Belly Fat Diet For Dummies

The fast and easy way to lose belly fat

Lowering body weight can reverse or prevent diabetes; lower blood pressure, cholesterol, and triglyceride levels; and improve sleep apnea and other sleep problems. The easy recipes and exercises outlined in Belly Fat Diet For Dummies gives you the edge you need to shed unwanted pounds and gain muscle tone.

Do you carry extra weight around your midsection? Belly Fat Diet For Dummies gives you practical, trusted advice for shedding it?the fast and healthy way. You'll get a proven, 14-day quick-start program that guarantees results within days: a no-gym fitness plan that starts with a fat-melting, bodyweight-only workout and progresses to more advanced exercises further toning and tightening your belly. Plus, you?ll get over 40 delicious belly-burning recipes to help you manage your weight.

• A no-gym fitness plan that starts with a fat-melting bodyweight-only workout and then progresses to a more advanced exercises futher toning and tightening your belly
• Over 40 delicious belly-burning recipes
• Loads of options customized for: carboholics, meat lovers, chicken and seafood fans, chocoholics, fast-food junkies, diabetics, and vegans
• Includes useful tips, body-sculpting exercises, and delicious recipes using superfoods to help shrink your waistline
• A comprehensive maintenance plan to help you stay on track

Belly Fat Diet For Dummies is a complete and informative guide that makes shedding weight practical and fun?with results in days.

Introduction 1

About This Book 1

Conventions Used in This Book 2

What You’re Not to Read 3

Foolish Assumptions 3

How This Book Is Organized 3

Part I: The 4-1-1 on Belly Fat and the Skinny on the Diet 4

Part II: Working Your Way to a Flatter Belly 4

Part III: Cooking Up Some Healthy and Tasty Recipes 4

Part IV: Overcoming Obstacles and Managing Your Progress 5

Part V: The Part of Tens 5

Icons Used in This Book 5

Where to Go from Here 6

Part I: The 4-1-1 on Belly Fat and the Skinny on the Diet 7

Chapter 1: Taking Control of Your Waistline and Your Health 9

Exploring the Dangers of Belly Fat 9

Analyzing Your Weight and Waistline 10

Getting Started on the Path to a Flat Belly 11

Choosing a plan 12

Getting some exercise 12

Preparing Meals to Flatten Your Belly 13

Fighting Through Challenges to Achieve and Maintain a Flat Belly 14

Maintaining your losses long term 14

Chapter 2: The Truth about Belly Fat 15

Judging the Jiggle: What Is Belly Fat? 15

Distinguishing belly fat from the other types of fat 16

What belly fat does to your body 17

The Causes of Belly Fat Accumulation 18

Physiological causes 18

Lifestyle factors 20

The Dangers of Belly Fat 23

Insulin resistance 23

Metabolic syndrome 23

Cardiovascular disease 24

Increased cancer risk 24

Chapter 3: Step Away from the Scale: Examining Your Health and Body Type 25

Determining Your Body’s Health Numbers 26

Assessing your BMI 26

Measuring your waist circumference and waist-to-hip ratio 28

Checking your cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood glucose levels 30

