The Abs Diet 6-Minute Meals for 6-Pack Abs: More Than 150 Great-Tasting Recipes to Melt Away Fat! [Hardcover] Review

This latest book in the Abs Diet franchise is essentially another recipe book. As the title indicates, these are quickie recipes that can be made in minutes, though they throw in a few more involved meals at the end. Be clear, these are tasty and healthful recipes aimed at the fitness-oriented individual. You don't have to necessarily be following the Abs Diet plan per se, but anyone who has adopted a weightlifting + aerobics exercise program with a high-protein, controlled-carb and controlled-fat diet will find this book has what you're looking for, especially if you want meals you can make quickly and stick into a tupperware container to eat throughout the day.

Most of the recipes are not fancy, and many are quite obvious, being nothing more than various ways to combine ingredients to make a dozen versions of sandwiches, salads, breakfast omelettes, smoothies, etc. But as simple as they are, some of the combos just wouldn't have occurred to me on my own, but when I tried them, they were quite tasty! (Example: Brown rice mixed with black beans, heat, put a fried egg on top, and spoon some salsa over it. Simple, easy, and a great filling breakfast that can easily be put in a plastic container and microwaved at the office.)

This isn't a cookbook for entertaining guests with or preparing meals for a potluck. The recipes aren't fancy and someone not dedicated to eating and living like this might find them a bit plain. I find them nourishing and filling and they've added to my reportoire, so when I prepare the 5-6 meals I eat every day, I always have a decent variety to choose from. The "Abs Diet Eat Right Every Time Guide" also contains a lot of good recipes to choose from. This book is a good companion to that one.

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Product Description:
The best-selling Abs Diet series continues with the perfect cookbook for anyone who wants to eat sensibly to get a flat, sculpted set of abdominals -but doesn't have a lot of time to cook

Tens of thousands of Americans have changed their bodies-and their lives-with the help of The Abs Diet, the New York Times bestseller from David Zinczenko, editor-in-chief of Men's Health® magazine. A key factor in the diet's success is the meal plan, with its healthy, great-tasting, easy recipes featuring the Abs Diet 12 Powerfoods. Now, to meet the demands of today's time-strapped society, Zinczenko and coauthor Ted Spiker present The Abs Diet 6-Minute Meals for 6-Pack Abs to help readers make the right food choices-in less time than it takes to pick up a meal at a drive-thru.

The Abs Diet 6-Minute Meals for 6-Pack Abs features:

- 101 6-minute recipes: fast and easy recipes like Barbecue Chicken Pizza, Smokehouse Salad, Summer Vegetable Couscous, and more

- the 12 Abs Diet Powerfoods, plus what makes them nutritional powerhouses and how they increase lean muscle mass and discourage storing fat

- shopping lists, appliance recommendations, and more

- a 7-day meal plan (for those who prefer not to mix-and-match)

- a bonus chapter with 60-minute Sunday creations and 15-minute meals when you have more time

This user-friendly cookbook is the perfect resource for followers of The Abs Diet as well as anyone who wants to change their body to improve their health, their looks, or their athletic performance.

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The Abs Diet Eat Right Every Time Guide (Paperback) Review

I wholeheartedly and enthusiastically recommend this book.If you are overweight, and want to do something about it, this book has the information you need to change your life for good.Know though that this is not a "diet" - it is a dietary strategy.A way of life.One which - if you embrace it, will change your life forever in very positive ways.

My personal testimony:I am 6' 2" tall and 35 years old. My weight has been over 250lbs for the last few years.But I have a large frame, and my body type is primarily mesomorphic, with a strong endomorphic influence.This means I have a good deal of muscle mass and definition, but have also always carried a significant amount of fat. Anyway, my BMI was about 31 and my body fat was over 30%.

That is technically obese, though I neither felt nor looked it.I would tell people how much I weighed, and they never would believe me.

