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Flat Belly Diet!
Join the million-plus people who have found the answer to losing their belly fat while eating satisfying and delicious foods.
With the Flat Belly Diet! you can:
- Lose inches in just 4 days
- Drop up to 15 pounds in 32 days
- Boost your energy as the weight falls off!
Prevention, America's most trusted healthy-living magazine, presents the New York Times-bestseller Flat Belly Diet in paperback--now with a new foreword by Dr. David L. Katz describing new research about the many health and weight loss benefits of this amazing eating plan. Enjoy delicious dishes such as Seared Wild Salmon with Mango Salsa, Slow Cooker Chili, and Pumpkin-Maple Cheesecake--and you will lose belly inches and greatly enhance your likelihood of living a longer and healthier life.
With the Flat Belly Diet! you can:
- Lose inches in just 4 days
- Drop up to 15 pounds in 32 days
- Boost your energy as the weight falls off!
Prevention, America's most trusted healthy-living magazine, presents the New York Times-bestseller Flat Belly Diet in paperback--now with a new foreword by Dr. David L. Katz describing new research about the many health and weight loss benefits of this amazing eating plan. Enjoy delicious dishes such as Seared Wild Salmon with Mango Salsa, Slow Cooker Chili, and Pumpkin-Maple Cheesecake--and you will lose belly inches and greatly enhance your likelihood of living a longer and healthier life.
347 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
258 people are currently reading
699 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 151 reviews
November 9, 2011
So ... I'm not finished with this book but I just have to report that it works!!! Shawn and I did the "4-day Anti-Bloat Jumpstart" that the book suggests you start out with. It was SO HARD for me (no sugar, no COKE!) but it paid off. I lost 6 1/2 pounds and 6 3/4 inches (all-over). Shawn lost 8 pounds and 5 7/8 inches (all-over). In just 4 days! We felt amazing! We probably gained it all back when we spent one week with our families in Utah, but we're back to our new way of eating again and it feels great. We aren't calling it a DIET. Nope, it's just a new way of eating for us. :) I've decided that knowledge truly is POWER because after reading most of the book I have realized how unhealthy we were. Our meals were healthy but our snacking was so NOT healthy. Now I finally have the desire (and the knowledge to go along with it) to eat healthy. I've always wanted to eat healthy, I just didn't know how. Isn't that sad? I love this book because it comes with A LOT of recipe's and ideas for every meal. There are ideas for snacks too. So, we are doing our best to follow the guidelines in this book from now on. But don't you worry, we will allow ourselves a little break so we can enjoy the DELISH but oh-so-naughty cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. And we'll go out to eat too. Oh, and let's not forget home-made cookies every once in a while. We've got to LIVE, right?!! :) But it will only be on special occasions now instead of every single day like it used to be. And whenever that happens, we'll start again with our healthy eating the next morning. I'll let you know how it goes after we've been eating our NEW WAY for a few weeks.
PS. I recommend this book and new way of eating to EVERYONE!!!
PS. I recommend this book and new way of eating to EVERYONE!!!
January 30, 2009
Although this book is like many other diet books, I thought it was good, the foods are all yummy, olives, avocado, chocolate, and more!
I also did the 4 day anti-bloat diet and lost 6 lbs and a total of 4.5, now I am on the 1600 cal a day plan 4 xs a day, 400 cal a meal, eat every 4-5 hours, and have a MUFA at every meal, piece of cake. I will update my review after 28 days and let you know the status!
I also did the 4 day anti-bloat diet and lost 6 lbs and a total of 4.5, now I am on the 1600 cal a day plan 4 xs a day, 400 cal a meal, eat every 4-5 hours, and have a MUFA at every meal, piece of cake. I will update my review after 28 days and let you know the status!
