When people ask me when I was bitten by the fitness bug, I like to tell them the story of “How Fitness became my Mantra“. It’s always entertaining (even to me) to learn that a free audio book deal can make such a profound change in a person’s life (and make the lives of those around that person a living hell as he daily expounds the virtues of eating raw vegetables and banishing sugar!).

The Abs Diet

But in all seriousness, The Abs Diet was truly the inspiration for my embarking on my journey toward fitness. The food and exercise ideas contained within its pages are a treasure trove for anyone seeking to learn a hype-free way to successful weight-management. The name of the book is a little misleading (although I am sure it contributes to loads of sales!).

Now, no diet can promise to give you washboard abs but combine the foods mentioned in the book with the nicely illustrated exercises and you give yourself a great chance of having a defined mid-section - an almost guaranteed indicator of a person’s fitness level. The book also talks about things like “converting” fat to muscle which in reality can never happen because the two are made of different constituents. You really have to burn off fat with cardio exercises and pack on muscle with a combination of strength-training and protein-rich eating. But the book more than makes up for its few faults and its well worth the cost if only because of the detailed section on diet and the foods that it advises we all center our diets around. Meet …

The 12 Powerfoods

The book suggests that a large part of our diets should include foods from the set of 12 so-called power foods. Power 12 Foods: Never Go Hungry is the secret-spilling article on the Men’s Health website that details not only what these foods are, but also how you can include them in your daily meals. A basic understanding with the Abs Diet is that you will eat 6 times a day (3 major meals and 3 snacks - which is what I tend to do as well).

Though you can base entire meals and snacks around these foods, you don’t have to. But do follow these guidelines.

• Incorporate two or three of these foods into each of your three major meals and at least one of them into each of your three snacks.
• Diversify your food at every meal to get a combination of protein, carbohydrates, and fat.
• Make sure you sneak a little bit of protein into each snack.

An easy way to remember the 12 powerfoods is to remember the words ABS DIET POWER - the first letters of each of the powerfoods spell these words as you can see:

1. Almonds and Other Nuts
2. Beans and Other Legumes
3. Spinach and Other Green Vegetables
4. Dairy Products
5. Instant Oatmeal
6. Eggs
7. Turkey and Other Lean Meats
8. Peanut Butter
9. Olive Oil
10. Whole-Grain Breads and Cereals
11. Extra-Protein (Whey) Powder
12. Raspberries and Other Berries

While this is not a comprehensive list of all the good foods you can possibly consume, it is still pretty inclusive and I can unconditionally vouch for the veracity and potency of each and every one of these foods. In previous posts I have written about a majority of them including nuts (almonds and walnuts), green vegetables (broccoli), dairy (milk 1,2 and cottage cheese), oatmeal, peanut butter and whole grains (bread). It’s surprising how much my diet now revolves around all of these foods (well almost all - I am vegetarian so #7 is out, which is why I need a whole lot of #11 to make up the protein!)

What else can you ad to this list? Well, there’s flaxseed for one (along with other healthful seeds like sunflower seeds). And of course atleast 2-3 servings of fresh fruits (simply go with whatever is in season - this way you not only get a good variety year-round, you are also assured it is fresh and the cost is probably lower too). Any other super-foods you can think of that don’t fall into one of the 12 categories? Do comment about them.

Finally, incorporating these superfoods into your diet while always being conscious of your total calorie intake will certainly help you maintain an appropriate weight, but distributing that weight and ensuring you build lean muscle while losing fat requires - you guessed it - exercise! The Abs Diet Exercise Plan is a worthy complement to the superfood diet and an excellent place to start. It’s all part of the Abs Diet Plan.

I made a huge, life-altering change to my eating and exercise habits when I learned everything that you have read today. Are you now ready to make that big change?

Technorati Tags: health, nutrition, fitness, exercise, abs diet, powerfoods

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Welcome to “FitnessMantra Weekend”, your once-a-week health news update. As always you can also stay updated with the latest in fitness news by subscribing separately to the Fitness Mantra del.icio.us feed.