So I carried the fat well, thus I didn't particularly care. I idly thought about doing something about it.I bought the main book of this series (to which this book is a supplement) last year, but it sat on my shelf collecting dust.

Until two months ago.On March 2nd 2006, I went to the doctor's for my checkup.I got on the scale.It tipped.263lbs.Then my blood pressure: 200/100.That's right.200/100.Nice round numbers.I've had slightly high blood pressure for years.Always 140/80 or less.Nothing too dramatic.This new reading blew my mind.I wasn't scared, just astonished.I had it taken again that afternoon, and it came out at 169/90.I was officially suffering from hypertension.

The old clich?d wake-up call.I had been eating a lot.Not poorly, I hardly ever eat junk or processed food.But richly.Lots of cheese, desserts, bread, salt, sugar, second and third portions... no breakfasts.And wine.And gin & tonic.Andbourbon.All very yummy stuff.

I was - to put it bluntly - a fat gluttonous hypertensive lush.

I went home that evening and resolved to change. I took the main book of this series off the shelf, and read it. I went out and bought a small notebook, which I christened my food journal.I recorded everything I put in my mouth for about a month.I began simultaneously phasing the principles in this book into my life.

I eat five small meals a day, 3 or at the most 4 hours apart.Each & every food choice is a deliberate one.I make the best possible choices I can, every time, knowing that each thing I put in my mouth is making me healthier and leaner.I've stopped drinking alcohol & most other caloried drinks all together.I bought a blender and have begun drinking smoothies.I eat loads of good, substantive food. Tasty food.Whole grains.Vegetables, berries & fruit.Nuts.Lean proteins- fish, chicken & beef jerky.Healthy fats like olive oil and avocado paste.

And my bodyfat has simply melted - metabolized - inexorably away. Very gracefully. I counted calories, protein, carb & fat percentages for a few weeks (which this plan does not recommend, but I felt was important for me, just so I could get a sense of what I was eating) - but did no formal exercise at all.I have been active - walking a lot (I always take stairs, do a lot of yard & house work, etc.) but have not gone out of my way to exert myself. No running.No lifting. None.

It's been just over two months on the plan. I've bought a very good scale and blood pressure monitor, and have kept daily track of my progress.

Today is May 11th, 2006.I weighed in this morning at 231 lbs.That's a loss of 32lbs, to date. My blood pressure is 127/80.It hasn't been over - or even really near 140/90 - in weeks.I'm still losing fat at a rate of about two pounds a week.I can feel my body burning it away. I feel so much better - almost euphoric at times. And I'm eating all the time. Several small portions of simple but tasty food, every three hours or so. I drink water and lightly sweetened iced tea all day. I am rarely hungry, and when I am it means it is time to eat.

I am not doing this for aesthetic reasons, but people have noticed - particularly girls - and I got to admit it's gratifying. When I finally cut my six-pack - which I expect to do by the around the end of the summer, with a little exercise - it is going to be sweet. I still have about 30lbs of fat to lose.

So, this is the deal: if you want to know how burn fat without destroying your metabolism and losing muscle, buy this series. It will require significant permanent changes in your life, probably, but the results will more than compensate.You will like what you eat, you won't starve, and you will lose fat and become healthier. It is win win win, requiring just a bit of self-awareness & discipline. Anybody can do it.

This book - almost a booklet, really - is the core of the plan.It details the dietary rules, and provides very quick & simple, good tasting recipes. I would say that you could buy this, and not bother with the other, main book and you'd have all the information you need. This book has far more recipes, and all the essential nutrition information.It's also much smaller, and so very portable - easily slipped into a glove compartment, book bag, purse, or even pocket.What it doesn't have is the workout plan.But the workout is secondary.Nutrition is over 80% of the game here.

Upshot:Buy them both, but this is to my mind the more helpful of the two.

So go, learn the principles & eat with deliberation.You will not regret it.Good luck.

