Flat Belly Diet

JPriceGA

5 week progress report

This last week I've made significant progress. Since returning from my trip I've been sticking to the plan and the results are evident!

5 week total results:

Wt loss 9.1 lbs
Inch loss 6.55

The inch loss is based upon the four standard MFP measurements.

JPriceGA

Thoughts anyone???

In my mind I've now "finished" with my experiment with this plan. I'll take a lot of it forward, but may make some changes that better fit my budget and tastes.

Because of my wt loss, MFP has re-calculated my daily calorie needs - and dropped it down to 1260. On days when I don't exercise, that creates even more of a divide between the FBD 1600/day plan and the MFP plan.

I'm a bit torn - do I go by the MFP daily calorie guidelines or stick with the 1600/day FBD plan - which has worked very well so far?

I still plan to follow the basic rules: A MUFA at every meal (1tbsp mono-unsaturated oil, olives, nuts, chocolate or avacado), 4 meals per day - 4 hours apart, and at least my MFP calorie minimum - just not sure about keeping it a standard 400 calories/meal or whether to vary based upon how much I exercise each day.

noseovertail

Thank you for writing this thread, it's very interesting! I've never heard of this diet or even seen the book, do you think a vegetarian would have success with it, or are there a lot of meals that include meat?

Btw, congrats on sticking with it & losing the weight you have. You're doing superb!

JPriceGA

I don't think it would be difficult for a vegetarian at all. A lot of the new foods I'e been introduced to are meat substitute items.

The three rules are the the most important thing. The MUFAs are easy, 2 Tablespoons of nuts or 1 Tablespoon of oil or 1/4 cup avacado or 1/4 cup chocolate chips (semi-sweet) or 10 large olives.

Thanks for your supportive comments.

ivykivy

Congrats on the pounds lost. 9 pounds in 5 weeks is great. Is this more than you would lose with mfp? If the 1600 is working for you I would stick with it just customize mfp to work with the flat belly guidelines.

One thing i noticed in december when I was eating a lot of flax muffins the weight came off more readily. It may be coincidence .But after doing a little research I found omega 3 fatty acids, or ALA in particular, promotes insulin sensitivity in those who are insulin resistant and diabetic. So maybe the mufa's work the same way for you.

Thanks for sharing

leggi002

Nice summary of your experiences - especially with making a diet plan work for you with travel!
When I skimmed this book once at a bookstore, I ended up putting it back because I doubted I could eat 1600 calories per day and be successful with weight loss. But maybe with a few modifications.....
Thanks for your thread/blog.

mmnichol

Congratulations on your success!! I'm intriqued now. I was on the prevention web site and I found all the info on the diet for free if anyone else is interested. I even downloaded the pocket guide for free.

Thanks for the saga.....good luck with your journey!!!! :bigsmile:

mmnichol

Congratulations on your success!! I'm intriqued now. I was on the prevention web site and I found all the info on the diet for free if anyone else is interested. I even downloaded the pocket guide for free.

Thanks for the saga.....good luck with your journey!!!! :bigsmile:

JPriceGA

Nice summary of your experiences - especially with making a diet plan work for you with travel!
When I skimmed this book once at a bookstore, I ended up putting it back because I doubted I could eat 1600 calories per day and be successful with weight loss. But maybe with a few modifications.....
Thanks for your thread/blog.

Thanks, Kathy!

Travel is my biggest challenge - but I'll get more practice with it this spring!

JPriceGA

Congrats on the pounds lost. 9 pounds in 5 weeks is great. Is this more than you would lose with mfp? If the 1600 is working for you I would stick with it just customize mfp to work with the flat belly guidelines.

One thing i noticed in december when I was eating a lot of flax muffins the weight came off more readily. It may be coincidence .But after doing a little research I found omega 3 fatty acids, or ALA in particular, promotes insulin sensitivity in those who are insulin resistant and diabetic. So maybe the mufa's work the same way for you.

Thanks for sharing

Thanks, Ivy!

This last week I had oatmeal with flax seed oil as my MUFA every morning. That's going to be my standard breakfast for a while. I think the flax seed oil is a really good thing, and it tastes good in oatmeal.

What does ALA stand for?

I like your signature quote.

ivykivy

ALA stands for alpha-lipoic acid.

Glad you like my signature. I needed to read it myself today.

Congrats on the pounds lost. 9 pounds in 5 weeks is great. Is this more than you would lose with mfp? If the 1600 is working for you I would stick with it just customize mfp to work with the flat belly guidelines.

One thing i noticed in december when I was eating a lot of flax muffins the weight came off more readily. It may be coincidence. But after doing a little research I found omega 3 fatty acids, or ALA in particular, promotes insulin sensitivity in those who are insulin resistant and diabetic. So maybe the mufa's work the same way for you.

