also getting tired of the recipes (how many grilled chicken breasts can a girl eat). On a couple of occasions, I have considered ice-cream as one of my 400 calorie meals. What the hell, throw an olive on top and I've got my "MUFA" (mono-unsaturated fatty acid) that I am supposed to have at every meal. I really think "MUFA" should stand for MY UNATTRACTIVE FAT ASS! I have also found it difficult to keep up with 6 days per week of excercise. It does not work well into my schedule. 4 days a week I can handle. I havn't given up completely on this diet. I'm going to give it the full 32 days as required. I believe I have lost about 4 lbs on the diet but most of that is from the initial 4 day jump start portion of the diet.
One thing I've realized over the last couple of months is how strong my cravings are for sweets. I don't seem to stray from my diet over potato chips. It always seems to be something sweet. So my weight loss journey continues!

Flat Belly Diet - 4 Day Anti-Bloat Jumpstart

I started the 4 day anti-bloat jumpstart of the Flat Belly Diet on January 1st and I think I lost about 3 or 4 lbs. I am not sure of my start weight on January 1st as this was the day after New Year's Eve and to say the least, I indulged. I was not willing to get on the scale the morning of January 1st. In fact, I lay awake most of the night with a stomach ache due to the fact that after a month of eating very healthily on the No-Fail Diet , I was unable to tolerate greasy appetizers and pizza. The 4 day anti-bloat jump start is rather calorie restricted - I would guess 1000 calories/ day, possibly less. However, there is also a water concoction that you are to have 8 glasses of per day. You add mint leaves, minced ginger, lemon and cucumber slices to water. It's actually quite refreshing and I found it very easy to drink. It felt a bit like a detox which was well needed after New Year's Eve. I would imagine its rather helpful in aiding digestion as it contains ginger and lemon.
For the rest of the 28 days, I have an issue with having 4 - 400 calorie meals a day. My gut is telling me that I will not lose weight having 1600 calories a day so I sometimes eliminate 1 of the meals.
I have started weighing myself everyday again and this is a big no-no for me. I get discouraged if I go a few days without seeing any results on the scale so I am going to go back to weighing myself every 2 or 3 weeks. Stay posted for my likes, dislikes and results on the Flat Belly Diet!

Flat Belly Diet! By Liz Vaccariello and Cynthia Sass, RD

My Diet Surplus Disorder kicked in again as I had to select a new diet for the month of January…too many diets to choose from. Well, I’ve selected the Flat Belly Diet by Liz Vaccariello with Cynthia Sass, RD. The principal of this diet is to include mono-unsaturated fatty acids at every meal. They like to call these MUFAs. (Add an extra “f” to MUFA and in Italian, this means mold. Not very appetizing!) Anyway, according to the book, research has shown that dieting with MUFAs help eliminate visceral fat more so than dieting without them. Visceral fat is the underlying fat that sits closer to all your organs and is considered more dangerous than surface fat. There is a 4 day anti-bloat jumpstart phase to the diet and this is followed with a 28 day plan.

There are 3 basic rules to the diet:

1. Eat 4 - 400 calorie meals/day
2. Don’t go longer than 4 hours without eating
3. Eat a MUFA at every meal

There is an optional exercise program with this diet that includes brisk walking and interval cardio along with belly and resistance workouts. The exercise plan has you exercising 6 days a week. I find this to be a bit of a pain as it’s not always easy to fit it in everyday. That sums it up in a nutshell!