Addendum: November 13, 2006:

After a summer of partial laxity during which I hovered in the low 230's (never exercising, and thus not cutting that six pack) I re- engaged fully in August, began sporadically exercising and lost another fifteen pounds, weighing in now c. 218 lbs.I've been lifting three days a week the last three weeks- the differance has been pretty immediate & dramatic.

This plan really is simple, and easy.Like I say, simple good choices, consistently made.Your reality today is just an accumulation of millions of choices.Make 90% of them well, and you will get good results.Forgive yourself for your failures, choose to be decisively slack, re- affirm your goals, and you will progress.

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Product Description:
Smart Eating Choices - Made Simple!

TENS OF THOUSANDS OF AMERICANS HAVE CHANGED THEIR BODIES - AND THEIR LIVES - with the help of The Abs Diet, the New York Times bestseller from David Zinczenko, editor-in-chief of Men's Health magazine.

The principles of The Abs Diet are simple: Eat more healthy food - six delicious meals a day - and crowd out the bad stuff that's making you fat. The Abs Diet has been proven to strip off 10, 15, even 20 pounds of flab - from your belly first - in six weeks or less.

Now, Zinczenko makes eating smart and healthy easy with this eye opening portable weight-loss manual, THE ABS DIET EAT RIGHT EVERY TIME GUIDE. This on-the-go guide pinpoints the foods you should choose to burn away belly fat no matter where you are - at home, in the supermarket, even at the fast-food counter. And it reveals the hidden killers that are adding inches to your waistline and taking years off your life!

Discover these amazing weight-loss secrets:

Should you toast a bagel or an English muffin? Did you know that making the wrong choice will cost you 150 extra calories?
What's healthier - a bean burrito or a taco salad? Would you believe the healthy salad will pile 130 more calories onto your plate?
Which will make you fatter - a Whopper or a Big Mac? You'll be stunned to discover the shocking truth!

Learn why a hot fudge sundae is a treat you should eat, why potato chips are better for you than french fries, and why Swiss cheese is three times healthier than Cheddar.

You don't have time for complicated plans or fancy recipes. In THE ABS DIET EAT RIGHT EVERY TIME GUIDE, Zinczenko tells you how to strip away belly fat in every situation - from the frozen food aisle to the deli, from a five-star restaurant to the drive-thru. On-the-go eating doesn't have to end up on your gut.



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The Abs Diet for Women: The Six-Week Plan to Flatten Your Belly and Firm Up Your Body for Life [Bargain Price] [Paperback] Review

My husband and I went on the Abs Diet last year and did great. I saw this new book and thought maybe I could tailor the Abs Diet for me, as a woman. I thought things would be a little more differentiated, but the changes from the "men's" book are minimal. The recipes and basic concepts are the same. A lot of the book focuses on post-baby weight, which is not my concern (yet). The testimonials are from women and the exercises are photos of women, but other than that, it's not really any different than the men's version. If you're both trying out the diet, you might as well stick to the men's version and save a few bucks. But, if it's just you (and you're a woman), then give this "diet" a shot.

We had great results and felt a lot better eating the recommended foods. Beyond that, you don't even start the exercises 'til you're 3 weeks into the program! Great for those who need to ease into a new diet/program.

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Product Description:
In survey after survey, men and women say that a flat abdomen is the ultimate symbol of sex appeal. And in study after study, researchers found that getting a firm belly is the single most significant step anyone can take to stay healthy for life. Now available in paperback, The Abs Diet for Women shows the most effective way to a flat belly, a firm body, and a much better life. Packed with information developed exclusively for women, the book includes: -information on how the Abs Diet can prevent joint pain, improve female sexual response, and give a woman the flat belly she craves in just six weeks -Abs Diet adaptations to tailor the diet to each woman's individual needs -psychological strategies for dealing with obstacles and changing moods -3 weeks' worth of all-new meal plans -tips on managing menopausal symptoms without hormone replacement therapy -new and super-effective moves that incorporate yoga and Pilates to strenghten the core, stretch the body, and relieve stress-plus a postpartum workout to help moms lose the baby weight Easy to follow and more satisfying than a great-fitting pair of jeans, The Abs Diet for Women is the most effective way for a woman to change her health, her size, and her body for good.