Thanks for sharing

Thanks, Ivy!

This last week I had oatmeal with flax seed oil as my MUFA every morning. That's going to be my standard breakfast for a while. I think the flax seed oil is a really good thing, and it tastes good in oatmeal.

What does ALA stand for?

I like your signature quote.

CrazyAdventures

Congratulations! Thank you for being so open with us, I love everything you've written and am eager to read more about it!

JPriceGA

Sugar free cereal

I'm finding it really hard to locate cereal without sugar. Yesterday I went to Trader Joe's and discovered their shredded wheat cereal has no sugar. The Trader Joe's corn flakes have 1g of sugar/serving.

Although they only suggest this specifically for the jumpstart - I prefer limiting my sugar intake. I'd rather use up those empty calories in my dark chocolate than in my corn flakes! :bigsmile:

marjaskow

I think it's great you did so well on the diet. My sister has been on & off of it along with the weight going up and down. For me I have to be able to eat what I want which is why this site helps me so much as it keeps what I want in perspective to still be able to lose weight. I think that by following the diet as well as you have that you've learned the discipline it takes to be aware of what you are eating and wether you continue their guidlines or use them along with the ones from this site that you will still be successful. I think that it's about life style changes and making the right choices, not just following a diet as you don't want to be on a diet for the rest of your life.

PhotographerOfNature

JPriceGA: Congrats on so many things. Sticking with the plan, losing that much weight in 5 weeks, success in travel and thank you for motivating us following your journey. 1600 calories seems to agree with you. I wouldn't fix something that isn't broke.

Photog

JPriceGA

Thanks for the feedback! I appreciate the kind words!

For the time being, I will stick with the 1600 calories/day and keep it consistent as I have been. I think the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" idea is a good one right now. I'd like to keep the momentum going! Also, my mind does funny things when I'm facing a change that feels like I might be "loosing" something. For example, I needed to "use up" the things in the fridge that weren't on the plan, so I stopped logging my food for 5 days - so I'm sure I ate more than "normal" for those days leading up to this experiment. I've continued logging my food every day. When my MFP calorie guideline dropped, I started feeling anxious, and hungrier! Even though for a month it's been easy to stay within 1600, the past two days it's been really hard - and I know that has to be just in my head! I went over both days by about 100 - 140. Go figure. So 1600/day is where I'll stay until it stops working :-)

JPriceGA

It's been a few days over three months since I started this plan. The past three weeks have been more "coasting" than anything else. Work has been very stressful and demanding - unusually so, and that clearly is showing in my efforts to keep the eating & exercise balance in check. I've logged everything I've eaten/done except for one day during the past three weeks. I've followed the 3 rules most of the time, but must confess I was a slacker most of last week and went over on my calories. I've had pizza twice and steak and potatoes twice. I haven't had the will to adjust the portion size to match the plan yet on those two favorites!

I've now gotten into a routine for breakfast where I have oatmeal with flax seed oil every morning. I've added back a morning cup of coffee. Unfortunately, more often than not lately, lunch has been a microwaved meal. Each one has either been on the list in the book, or right at 400 calories. I had to adjust my daily calorie goal in MFP to 1600/day because it was messing with me to go over my calories every day to hit the 1600.

I'm up 2 lbs from my lowest - measurements are about the same as my last post. They've shifted around a bit. I'm not worried about the 2 lbs - I tend to plateau, and I know that it's most likely water weight. The biggest difference right now has been a lack of exercise. I've been working late and sitting longer hours at the computer. I haven't been able to master the habit of a walk after each meal. That would make a big difference!

At this point, I'm still really pleased with the results from this effort. I expect to continue to have good long-term results.

hooray

I just read through your posts and I found them very inspiring. You're not the first woman I've heard about having success from this diet, but thank you so much for have the courage to journal about it. It makes my decision to try it that much easier (though I know the going will get tough!) One question: can you have ANY alcohol? I'm a musician and play at bars frequently. It will be very hard not to drink. At least with MFP, I could save my calories for that glass of wine or beer.

JPriceGA

Hi, Hooray!

Sorry, to take so long to respond! I don't remember drinking during the time that I journaled. I'm one of those folks who drinks socially, but could take it or leave it. It's not "prohibited" as I recall, but you do have to count that in your calorie count for the day just like you would on MFP. Doesn't seem worth it to me.

I'll have an occasional glass of wine with dinner or a margarita, but that's about it.

My spring travel season final trip is next week. I've not been terribly strict since my last post. I'm considering doing a full-out second round since that seemed to work well for me. I'd like to get down another ten pounds before October. I'm in better physical shape than I was the first round, and plan to build in the exercise program that goes along with the plan for this next round.

JPriceGA

Looks like it's time to run a new race so I'll have a new picture :-)