January 21, 2015
Yeah I'm not doing this. Been frustrated with some belly weirdness for a few months, and I even planned on giving the 4-day anti-bloat kick-start a try and followed through the first day. Just following any diet that tells you exactly what to eat for each meal is a good exercise for me and my routine-lacking eating habits. But then I saw an actual environmental medicine nutritionist yesterday, and he totally understood and explained all my weirdness, so I don't really feel like this will be useful. I didn't really like its claims that soy was a good idea to eat, or that saturated fats are all unhealthy, anyway. I was initially drawn to this book b/c of its inclusion of "attitude" being important (aka mindbody), its belly/bloat focus (which with me is clearly not gas and not just an issue of calories-in/calories-out). Oh yes and I got it at an estate sale for 50 cents, so there's that. And it's an easy enough read, so I might get back to it, but it's getting shelved for a while while I try my HCl and vitamin A, chewing better, and not drinking water with meals, and see if things start to improve. Oh, and spoiler alert... this book is all about monounsaturated fatty acids being a miracle fat eraser (it seems, from what I've read and skimmed). The before-and-after pics are very unimpressive. I could take more convincing pics right now just by letting it hang out and then sucking it in, which is what it looks like is happening in most of the pics.
January 16, 2009
I learned that this book is basically a Mediteranian diet which includes the good oils (olive, avacado, seeds, etc.) and very little meat, hardly anything processed, lots of plant foods rich in color. The diet starts out with a 4 day quick start program that promises to rid your body of excess water and gas that cause bloating. I have just completed the 4 days and I learned a few things about food and how important it is to eat every 4 hours. You don't need to buy to book to get this 4 day quick start, I found similar diets on the internet. The main problem I have with this book is that they claim there is a difference between the all over fat and the fat that collects on the omentum (belly fat). They never said exactly how monounsaturated faty acids (found in olives, avacados, etc) help to reduce specifically belly fat. Going back to the internet on WebMD, I learned that this is not a proven fact. I am a bit surprised that Prevention Magazine would put their name on a fad diet. I guess they put their name on a book to sell it. It worked! I am going to take what I learned about monounsaturated fat and work it into my good old weight watchers program.
October 23, 2017
Plot twist: It's TOTALLY OKAY to have belly fat.
I shouldn't be rating this as a cynic - I bought this book a few years ago when I thought I needed to lose weight to be valued as a human being. Thankfully, these days I've seen the light.
If you ignore the overwhelming message that you're a terrible person because you have a bit of extra weight around your middle, this has some decent food guides. If you're just looking to adapt a healthier way of eating, by all means take inspiration from the food concoctions in this book.
If, however, you picked up this book because you have been told by society that you are not good enough because of your size, please put it back down and pick up Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Program That Works instead.
I shouldn't be rating this as a cynic - I bought this book a few years ago when I thought I needed to lose weight to be valued as a human being. Thankfully, these days I've seen the light.
If you ignore the overwhelming message that you're a terrible person because you have a bit of extra weight around your middle, this has some decent food guides. If you're just looking to adapt a healthier way of eating, by all means take inspiration from the food concoctions in this book.
If, however, you picked up this book because you have been told by society that you are not good enough because of your size, please put it back down and pick up Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Program That Works instead.
October 26, 2010
This book changed the way I think about food forever. I went on the 31 day challenge and lost almost 10 lbs and 6 inches around my middle. There is definitely a science to the combination of foods we eat...I feel absolutely great.
May 14, 2012
I really disliked the fact that it was very blah blah blah like. Not very informative.
August 13, 2016
Not very helpful for me due to my many food allergies.
January 18, 2016
Overall, the book is easy to read but seems a little preachy. The basic idea is to eat 4 400 calorie meals every day and have a monunsaturated fat (MUFA) at every meal. You start with a 4 day anti bloat menu, which is only 1200 calories. I lost 4 pounds in the first week starting with the anti bloat diet. I didn't feel any less bloated, but I also didn't feel bloated to begin with, so there's that. I also started this after eating Christmas cookies all day long for two weeks, so I'm sure the dramatic loss has something to do with no more cookies. Anyway...
There are success stories throughout the book, which I found extremely lame and not inspiring at all. This is written by Prevention, which I consider a "mature" magazine. If you are 50 and overweight, maybe the success stories will be inspiring to you. But to me losing 6 pounds and still looking fat is not really success. To me, it looked like the women did not lose any weight at all but were put in belly-flattening corsets/tops and then all given heels and a happy face as their after photo.