Pulling the info together: Determining your risk for health complications 33

Identifying Your Body Type 33

Apple versus pear type 34

Slim type 35

After-pregnancy type 35

Post-menopause type 36

The male type 36

Chapter 4: How the Belly Fat Diet Can Work for You 39

First Things First: Getting an Overview of the Belly Fat Diet 40

Treating the plan as a lifestyle, not another diet 40

Fighting belly fat by eating the right foods 41

Knowing that slip-ups are part of the process 43

Why the Belly Fat Diet Works 44

How it reduces insulin response 44

How it regulates blood sugar 44

How it decreases stress hormones 45

The Principles of the Belly Fat Diet 45

Eat more to lose more 46

Properly time your meals 46

Eat fat to fight fat 47

Go whole grain 48

Limit your salt intake 49

The Health Benefits of a Flatter Belly 50

Reversing metabolic syndrome 51

Maintaining a healthy heart 51

The Link Between Inflammation and Belly Fat 52

What is inflammation? 52

The causes of inflammation 53

Foods that fight inflammation 54

Part II: Working Your Way to a Flatter Belly 57

Chapter 5: Preparing Yourself for the Belly Fat Diet 59

Understanding the Belly Fat Diet Lifestyle 60

Deciding on a plan that fits your personality 60

Committing yourself to change 61

Transitioning to whole foods 63

Getting adequate sleep 64

Managing Stress for a Flatter Belly 64

Identifying common stressors 65

Recognizing when stress is too high 66

Bringing your stress level down 67

Reducing stress with food 70

Reach for vitamin C if you’re stressed 71

Adding Belly-Slimming Foods to Your Diet 71

The best fats for your belly 72

Drinking your way to a flatter belly 73

Eating foods with a low glycemic index 73

Chapter 6: The Key Nutritional Components for a Flat Belly 77

Diet Basics that Lead to a Flatter Belly 77

The Power of Protein 78

Protein: The hunger fighter 79

Protein: The metabolism booster 80

Eating Fat to Reduce Belly Fat 80

Carbohydrates: Belly Shrinkers and Belly Bloaters 82

Identifying whole grains 83

Avoiding refined carbohydrates 83

Comparing the impact of whole grains and refined carbohydrates on belly fat 84

Reviewing the whole grain and hunger connection 85

Fruit: It’s Essential, but Watch the Sugar 86

The best fruits for your belly 86

The fruits to limit 88

Vegetables: You Gotta Have ’Em 89

Getting your antioxidants 90

Filling your plate with color 91

Starchy vegetables: Good for you in limited quantities 93

Dairy Done Right 93

CLA and belly fat 94

Choosing the right milk and yogurt 95

Portion Distortion: When Enough Just Isn’t Enough Anymore 96

Realizing true portion sizes 97

Trimming your portions to trim your waistline 106

Revving Up Your Metabolism 106

Noshing on foods that fire up your metabolism 107

Eating your way to a better metabolism 108

Chapter 7: Jumping into Your Meal Plan 111

Gathering What You Need 111

Planning your meals ahead of time 112

Keeping the correct supplies on hand 112

Maintaining a food journal 113

Choosing the Most Appropriate Plan for You 115

The Turbo-Charged plan for quick results 116

The Moderation plan for steady changes 118

The Gradual-Change plan for leisurely results 119

Setting Your Expectations 121

What you can expect from Level 1 122

What you can expect from Level 2 and beyond 123

Getting an Overview of the Meal Plans 124

Chapter 8: Meal Plans 127

The Turbocharged Plan, Level 1: Sample Week Meal Plan for Men 128

The Turbocharged Plan, Level 1: Sample Week Meal Plan for Women 130

Turbocharged Plan, Level 2: Sample Week Meal Plan for Men 132

Turbocharged Plan, Level 2: Sample Week Meal Plan for Women 134

Moderation Plan, Level 1: Sample Week Meal Plan for Men 136

Moderation Plan, Level 1: Sample Week Meal Plan for Women 138

Moderation Plan, Level 2: Sample Week Meal Plan for Men 140

Moderation Plan, Level 2: Sample Week Meal Plan for Women 142

Gradual-Change Plan, Level 1: Sample Week Meal Plan for Men 144

Gradual-Change Plan, Level 1: Sample Week Meal Plan for Women 146

Gradual-Change Plan, Level 2: Sample Week Meal Plan for Men 148

Gradual-Change Plan, Level 2: Sample Week Meal Plan for Women 150

Chapter 9: Easing Yourself into Exercise 153

Why Exercising Is Vital 153

Flattens your abs 154

