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The ABS Diet

Tess Thompson

There are many diets and weight loss plans that have been developed just to take advantage of the obsession with weight loss and the premium associated with slimness. People go to great lengths to market a diet even if it is a repackaged one. All it requires is identifying what people are fixated upon and thinking up a new and fancy name. Add some slick marketing gimmicks to it and you have a new diet plan!

The first three foods out of the twelve that the Abs diet terms as 'power foods' are Almonds, Beans and Spinach. It has made good use of these foods to coin its name by using the first letter of each.

The prominent features of Abs diet are:

• There are twelve “power” foods:
  • Almonds and other nuts eaten with skins.
  • Beans and other legumes.
  • Spinach and other green vegetables.
  • Dairy: Fat free or low fat milk, yoghurt, cheese and cottage cheese.
  • Instant Oatmeal: without sugar.
  • Eggs.
  • Turkey and other lean meats such as chicken and fish.
  • Peanut Butter: all natural and limited to 3 tablespoons a day.
  • Olive Oil
  • Whole grain bread and cereal.
  • Extra protein (whey)
  • Raspberries and other berries.

(Even the list of the so called "power foods" is prepared in way that the first letter of each makes an acronym: "absdietpower," to attract attention.)

Other instructions that follow along with the diet recommendations are:

• Six small meals in a day are recommended
• Breakfast, lunch and dinner must contain at least three of the ‘power foods’.
• Snacks should contain at least one of the “power foods”
• An exercise program is also included.

Along with the "power foods" there is also a long list of foods that can be eaten regularly, a list of foods to eat occasionally and foods to be avoided. The allowed foods, barring few are all in line with those promoted by healthy weight loss plans. The forbidden foods too are those that are generally considered as unhealthy. These are vegetable oils, butter, soda, high sugar foods and beverages and fast foods like pizza, French fries and chicken wings.

Although the Abs diet is based on sound principles, there is nothing new in it. At the same time, the subtle claims made by it are not possible to achieve easily. Defined abs are difficult to attain and possible only with a dramatic reduction in body fats. Diet and weight loss supplements, can do very little in that regard. There is no replacing special exercise and training to be able to get great abs.

References:

http://www.menshealth.com/cda/article.do?site=menshealth&channel=weight.loss&category=abs.diet&conitem=c54a99edbbbd201099edbbbd2010cfe793cd____
http://www.menshealth.com/cda/article.do?site=MensHealth&channel=weight.loss&category=abs.diet&conitem=972a99edbbbd201099edbbbd2010cfe793cd____
http://www.everydiet.org/absdiet.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abs_Diet