The concept of having a MUFA at every meal is based on very little scientific fact. But in actuality, eating these things (nuts/seeds, olives, oils, avocado) are good for you and have proved for me to be very filling (although high in calories).
The book repeats itself a lot. The basic idea of the diet is repeated twice through, which I found annoying. It's not like I already forgot what it said by the end of the book.
The recipes are broken into two parts, which I found confusing. There are quick and easy recipes listed first, which all have a ton of specific brands that I can never find (and makes me feel like they were endorsed). Then there are actual recipes listed afterward that actually take time to make, not just assemble. The "recipes" are interesting. Anything with pasta has 1/4 cup of pasta as a serving. That's like 8 pieces of penne pasta. I stopped making anything pasta related because that's just lame to have that little of pasta. Some of the recipes are really good though.
Something that bothered me is that they say exercise is optional. Of course, "abs are made in the kitchen." But I don't ever see exercise as optional. They offer two extremely basic workout routines and suggest walking for cardio. Nothing exciting to see there. Again, if you are 50 and have never worked out, that would be appropriate. As a 20-something who has done Insanity before, not going to work for me. Working out will get you results faster, but they didn't seem to put any emphasis on that. I am surprised considering the age range of Prevention readers, who probably have slower metabolisms. But whatever.
Overall, there is basic calorie counting involved as well as trying to clean up your diet with limited processed foods (or at least better quality ones), lots of water, and MUFAs. Is this a recipe for having a flat belly? I honestly don't think so; you can't spot reduce fat. But I do think it's a general step in the right direction for healthy eating period. This was better than I expected and had decent takeaways that I didn't realize I would get. Worth a shot if you want to try it. I would not expect a flat belly from it but expect general weight loss.
There are success stories throughout the book, which I found extremely lame and not inspiring at all. This is written by Prevention, which I consider a "mature" magazine. If you are 50 and overweight, maybe the success stories will be inspiring to you. But to me losing 6 pounds and still looking fat is not really success. To me, it looked like the women did not lose any weight at all but were put in belly-flattening corsets/tops and then all given heels and a happy face as their after photo.
The concept of having a MUFA at every meal is based on very little scientific fact. But in actuality, eating these things (nuts/seeds, olives, oils, avocado) are good for you and have proved for me to be very filling (although high in calories).
The book repeats itself a lot. The basic idea of the diet is repeated twice through, which I found annoying. It's not like I already forgot what it said by the end of the book.
The recipes are broken into two parts, which I found confusing. There are quick and easy recipes listed first, which all have a ton of specific brands that I can never find (and makes me feel like they were endorsed). Then there are actual recipes listed afterward that actually take time to make, not just assemble. The "recipes" are interesting. Anything with pasta has 1/4 cup of pasta as a serving. That's like 8 pieces of penne pasta. I stopped making anything pasta related because that's just lame to have that little of pasta. Some of the recipes are really good though.
Something that bothered me is that they say exercise is optional. Of course, "abs are made in the kitchen." But I don't ever see exercise as optional. They offer two extremely basic workout routines and suggest walking for cardio. Nothing exciting to see there. Again, if you are 50 and have never worked out, that would be appropriate. As a 20-something who has done Insanity before, not going to work for me. Working out will get you results faster, but they didn't seem to put any emphasis on that. I am surprised considering the age range of Prevention readers, who probably have slower metabolisms. But whatever.
Overall, there is basic calorie counting involved as well as trying to clean up your diet with limited processed foods (or at least better quality ones), lots of water, and MUFAs. Is this a recipe for having a flat belly? I honestly don't think so; you can't spot reduce fat. But I do think it's a general step in the right direction for healthy eating period. This was better than I expected and had decent takeaways that I didn't realize I would get. Worth a shot if you want to try it. I would not expect a flat belly from it but expect general weight loss.
