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:
- Almonds and Other Nuts
- Beans and Other Legumes
- Spinach and Other Green Vegetables
- Dairy Products
- Instant Oatmeal
- Eggs
- Turkey and Other Lean Meats
- Peanut Butter
- Olive Oil
- Whole-Grain Breads and Cereals
- Extra-Protein (Whey) Powder
- 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?
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