Abs diet??

[princess24]

In my Womens Health magazine there was an article about the Abs Diet for Women. It seems very similar to SB. The one thing I noticed was of course you need to work out a lot which I do but you get one meal once a week that you can eat whatever you want. Of course if I did this I wouldn't eat a whole pizza or anything like that. How do you all feel about this diet? I feel like since I am to the point where I mainly want to tone my body to loose the last 9 lbs that maybe this diet would work well for me.

[oldpjams]

You could enjoy a meal of whatever you want on SBD.

Here's the very long story short:

To lose the last 9lbs exercise is going to be as important for you as diet. As you get close to that goal (if the number is correct) the amount of calories that you can cut per day and still lose goes down. For many people it's only possible to cut 100-200 cal/day and still lose. If you get to that point, you are losing 1lb every 2-4 weeks. It is extremely easy to undo a week's worth of eating right with one meal at that point.

If you can handle balancing that and making it work, go for it. You have to be willing to wake up at the end of some months and realize that you haven't lost a thing because you had a couple of splurges.

Additionally, when you say you want to be toned, what you eat becomes as important as how much you eat. Defined abs, for example, are an indication of overall diet...your body won't allow that to happen easily if you eat pizza once a week.

[princess24]

thanks for the suggestions. at this point i eat about 1,500 calories a day. 6 days a week i go to the gym usually a burn off between 300-550 calories with cardio plus 20-40 min of weights. for the past two weeks i have been doing ab exercises every night. i understand that making poor food choices will result in loosing the weight slower but i have lost 38 lbs since jan and i feel that once and a while it can't hurt to have a small ice cream cup. i probably only go off the diet maybe once a month at that. i just read the article and it seemed so similar to SB. i have incorported the smoothies w/ whey protein for breakfast since i workout a lot but that is the only thing i have incorportated into my diet. the cheating thing sounds nice but probaby isnt the best thing for me if i really want to loose those last 9 lbs. thanks.

[oldpjams]

thanks for the suggestions. at this point i eat about 1,500 calories a day. 6 days a week i go to the gym usually a burn off between 300-550 calories with cardio plus 20-40 min of weights. for the past two weeks i have been doing ab exercises every night. i understand that making poor food choices will result in loosing the weight slower but i have lost 38 lbs since jan and i feel that once and a while it can't hurt to have a small ice cream cup. i probably only go off the diet maybe once a month at that. i just read the article and it seemed so similar to SB. i have incorported the smoothies w/ whey protein for breakfast since i workout a lot but that is the only thing i have incorportated into my diet. the cheating thing sounds nice but probaby isnt the best thing for me if i really want to loose those last 9 lbs. thanks.

The smoothies instead of a real breakfast will probably slow you down far more than a kid's cup of real ice cream once a month. I say that from several years of fairly serious exercise, and fairly serious eating of ice cream.

Eating ice cream or a slice of pizza once a month isn't cheating...it's just life. It's arguably beneficial to your metabolism and I am certain it's vital to mental health.

If you eat 1500 calories per day, and burn 600-700 (using round numbers) that puts your total intake at 800-900 calories per day, six days a week. That is too low according to almost anything you can read by anyone that knows. You need to get your net calories above 1200 per day if you want to keep your metabolism churning.

[princess24]

why would a smoothie slow me down? it has 2 oz yogurt, 1/3 cup milk, ice, fresh fruit (ex. 1/2 banana and 1/2 cup strawberries) and protein powder.

[oldpjams]

why would a smoothie slow me down? it has 2 oz yogurt, 1/3 cup milk, ice, fresh fruit (ex. 1/2 banana and 1/2 cup strawberries) and protein powder.

It's low calorie, not especially complete, and it's essentially pre-digested -- a glycemic bomb. You are exercising hard and you need to give your body something to work with. Otherwise it will slow everything down. Nothing worse than putting in tons of effort for minimal return.

[Loriann7]

Wow, I'm glad I came in here. Someone was telling me just this morning about the ABS diet and I was going to check it out, especially for the protein shakes! And Oldpj's, You reminded me that the shakes (which I DO have a magic bullet) are not as good as making the body digest the meal!

WOW, thanks OPJ!

[oldpjams]

Anytime. I have a thing about shakes and smoothies. Unless they are milkshakes.

[horsecrzy]

ur def gonna have a problem losing the last 9 lbs if u dont up ur calorie intake. ur metabolism is gonna think ur starving urself so it's gonna hold on to everyhthing u eat. u dont have to eat junk food, eat more lean protein like chicken or fish. and a slice of pizza or a scoop of ice cream never killed anyone, especially if your working out like you are. i admire you! i dont think i could work out like that as often as you do! im good if i get my mile jog in in the evening!