June 21, 2010
I believe you can get something out of every fad diet out there, even if the rest is bunk, but the majority of this diet is doable and healthy. Some things I liked- 1)eat healthy fats at every meal (they say only monounsaturated fats, but I'm okay with poly). The "okay list" of mono fats are: oils, olives, nuts and seeds, avocados, and dark chocolate- yum 2)never go more than 4 hours without eating- this really helps me not to overeat later on 3)stick to 400 calories per meal- I can flex a little here, but this has been a good guide to keep my calories down- if you're choosing the right foods, 400 calories is actually quite a bit of food. 4)The recipes are filling, easy, quick, healthy, and good tasting. Some things I did not like- 1)the recipes are nice, but they can get pricey- you are buying things like pre-cut vegetables, or prediced chicken, all of which you can do yourself, but know that it adds time. It also has you buying a lot of organic foods, which is great if you can afford it! 2)With this diet, you eat four 400 calorie meals a day. For me, I prefer to break up into three 400 calories meals, and two 200 calorie snacks. 3)They do have an exercise plan, but it's not the best out there. Overall- I think there are enough tasty recipes that are worth checking out the book to try.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 17, 2011
So far, so good. As a student, my eating habits are lacking, to say the least. I don't cook [though I like to], I eat out a lot, I got out with my friends and have a drink or two, and I eat a lot of things high in sodium. SO, all of those things have been bad for my health - and my dress size. I picked this book up the other day at Target on a whim and I actually really like it. As of this writing, I'm on Day 3 of the 4 Day Anti-Bloat jumpstart, and it's already made a noticeable difference. The first four days are designed to slim you down by getting rid of bloat and water weight, thus giving you the motivation to follow through for the next few weeks. It's working. I've started to actually THINK about the things I eat, and today I went grocery shopping and bought all sorts of healthy things I'm excited to cook over the next month.
My favorite thing about this diet so far is that it isn't really a "diet" in the way that most of us are used to [way too many rules, too few calories, etc]. It's just a different way of eating - a real diet. Part of the reason I bought the book is that when I flipped through the recipes, there were A LOT of things that (1) sounded delicious and (2) sounded like things I could cook. So far, so good.
We'll see how the next four weeks go.
My favorite thing about this diet so far is that it isn't really a "diet" in the way that most of us are used to [way too many rules, too few calories, etc]. It's just a different way of eating - a real diet. Part of the reason I bought the book is that when I flipped through the recipes, there were A LOT of things that (1) sounded delicious and (2) sounded like things I could cook. So far, so good.
We'll see how the next four weeks go.
June 5, 2015
I gave this book a 5 star rating because it has well-written information on nutrition for gut and heart health, is well organized for the reader to use, and overall has some truly great recipes!
While there were a number of recipes that I passed on because they called for sugar or were for meat eaters, I found that Liz and Cynthia have some wonderful combinations of food ingredients that I have never thought of before. For instance, I tried the avocado with mango for the Mango Surprise. Including the avocado is a great way to add some nutrient density to the smoothie and it was delicious. I also tried their Asparagus Frittata and will definitely be making that one again. There again, I had never thought to cook asparagus as an omelet. Turned out so fluffy and tasty!
Martha Love,
Goodreads author of Mom's Island Bakens: Over 50 Altered Recipes For a Happy Gut and a Healthy Heart
While there were a number of recipes that I passed on because they called for sugar or were for meat eaters, I found that Liz and Cynthia have some wonderful combinations of food ingredients that I have never thought of before. For instance, I tried the avocado with mango for the Mango Surprise. Including the avocado is a great way to add some nutrient density to the smoothie and it was delicious. I also tried their Asparagus Frittata and will definitely be making that one again. There again, I had never thought to cook asparagus as an omelet. Turned out so fluffy and tasty!
Martha Love,
Goodreads author of Mom's Island Bakens: Over 50 Altered Recipes For a Happy Gut and a Healthy Heart
August 24, 2017
Hubs and I did this years ago when we put on some weight after marriage. It worked wonderfully! The 4-Day Anti-Bloat Jumpstart was hard as heck for both of us, and I dislike Cream of Wheat immensely, but it worked! And the best thing we liked about it is the meals are easy, simple and NOT depriving you of essential treats. I'm a chocoholic and switching to dark chocolate was no problem! We love nuts and seeds and avocados and oils. I have utilized the principles of this book since and always come back to it when I need to refocus (which I'm doing now). I recommend flagging and tabbing the meals and quick meals for fast reference. This and Weight Watchers are the only two realistic 'diet' methods I've found to work as they are not diets, they are lifestyle modifications that can be stuck with after the weight goal has been met.
