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The Flat Belly Diet

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 22, 2008

The diet's two phases are the four-day jumpstart and a four-week plan.

The jumpstart:

Drink 2 liters of "Sassy Water" (see recipe). It contains ingredients that calm the digestive tract and act as a mild diuretic.

Eat four small meals per day, which include a smoothie, and follow the book's menu plan. The daily total of calories is 1,200.

Sample: Breakfast is cornflakes with milk, unsweetened applesauce and sunflower seeds. Lunch is a turkey roll-up with string cheese and grape tomatoes. An afternoon meal is a blueberry smoothie. Dinner is tilapia, green beans and roasted red potatoes.

The four-week plan:

Eat a MUFA at every meal.

Stick to 400 calories per meal. The daily calorie total is 1,600.

Never go more than four hours without eating.

Sample: Breakfast is a toasted frozen waffle with sliced bananas and pecans. Lunch is a ham and bleu cheese salad sprinkled with pumpkin seeds. Dinner is a pepperoni pizza made with multigrain pita bread brushed with olive oil. Include a snack, such a packet of instant hot oatmeal topped with raspberries and chocolate chips.

Sassy Water

2 liters (about 8 1/2 cups) water

1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger

1 medium cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced

1 medium lemon, thinly sliced

12 small spearmint leaves

Combine all ingredients in a large pitcher and let flavors blend overnight. Drink the entire pitcher by the end of the day.

Created by Prevention nutrition director Cynthia Sass

Where to find MUFAs

These are some of the foods that contain MUFAs, which are monounsaturated fats. Researchers say MUFAs are "good fats" that can help combat health problems including diabetes and heart disease and also may reduce belly fat.

Avocados

Olives

Almonds

Natural peanut butter

Soybeans (edamame)

Pesto sauce

Sesame oil

Canola oil

Pistachios

Tahini

Pine nuts

Chocolate

"Flat Belly Diet" by Liz Vaccariello and Cynthia Sass (Rodale) is sold at Flat Belly Diet Online for $31.95. Go to www.flatbellydiet.com.

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