Seriously. I started the Anti-Bloat/Detox 4 Day Weightloss Jumpstart Diet listed in "Flat Belly Diet" and it freaking worked! Granted, a lot of that is water weight and so forth, but that's still dramatic. I worked out 4 times this week, and I plan on working out Saturday and going for a bike ride Sunday. I'm doing my best to incorporate some form of exercise into each day for the next 17 days (I leave for Hawaii on the 30th).

In a nutshell, the 4 day diet consists of drinking plenty of water, and no other beverages (I had my 1 cup of coffee everyday, because it's cold and I need my coffee.) No bread, no pasta, no gassy foods (beans, broccoli, cauliflower, bananas, citrus), little to no salt or sugar, plane jane meals  including a mono unsaturated fatty acid with each meal (nuts, olive oil, avocados, dark chocolates, flaxseed oil). 4 meals a day (eat every four hours) and 1200 cals a day. Anyone can duplicate it.

My Typical Daily Meal Plan

Breakfast
1 c. corn flakes
1 c. lactose free skim milk ( i was shocked at how normal it tasted)
1/2 c. no added sugar applesauce
1/4 c. unsalted sunflower or pumpkin seeds
1 c. sassy water

Lunch
4 oz. organic turkey
1 string cheese
1 pint grape tomatoes
1 c. sassy water

Snack
Blueberry smoothie (lactose free skim milk and blueberries blended)
1 tlbs. sunflower seeds
1 c. sassy water

Dinner
1 c. Roasted Red Potatoes drizzled with1 tblsp. olive oil
4 oz. grilled chicken
1 c. steamed green beans
1 c. sassy water

Since I added exercise I saw more results.

So here are my stats to date:

Age: 28
Height: 5'7"
Current Weight: 215 lbs
Goal Weight by April: 170 (that's about 12 lbs a month)
Goal by June: 155 (that's my supposed target weight so we'll see - I just want to be a size 10/12)
Waist: 41"
Abdomen: 46"
Hips: 47"
Thighs : 24"
Arms: 14"
BMI: 33 (Goal: 25)
BP: 120/88

So far I'm really excited about this flat belly diet. The emphasis is on eating natural foods, ditch the salt and sugar, increase mono unsaturated fats, decrease bad fats, increase multi grains and cut out gassy/inflammatory foods.

Sorry for the absence. I was so hardcore before Thanksgiving with my eating habits, and I lost NOTHING, so I was pretty frustrated to say the least. For a week afterward I was just pissed off at my body's determination to hang onto all my fat till I go to Hawaii. Not cool. I went Christmas shopping this past Sunday and while perusing the book section for a gift, I happened to see this:

Now I'm not into fad diets. When I stopped fad dieting and started eating better and exercising, I dropped about 60 lbs in a little over a year. But for the last 6 months I have been at a standstill. I have improved my eating habits significantly over the last 3 years: I rarely drink sodas, fried foods, or rich desserts. I've increased eating fruits and vegetables, drinking green tea, and I no longer binge on an entire bag of Dove chocolates or Little Debbie Brownies (for real!). I will occasional cave into emotional eating & cravings, but nothing like before. I consistently make better choices. I think my primary problem is I'm eating to maintain my weight and not lose. Same thing with exercise. I'm not being diligent enough in all the areas I need to in order to drop weight faster.

Add to that, the majority of the weight I carry is below the neck and above my hips. In case you didn't know, this is VERY dangerous. Having excess belly fat (visceral fat) puts you at high risk for heart disease, diabetes and cancer. It also indicates high stress. I put on most of my belly weight when my father was sick and I was running his insurance agency all by myself. I ate a lot of chinese food via delivery.

Everything I've read online has told me there isn't a way to target fat in your midsection. Your body loses weight where it wants to and you just have to be patient and keep dropping the lbs in order to lose weight in your belly. Which is discouraging, because my legs are disproportionately thin to the rest of my body and I'd really like to keep my boobs, thank you very much.

So when I saw this book I immediately thought it was gimmicky, but I picked it up in order to skim it. It looked legit. It had research and the eating plan and foods weren't too much different from what I'm doing now. So I bought it. It has a 32 day weight loss regimen. The first four days is an Anti-Bloat Weight Loss Jumpstart. It's kinda of like a detox diet - 1200 cals a day, no sugar, no milk, no beans, no bread, no pasta. mostly just specific veggies, fruits and proteins with little to no frills. I've lost 2 lbs in 3 days. I'll be doing this plan for the next 3 weeks until I go to Hawaii. Thus far I'm very impressed. I'll keep y'all updated on my results & let you know whether or not I wholeheartedly recommend this book.

Oddly enough weekends aren't hard for me to keep on track with my eating/exercise plan. For those of you who work in an office, the biggest tempations seems to occur there, at least in my case. I work with an 18 yr. old who has the matabolism of God. He can eat anything and still maintain his stick like appearance. Jerk.

The weekends are my opportunity to be outside, run around doing errands etc. - I make meals at home & I find I'm not tempted as much. If I'm hanging out with friends that can become problematic because of limited choices at restuarants, but most places today have options. So if I screw up it's really my own fault. Today for instance, I woke up, ate oatmeal and coffee and went to church. We got out of service late, so we decided to grab some fast food before grocery shopping (me and my best friend Bonnie). We chose Subway and had veggie delights. Easy. Choices are there you just have to make the right one.

Also, when I know I'm going out with folks on the weekends, I'll try to cut back my caloric intake earlier in the day, so that I can compensate during dinner or whatever.

What strategies do you have to combat weekend weakness?