[Canadian_Mickey]

Has anyone heard or done this?? I was glancing at the book at the bookstore today, and wondered if anyone's seen results with it?

[spillthebeans]

yes, its a good one. I did it half heatedly. It is true you can do a million sit ups or work your abs to death, but you HAVE to have the right diet, to be able to see them.

The Ab diet is very similiar to the South Beach guidlines....few carbs....mostly veggies and tuna/fish/lean turkey

[slimby25]

The Abs Diet is how I originally lost weight, and it is really awesome! But a year later and eating as much as my 6'1 boyfriend, I'm 5'1!, I've gained back weight and plus some. I'm slowly easing my way back into the Abs Diet Power Foods. What I like is the smoothies that you get to have. Right now I'm doing a smoothie for breakfast and lunch and it is so filling and healthy. As opposed to the South Beach diet, there is more of a focus on strength training. I do it 3 times a week, they have the exercises in the book as well as a DVD. The diet is so healthy, but the weight loss is very slow, so if you are looking for a quick fix....this definitely isn't it. It's more of a lifestyle change. The book is a great read, very informative. Also there is a Abs Diet forum on the mens health website, with a section specifically for women. If you have any questions let me know!

[Canadian_Mickey]

I'm only 5' tall, so my 30 extra pounds I feel show more then on some taller people. What are the "power foods"?? I've looked it up online, and the website wasn't really helpful at all! Thanks for the info!

[chicagoposter]

i remember reading about it months ago on the men's health (magazine) forum. i would do a search for men's health and see if you can find it on the web. i'll try to find it later this evening.

[slimby25]

Here is what the book lists, keep in mind this is not a calorie restrictive diet, so you might be eating more or consuming more calories than you are used to. it really makes sure you don't reach starvation mode where your body turns everything into fat.
A-almonds
B- beans of choice
S- Spinach
D- Dairy(fat-free milk and yogurt)
I- Instant oatmeal, unsweetened, unflavored
E- Eggs
T- Turkey
P-Peanut butter, all natural (i get the smuckers all natural and it is awesome!!!)
O-Olive oil
W-whole grain breads and cereals
E-extra protein, whey protein powder
R-raspberries, and other berries
also: tuna, chicken, green veggies, fish, lean meats, ww pasta

here is an example of my typical day (when i'm fully following the diet)
Breakfast: PB&J smoothie (nonfat vanilla yogurt, skim milk, scoop of whey protein(strawberry flavor), frozen berries (no added sugar), 1tbls of natty pb, 1 banana, ice....blend in blender) I have half of this and save the other half for lunch
snack: apple and lowfat string cheese
lunch: rest of smoothie from breakfast
snack: banana
dinner: salad with balsamic vinegarette, or meat and veggies
snack: nonfat vanilla yogurt with fresh berries (do not buy the already made fruit yogurt, contains a lot of high fructose corn syrup, stay away from HFCS)

they encourage you to also have one cheat meal a week. have whatever you want, pizza, beer, burger...whatever. just don't go overboard. also limit alcohol to 2 drinks per week.

the main focus is eating clean and strength training. also only do ab exercises every other day to rest the muscles. the diet is designed to get rid of the visceral fat that lies underneath the muscles. so you can do all the ab exercises you want, but your stomach won't get flat until you get rid of the visceral fat lying underneath.
I'm here to answer any questions!! This is actually getting me pumped to get fully back on the diet!!

[Canadian_Mickey]

Wow, thanks for the info! That's great...I found the forum on Men's HEalth website....haven't had a chance to really look at it yet.

[Pilatesgrl]

I tried the abs diet for about a week once...I dont know if my body just loves carbs and I was going through some major withdrawl or what, but I felt like CRAP from the 3rd day on. Headaches, stomach aches, sometimes i felt like I was going to throw up (sometimes I feel like that if I go too long w/out eating its weird)...after not being able to take that anymore, I decided the phase one isn't for me, but phase two is pretty good- just healthier carbs.

[slimby25]

pilatesgrl,

i think you tried the southbeach diet, the abs diet encourages healthy carbs and eating 6 times a day. i know phase 1 of the southbeach diet doesn't allow carbs ( i tried this as well and felt so bad and cheated on day 3!), but with the abs diet there are no phases you just jump into healthy eating, mix of good carbs and protein....and you never go hungry

[Pilatesgrl]

haha wrong diet oops...hard to keep them all straight!