Now, if I asked you (or any other fitness-conscious person) how many calories you needed to consume everyday to maintain your weight, I am pretty sure you could rattle off the answer right away and you would probably be pretty close to the right answer.

But did you know that on average only11% of Americans would get this right? This and other diet disconnections are discussed in “Diet IQs disconnected from reality“, an MSNBC article that comes to this conclusion based on the results of the International Food Information Council (IFIC) Foundation’s second annual Food & Health Survey of 1000 adults.

Among the most striking “disconnects,” was knowledge about good and bad fats. While current guidelines recommend people consume more polyunsaturated fats, found in fish and some whole grain foods, and monounsaturated fats, found in nuts, avocados and vegetable oils, 42 percent of those surveyed said they were trying to eat fewer polyunsaturated fats and 38 percent reported trying to cut down on monounsaturated fats!

However, 70 percent of people said they were trying to cut down on saturated fat, more than last year’s 57 percent. Saturated fats are found in meats, dairy foods, and coconut and palm oils, among other sources, and have been tied to an increased risk off heart disease and stroke.

Also, while a high majority of those surveyed said they were physically active at least once a week for health benefits, only 44 percent said they “balanced diet and physical activity” for weight management, which is the direct concept of “calories in, calories out” - another big disconnect.

You can learn all about understanding calories and using that knowledge to your advantage from “5 links to calorie-conscious fitness“. While each of those links open in separate windows, check out some other interesting stories from this past week:

1. Half of EU Adults Overweight, Obese: More than half of adults in European Union nations are obese or overweight and the young are increasingly making Europe a fat continent, the EU’s top public health official said Wednesday.
2. Ice cream craving? Treats to feel good about: With temperatures on the rise and the days growing longer, it gets harder to resist buying an ice cream cone or throwing a pint of Ben & Jerry’s into the grocery cart.
3. Fitness boot camps taking it to the parks: Fitness boot camps have grown in popularity as people look for a way to enjoy the outdoors while avoiding the hassle of the gym and the cost of a personal trainer.
4. Making Meals a Family Affair: Most parents look for ways to give their children an edge, but many miss an easy and often inexpensive recipe for success: eating together.
5. Regular exercise increases “good” cholesterol: Regular exercise appears to modestly increase levels of high-density lipoprotein, or “good,” cholesterol.
6. Doubts over obesity pill claims: Some of the health benefits claimed for a new weight loss drug may not be justified, say experts.
7. Soy Nuts Lower Blood Pressure in Postmenopausal Women: Soy nuts may help lower blood pressure in postmenopausal women, a new U.S. study finds.
8. Junk food ads increasing on kids’ shows: A new Federal Trade Commission study found that half of the ads for junk food, sugary cereals and soft drinks are on children’s programs, double the number 30 years ago.
9. Lazy ‘can be encouraged to move’: However, advice had to be tailored to individual needs - adopting a “one size fits all” policy would not be as effective …
10. Diet IQs disconnected from reality: Ninety percent of Americans say breakfast is an important part of a healthy diet, but just 49 percent manage to eat breakfast every day, a new survey shows.
11. Air hostesses told to shed weight: An Indian court has ruled against a group of female flight attendants who were grounded from the national airline for being overweight.
12. Shake your way to fitness - or brain damage?: What if you could burn fat while shaking a martini? Actually, it’s your body that shakes like a martini on a new type of fitness machine that’s generating lots of buzz and celebrity use.
13. New Jersey starting agency to battle obesity: New Jersey’s health department is escalating the battle against the bulge by starting a new Office of Nutrition and Fitness to better coordinate programs to prevent obesity.

Get the best health and fitness stories of the week in your RSS inbox.

Have a great weekend!

Technorati Tags: health, fitness, health news, fitness news, health links, fitness links, del.icio.us

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