July 14, 2011
When I am ready to get serious about dieting, this will probably be the diet I follow. It's heart-healthy, well balanced in terms of types of food and also in terms of life, including dieting, exercising, and mental health (emotional eating). I just skimmed the book and returned it to the library where there were holds, but it would be good to own your own copy so that you could use it to keep a food journal.
I made it through the Four Day Anti-bloat Jumpstart and lost 3.5 pounds! The maintenance diet has three rules. 1. Stick to 400 calories per meal. 2. Never go more than 4 hours without eating. 3. Eat a MUFA (mono-unsaturated fatty acid)at every meal. MUFAs are things like nuts, olives, soybeans, peanut butter, avocado, and dark chocolate! Very do-able. Wish me well!
I made it through the Four Day Anti-bloat Jumpstart and lost 3.5 pounds! The maintenance diet has three rules. 1. Stick to 400 calories per meal. 2. Never go more than 4 hours without eating. 3. Eat a MUFA (mono-unsaturated fatty acid)at every meal. MUFAs are things like nuts, olives, soybeans, peanut butter, avocado, and dark chocolate! Very do-able. Wish me well!
December 14, 2008
Great information in this book. It's a lifestyle more than a diet. The gyst is that you eat healthy and regularly and moderately (400 calories a meal, 4 times a day) and add a monounsaturated fat to each meal. These are the good fats and they target your subcutaneous fat, otherwise known as your stomach flab. I like it because it's not a diet about what you can't eat. I'm already firmly in the eat moderately and healthy and exercise camp - no fad diets, you don't need to eliminate food groups, everything in moderation - so this book backed that up and just added more healthy foods.
August 24, 2015
It is very similar to another book on diet and exercise that I like (from an editor of Prevention, I think.) Good balanced diet, walking with fast intervals, and weight and core exercises.
I like having a plan, so it keeps me on track. We'll see where I am in 30 days....
I like having a plan, so it keeps me on track. We'll see where I am in 30 days....
March 17, 2009
Makes sense--let's see if I can stick to it. Definitely worth it to help ward off heart disease, diabetes, demensia.
June 12, 2013
My rating is based on the book itself, I haven't started the diet yet. I'll report on that later :)
November 28, 2022
Actual rating: 4.5 stars
This book was published in 2008, so about 14 years ago. I don't know if this diet actually works or has been proven to be bunkum like a lot of other diets. But I think even today, a lot of "health food" lifestyle includes the food and exercises highlighted in the book.
This book is my dad's and I noticed that most of the food mentioned are his favourites. He probably began incorporating the knowledge he got from the book into his life until he actually thoroughly enjoys eating them even now.
While I don't think it's possible for me to follow the diet plan to a T (because I'm not in America, it's not 2008 anymore and so the specific brands of food are not available for me), I do plan to incorporate whatever I could into my own diet plan.
I love how the authors explain the differences of good and bad fats and how food goes through the body before going into the diet plan. Their plan sounds super comprehensive and well-thought out.
If anything, there's only one thing that I do not agree with the book: they encourage the readers to avoid cleaning our plates ie they tell us to leave some food uneaten. Personally, I think intentionally not finishing food is really a privilege talk. So many people and hands were involved in making the food for you and there are still starvation in the world. The least you could do is to be grateful enough to finish the food on your plate. Otherwise, keep it for later or share a plate with someone.
This book was published in 2008, so about 14 years ago. I don't know if this diet actually works or has been proven to be bunkum like a lot of other diets. But I think even today, a lot of "health food" lifestyle includes the food and exercises highlighted in the book.
This book is my dad's and I noticed that most of the food mentioned are his favourites. He probably began incorporating the knowledge he got from the book into his life until he actually thoroughly enjoys eating them even now.
