Flat Belly Diet

hwilliams519
hwilliams519 Posts: 428
edited September 2024 in Food and Nutrition
Anyone out there doing (or have done) the Flat Belly Diet.? I tried it for a couple of weeks and then stopped eating healthy in general. Then I noticed I was starting to gain weight, and decided it's time to get healthy again. So then I joined MFP. I want to lose 1 lb / week. According to MFP, in order to do that, I can only consume 1,310 calories / day.

The Flat Belly diet is (4) 400 calorie meals / day. And you are eating a really clean diet incorporating healthy oils, nuts & seeds, avacodos, dark or semi sweet chocolate into every meal. I found that the foods taste really good, allow me to be creative with my meals, and it's really easy. Each meal has the same amount of calories, and I stay full and am able to avoid snacking.

As I mentioned before, I am only supposed to have 1,310 calories / day, but the Flat Belly Diet is 1600 calories. They say they allow more calories on that plan, than most diet plans, since those foods you work into every meal are higher in calories than most diet food. So here's my dilema...do I stick to the plan I really like but risk eating more calories than my suggested intake? Or do I try to follow that plan but with a lower calorie limit? Or do I just nix it all together? And I know on MFP, when you exercise, you get those calories burned back. So that may be what I need to do. Eat 1600 calories, then burn about 300 off. I just don't know that I would be able to do that everyday.

Of all the plans I tried, I feel like it was the one I liked best! I just don't have much weight loss experience with it because I only tried it for a couple of weeks. The past month I've had holidays, bday, business lunches and dinners, & Moving. I just got overwhelmed with things in my life and stopped doing it.

But I feel like, if I try to just eat healthy with my limited calories, I still find myself falling to temptations of snacking after dinner. So if any of you have tried the Flat Belly Diet, please pass on any advice you may have with that particular plan. For those of you who have not tried it, but would like to help me figure this out...Please Do!

Thanks for listening (well reading).

Replies

  • skinnylizzard
    skinnylizzard Posts: 460 Member
    Quality of food definitely makes a difference. The flat belly diet sounds very interesting to me, I'll have to check it out! Did you find you were losing weight at a good rate on that? I feel like I would like to try it!
  • rachelleahsmom
    rachelleahsmom Posts: 442 Member
    I say do what works for you. If youlike it and can follow it and you lose weight, that's all that matters. Good luck!
  • MB_Positif
    MB_Positif Posts: 8,897 Member
    I am not on the flat belly diet 100%, but I've got the cookbook and loosely follow the principles, like the 400 calorie meals, etc. Lost 12 pounds already and just found that my jeans which were hard to button a couple of months ago now go on and off without unbuttoning them at all! They're saggy around the belly area, so I know this is working!
  • jgerbe2
    jgerbe2 Posts: 57 Member
    Remeber that if you work out during the day you are allowed to eat back those calories. So if you are allowed 1310 cal before your workout and then you burn 350 calories working out, you can actually have 1660 calories that day.
  • mmnichol
    mmnichol Posts: 208 Member
    If your interested you can put in the search option here flat belly diet and scroll down a bit and you will find a member named Jprice GA a year ago or so who blogged her entire journey with this diet, it was very intersting, you might find it helpful.
  • brendalyne
    brendalyne Posts: 497
    My husband and I did the flat belly diet a year ago, and did really well....until we went on vacation and fell off the wagon! We are back on the wagon again. I think the concepts of the flat belly diet are good, and I'm struggling with the same questions you asked. I can tell you that right now, I'm "kind of" following the flat belly diet (eating clean - good health food and always including some good fats) but I've lowered the calories per day from 1600 down to around 1400. I decided to see how it goes for a while. In fact I pulled the book out again this morning and forced myself to do the floor exercises - which I really hate!
  • tamcrit
    tamcrit Posts: 340 Member
    I have never done te Flat Belly Diet, but I would say go with what you like and what you already know you can stick with. Since this needs to be a lifestyle change, not a "diet", it needs to be something you enjoy and can see yourself doing for the long haul. Part of that also needs to include exercise and physical activity, so working to burn 200-300 calories per day is a good goal, and really isn't that hard...a nice brisk walk could do it. I say, give that a try and see how it goes...monitor your results and you can always tweek it if it isn't giving you the results you want. This is all about finding what works for you...good luck!!
  • hwilliams519
    hwilliams519 Posts: 428
    I lost about 4 lbs in like 2 weeks. But the first 4 days was a jump start program that was hell. Most of what I lost was water weight. I didn't do it long enough to find out true results. The only good thing about the jump start was that it made me really look forward to all the yummy food I could eat next. I think I'm going to try it again starting tomorrow. But either with fewer calories or by exercising more. Or a mix of both.
  • JPriceGA
    JPriceGA Posts: 508 Member
    I'd encourage you to give it a whirl - go with the plan as it's written and just log everything you eat every day and log your exercise too. Make a decision about what to do later... later ;-)

    If you do the 10 minute walk after every meal, and follow the exercises, you'll be pretty much on target anyway.
  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
    Remeber that if you work out during the day you are allowed to eat back those calories. So if you are allowed 1310 cal before your workout and then you burn 350 calories working out, you can actually have 1660 calories that day.

    I was thinking something along the lines of this.

    I would say to give it a try for about 2 weeks, and be sure to get some exercise in as well. If it is working, keep at it. If it is not working, then drop it. But it really does sound like what MFP is telling you do as long as you exercise and add those calories back, only it is guiding you with what to eat. And heck, if you like it and can follow it as a lifestyle and not just a mere "diet," then I would say definitely go for it!
  • ischmelle
    ischmelle Posts: 203 Member
    Remeber that if you work out during the day you are allowed to eat back those calories. So if you are allowed 1310 cal before your workout and then you burn 350 calories working out, you can actually have 1660 calories that day.

    Great catch, that's the perfect answer! As long as you burn the remainder of the calories both days, then you can have the best of both worlds! And I bet you would see a big result!
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