The new abs diet...part 1

All right so the book I have been reading is "the New Abs Diet" put out by Men's Health. I had already read their first installment of the book but figured I had better see what "new" things they had discovered since the last book.

In this post I am going to cover the first several chapters of the book and uncover what you need to do to get the ever-elusive six pack. So let's begin!

The main idea behind the "new abs diet" is that it is not a diet. It's a way of life. Most diets are so extreme that you can't stay on them for long and therefore lose weight while you are on them but the second you stop the diet everything, plus some, comes back on. The main difference with this "diet" is that you get to eat food. As a matter of fact you should eat 6 times a day! That's right, the more often you eat the higher your metabolism will stay preventing you from binge eating and putting down a whole pizza.

Now just because you get to eat six times a day does not mean you get to just pig out on whatever you want. The "the New Abs Diet" gives you the 12 power food groups that you should focus on eating.

Those 12 are as follows:

1. Almonds and other nuts
2. Beans and legumes
3. Spinach and other green vegetables
   
4. Dairy (fat free or low fat milk, yogurt, cheese)
5. Instant oatmeal
6. Eggs
7. Turkey and other lean meats
   
8. Peanut butter (my fav!)
9. Olive oil
10. Whole grain breads and cereals
11. Extra protein powder
12. Raspberries and other berries

Basically you want to focus your diet on protein, fiber, calcium and healthy fats and you want to limit baked goods, sugar, white bread rice and pasta, sat fats, trans fats.

Now along with this nutrition plan "the New Abs Diet" also includes exercise as part of your weight-loss program. WARNING - this is not your 30 min on the treadmill kind of exercise plan! But that will be covered in the second part of this overview.

To conclude the first installment of "the New Abs Diet" I want to reiterate that the "the New Abs Diet" is more a nutrition plan and a modifying your life habits into something healthy you can maintain. There is nothing forbidden with this meal plan. You get one cheat meal a week where you can eat ANYTHING you want and I mean anything, pizza, ice cream, cake, you name it you can have it. You aren't deprived of carbs or fats or even red meat. You are just eating everything in moderation and staying away form consuming too many empty calories.

Lastly I do want to say that this is just an overview and if you want more detail purchase "the New Abs Diet" for yourself and get a more in depth look into the science behind the meal plan.

Friday I will cover the second half of the book and look more at the workouts and power foods that are the backbone to the weight loss.