While I don't think it's possible for me to follow the diet plan to a T (because I'm not in America, it's not 2008 anymore and so the specific brands of food are not available for me), I do plan to incorporate whatever I could into my own diet plan.
I love how the authors explain the differences of good and bad fats and how food goes through the body before going into the diet plan. Their plan sounds super comprehensive and well-thought out.
If anything, there's only one thing that I do not agree with the book: they encourage the readers to avoid cleaning our plates ie they tell us to leave some food uneaten. Personally, I think intentionally not finishing food is really a privilege talk. So many people and hands were involved in making the food for you and there are still starvation in the world. The least you could do is to be grateful enough to finish the food on your plate. Otherwise, keep it for later or share a plate with someone.
April 13, 2019
I've just started reading this book. First of all folks you need to see the fact that only dieting or only exercising is not the best way to get good results. As a human being I want to have a good looking body. I deserve it for myself and for those who love me. Changing simple daily habits actually helps a lot to achieve success. Changing daly eating habits helps loose some weight or at least not gain even more. You can not expect to loose weight if you keep eating buckets of big calories. Some people says it looks like mediterranean diet so it is. There is nothing wrong with that. I've just started to apply while I'm reading and at the same time I follow that amazing exercise program http://bit.ly/FlatBellyFixCom here. Following a good exercise program and keeping up with diet will reward you in shorter time. Just reading does not help. Working out will increase daly fat burn and dieting will prevent gaining unnecessary weight.
August 19, 2018
I might've given this 5 stars, but when I got to the chapter on "Day 33 and Beyond" (i.e. maintenance plan,) it basically said you have to stay on the same plan. Whaaaaat? Nope. Can't do it. I want to lose the belly and then go back to eating somewhat normal. Heck, I'd like to just lose the belly without doing any of the diet part. Ha ha. In all seriousness, I think this sounds like a do-able diet and if you are a diet guru like most of us Americans are, you can certainly tailor this program to your own taste. The important tenets that I garnered were to eat a healthy fat at every meal, keep meals to 400 calories, don't let yourself get hungry, and exercise. Diets are simple; it's the implementation that is hard.
December 25, 2018
The idea of monounsaturated fatty acids is a good idea. I do agree with that. BUT, while the 4-day kickstart did help me lose 4 pounds and 2 inches, I found that it was hard to find really healthy, satisfying meals in the recipes and there was a lot of bread/grains and dairy in the recipes, but not so much vegetable variety. It has a lot of carrots, onions, bell peppers, and tomatoes. Where are the cruciferous green vegetables? I aslo don't agree with eating non-fat dairy. You need some fat for your brain and hormones. After the 4 days, I regained what I had initially lost. They claim you don't have to exercise to lose the belly, but that is really far-fetched. I don't recommend this diet.
January 28, 2025
I got this book at one of those library book sales because I, too, would like a flat belly. It has some good baseline premises about health and nutrition: eat every four hours at least, don’t deprive your body, choose whole foods over processed foods when possible, etc. But I’ve learned more in two sessions with a dietitian on how to optimize my health, than I did in reading this entire book. The exercises were also 1/3 of the book, so while it may appear to be content-dense, it’s much more magazine style with photos and callout boxes. 2.5 stars.
June 20, 2019
The Flat Belly Diet is geared toward women. It explains the principles of the diet as well as diets in general. A diet plan is included as is a journal to record progress. There are also a number of recipes included.
January 3, 2020
I read this book cover to cover. I am now doing the 4-day jumpstart. The book provides some tips that really work and teaches us a lot about our bodies and metabolism that we need to pay attention to if we want to lose weight. The journal helps a lot!
November 11, 2018
Fascinating read and quite helpful too.
July 31, 2019
Good if you are not familiar with proper nutrition. Otherwise no great revelations.
April 15, 2020
This book helped me SO MUCH ... way more than any single other book or article I can think of. Highly recommend! (Note: specifically for women).
December 13, 2022
Interesting book with some good ideas. I did find some recipes that I'll be trying.
April 26, 2024
Useful if your diet is full of processed foods. I made all of the recipes, transitioning the meat ones to plant based. Most were good.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 151 reviews