Improves overall health 154

Boosts your metabolism 154

Preparing For Your Workout Routine 155

Checking in with your doctor 155

Penciling yourself in 156

Choosing the right gear 157

Motivating yourself to exercise 158

Deciding on the type of exercise that’s appropriate for you 159

Determining your target heart rate 160

Knowing your limits 161

Walking Away Your Belly Fat 162

Chapter 10: Belly-Blasting Workout Routines 163

Mastering Some Abdominal Exercises 163

Basic exercises to get you started 164

Super belly blasters 173

Belly-Blasting Workouts Phase 1: The First Two Weeks 183

Belly-Blasting Workouts Phase 2: Increasing Intensity to Increase Results 186

Fueling Your Body for Workouts 189

Pre-workout snacking basics 190

Post-workout snacking basics 191

Hydration basics 192

Making Exercise a Priority 193

Part III: Cooking Up Some Healthy and Tasty Recipes 195

Chapter 11: Planning and Stocking a Flat-Belly-Friendly Kitchen 197

Decoding the Food Label and Ingredient List 198

Reading the Nutrition Facts panel 198

Avoiding unhealthy foods in the ingredient list 200

Evaluating Your Kitchen and Chucking the Junk 202

Determining which foods to donate or give away 202

Deciding what foods to toss 204

Shopping for Belly-Friendly Foods 205

Making your list by food group 205

The best belly-fighting foods for your pantry 209

Navigating the store 210

Chapter 12: Waking Up to Healthy Breakfast Options 211

Revving Your Engine with a Tasty and Nutritious Breakfast 211

“But I’m not hungry in the morning ” 212

Why breakfast affects your choices throughout the day 213

Chapter 13: Whipping Up Lunches That Fight Belly Fat 225

Preparing Belly-Shrinking Lunches 226

Chapter 14: Deliciously Slimming Dinners 239

Controlling Yourself at Dinnertime 239

Chapter 15: Desserts and Snacks 257

Desserts and Snacks: They Aren’t Evil! 257

Part IV: Overcoming Obstacles and Managing Your Progress 267

Chapter 16: Common Pitfalls and Challenges 269

Managing Your Appetite and Controlling Cravings 270

Feeding your emotions 270

Eating foods that increase cravings 272

Becoming too hungry or dehydrated 273

Giving Eating the Attention It Deserves 274

Recognizing mindless eating 275

Eating mindfully every day 275

Variety, the Spice of Life: Keeping Your Food Interesting 277

Recognizing meal plan boredom 277

Breaking food boredom to stay motivated 278

Balancing a Vegan or Vegetarian Diet 279

Getting your minerals 279

Taking in vitamin B 12 280

Consuming protein 280

Chapter 17: Dining Out and Special Occasions 283

Basic Strategies for Eating Out 283

Avoiding going out hungry 284

Choosing your food wisely 284

Watching portion sizes: Heading out without pigging out 285

Drinking alcohol responsibly 287

Choosing Belly-Flattening Best Bets at a Restaurant 288

Family restaurants and diners 289

Fast-food restaurants 290

Asian restaurants 292

Italian restaurants 294

Mexican restaurants 295

Middle Eastern/Greek restaurants 297

Special Occasions: Social Eating 299

Chapter 18: Belly Fat Maintenance Plan 301

Why You Need a Maintenance Plan 301

What is a maintenance plan? 302

Deciding when to start 302

Setting a Realistic Belly Fat Goal 303

Ideal weight goals 303

Ideal waist measurement goals 305

Ideal health goals 305

Breaking Plateaus 306

Adjusting your diet habits 307

Switching up your workouts 308

You Reached Your Goal! Now What? 309

Maintaining your weight 309

Keeping your results with the 80/20 rule 311

Staying motivated with your workouts 312

Part V: The Part of Tens 315

Chapter 19: Ten Belly-Bloating Foods 317

Bagels 317

Cabbage 317

Carbonated Water 318

Cola (Including Diet Cola) 318

Fried Foods 319

Ice Cream 319

Sausage 319

Sugar Alcohols 320

Sugar-Free Gum 320

White Rice 320

Chapter 20: Ten Nutrients That Shrink Your Belly 321

Calcium Pyruvate 321

Caraway Seeds 322

Cinnamon 322

Epigallocatechin Gallate (EGCG) 322

Fucoxanthin 322

Omega-3 Fatty Acids 323

Quercetin 323

Resveratrol 324

Vitamin C 324

Water 324

Index 325

Erin Palinski-Wade, RD, CDE, is a nationally recognized nutrition and fitness expert who has contributed to national media outlets such as the CBS Early Show, ABC News, CBS News, Fox News, Fitness Magazine, and Prevention Magazine, among others.