Every woman dreams about having a flat belly. A firm, flat stomach is considered as the symbol of sexiness regardless of your age. Just take a look at the flat belly of Hollywood stars. Most of women (and men as well) could die for that. So, nowadays women want to have a flat stomach in order to stay fit, look attractive and attract men.
In order to satisfy the increasing demand for diet plans and exercise programs which help tighten a saggy stomach numerous health clubs and fitness centers are offering different packages. They are surely effective to some extent but it may really be tough for most people to keep to the strict diet patterns offered by most of the diet plans.
Flat Belly Diet: Burn Belly Fat and Get a Flat Stomach
If you want to get a flat belly it is very important to adopt a special diet plan. You may not believe that only a different diet pattern can result in a flat and sexy belly. But it is true, just stop wondering and try it.
An ideal flat belly diet plan should include food based on nuts, beans, lean protein, seeds, whole grains, and plenty of fruits and vegetables. Seasonal fruits and vegetables are essential ingredients for that. Such kind of diet plans control the intake of excess calorie as they consist low calorie but have all essential nutrients in plenty.
Another important thing about this diet is methods of preparing recipes. Depending upon the cooking process the final quantity of calories in different recipes may vary. Therefore, it is advisable to adopt the right recipes and cooking pattern in order to avoid excess calorie intake. One can easily find numerous recipes for a flat belly diet.
Ideally adopting a food pattern of 4*400 calories (that means one meal consisting of 400 calories four times a day) is the best solution for women trying to get a flat stomach. The above mentioned diet plan is also good for taste as most of the recipes are delicious and even taste loving women will not get uncomfortable.
However, it is advisable not to be dependent on only diet pattern. It will surely result in a flat belly, but adopting regular workout and some exercises targeting your belly will provide better and instant results. Crunches and sit-ups are two of the most common exercises out there to help muscle up that saggy tummy. After some time of adopting flat belly diet plan together with daily exercise, one can easily wear the latest fashionable costumes exposing her flat belly to increase sex appeal. And don’t forget to thank the diet plan which caused this change.
A commercial program that has made the transition from weight loss center-based, like Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig, to an online weight-management program. It is a reduced calorie diet that focuses on balanced nutrition (60 %carbs/ 20%fat/ 20%protein) which follows the Food Guide Pyramid. This basic strategy is where your focus should be, but NutriSystem’s approach revolves around the consumption of pre-packaged meals, which can be convenient and helpful in dealing with controlling your portion size, but it often fails to prepare the dieter for food preparation once the diet ends. Learning the proper habits, which are essential for long-term success, takes a back seat to short-term weight loss goals.
The second problem with pre-packaged meals is their considerable expense, especially when they are “NutriSystem” products, which are more expensive than the pre-packaged meals in the grocery store. Unlike Jenny Craig, NutriSystem’s meals are not required purchases, but in order to follow their menu plans, the NutriSystem cuisine makes it much easier to follow and more convenient.
The key to the success of this diet is the transitional period where the client goes from pre-packaged to regular, prepared meals. You are assisted by a wealth of on-line support, counseling and informational resources, but there is no longer a physical person to talk to. Regular exercise is de-emphasized, similar to most commercial diets, mostly to avoid frightening away prospective clients/customers. But regular exercise is the most prominent trait in those who lose weight and keep it off.
NutriSystem is more expensive with the food compared to other programs and sells a questionable supplement which contains ephedra, but it does focus on the things that are important. A nearly identical on-line program is offered by its main rival, eDiets, which is less expensive, avoids pre-packaged foods and has even more on-line support. If you feel that you must use pre-packaged food, NutriSystem is an excellent choice.
Promoting a “balanced nutritional approach,” the Zone Diet is a complex eating plan that divides each meal into proportion of 40% carbohydrates, 30% proteins, and 30% fats. The “Zone” refers to the state in which the body is at its physical peak, presumably from following this diet.
The Zone diet takes off pounds no more or less than other popular plans. At least that’s the word from researchers at Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston. They randomly assigned 160 overweight volunteers to one of four weight-loss regimens: Atkins, Dean Ornish, Weight Watchers, and the Zone. After one year, average weight loss among participants was a modest 5 percent regardless of the program. Sears presents his own findings, however. In a six-week study of 91 slightly overweight volunteers, women on the diet lost an average of 7 pounds of fat, and their overall body-fat percentage dropped from 29 percent to 26 percent. Men lost an average of 3 pounds of fat and dropped from 20 percent to 17 percent body fat.
It is unclear if the diet could be called healthy. It’s great that the Zone promotes monounsaturated fats like olive oil, olives, and peanuts, as well as the omega-3 fats found in fish oils. And 30 percent of calories from fat are a moderate approach. What’s uncertain: thirty percent protein is a little higher than most health organizations recommend. And 40 percent carbs is slightly lower than advisable. Without long-term data on the health effects of low-carb, high-protein diets, there’s no guarantee of safety.
The Zone Diet – Summary
The plan does offer a healthy approach to fat, along with an emphasis on lean proteins and plenty of fruits and vegetables. It’s just too little food once you’ve shed the pounds. After reaching their weight-loss goals, dieters need to slightly increase portions.
The SlimFast Diet is based on meal-replacement shakes, snack bars and one real-food dinner, giving a total of approximately 1200 calories per day.
You have a SlimFast shake for breakfast, a SlimFast shake for lunch and a sensible real-food dinner. Throw in a SlimFast bar or two for a snack and you have a well-balanced diet! Not really. The shakes and bars are processed, i.e. not natural.
True, they do contain added vitamins and minerals – but the value of food goes beyond vitamins and minerals. And some of the SlimFast bars are high in sugar and fillers – not exactly an ideal nutritional combination.
Also, like all meal-replacement plans, the SlimFast Diet doesn’t focus on the big issue of being overweight – the need is to learn healthier eating habits. So even though SlimFast (like any minimum 1200 calorie diet plan) can almost guarantee weight loss, it does little to ensure that the weight stays off by teaching you long term eating habits.
For these reasons, it may be that SlimFast is a better diet plan for severely obese dieters who need extra help to control their eating habits. It is certainly not ideal for dieters with (say) less than 50 pounds to lose.
SlimFast Diet – Claims
- Easy to follow
- Tastes great
- Fast weight loss
- Eat real food
SlimFast Diet – Drawbacks
- Doesn’t teach you good eating habits
- Must purchase shakes and bars
- Only one meal of real food a day
SlimFast Diet – Summary
However, SlimFast has the experience to make this approach work for you. It is recommended especially for very overweight people.