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The Abs Diet: The Six-Week Plan to Flatten Your Stomach and Keep You Lean for Life [Paperback] Review

Like many of you, I found myself wondering what the differences were between the various diet programs. What I discovered is that all of the major diet books are well written and share many similarities. None of them offered an "silver bullet" to weight loss - it primarily comes down to keeping your calories burned greater than your calories eaten. There are theories presented about glycemic index, good vs. bad carbs, etc., but at the end of the day it's about calories and exercise.

In this review, I've summarized Consumer Reports evaluations to offer brief summaries of each diet book/program in hopes that it might help you pick out the one that would work best for you. Don't pay too much attention to the number of stars, as it's my own subjective rating based on effectiveness, ease of use, and ability to stick with the diet. Instead, try to discern which diet might fit your lifestyle better.

The Abs Diet, ****
This book is written by David Zinczenko, the editor of Men's Health Magazine. The diet likes the number 6 - promising "6 pack abs in 6 weeks," by eating 6 meals a day. Each meal is built around the "power 12" foods. There is a strong emphasis on whey supplements. The fitness program was easy to follow but perhaps too strenuous for beginners and seemed better suited to men. Strong points are excellent nutritional content and strong exercise. Weak points are questionable claims about rapid weight loss and "6 pack" abs, and mediocre meal plans. Average recommended daily calories are 1,890, with 7 fruits and vegetable servings.

The South Beach Diet ****
The SB Diet is a slightly more permissive version of the Atkins low-carb diet. It is based on the premise that eating low-glycemic foods (foods that raise blood sugar) decreases cravings for sugar and refined carbs. Like many of the diets, there are two phases. In the first phase, fruits, sugar, and grains are banned outright. Phase 2 allows some fruit, high-fiber grains, and dark chocolate. The simplicity of the diet might appeal to many busy dieters. However the emphasis on the glycemic index and insufficient exercise sections are a drawback. Recipes are easy to prepare, but some called for unusual ingredients (a clever cook could make substitutions). Average recommended daily calories are a mere 1,340, with 13 fruits and vegetable servings (mostly veggies).

The Sonoma Diet ****
The Sonoma Diet is an updated low-carb diet with a Mediterranean theme. Again, it is broken into two phases, called "waves." In "Wave 1," the dieter is banned from eating most sweet or refined foods. The much longer "Wave 2" permits fruits and wine. It has a unique method of calculating portions by filling sectors of small plates with specified food categories. The diet is healthy but complex. It is also very restrictive, which makes it more difficult to stay on. Also, the book doesn't offer enough on exercise. The recipes were tasty but elaborate to prepare. Average recommended daily calories are a mere 1,390, with 10 fruits and vegetable servings.

Ultra-Metabolism ***
The Ultra-Metabolism Diet is designed around the assertion that people get fat because their body's systems become toxic, inflamed, and imbalanced. Again, this is a two phase diet. Phase 1 is an initial "detox" period. The longer Phase 2 is a "rebalancing" period. Overall, the dieter must eliminate white rice, refined grains, most red meats, and caffeinated beverages. The theory of your body requiring detoxification goes beyond any scientific evidence and rings a bit of late night television "miracle detox bowel-cleansing pills." The diet is fairly restrictive and complicated. The exercise section was brief but practical. Average recommended daily calories are 1,660, with 12 fruits and vegetable servings.

Volumetrics, ****
The Volumetrics Diet is based on Penn State research. It aims to maximize the amount of food you can eat for a given caloric intake. This is done primarily by eating reduced-fat products, adding in lots of vegetables, and using low-fat cooking techniques. It encourages eating a first course of broth-based soup or low-calorie salad (not heavily laden with dressing, cheese or bacon) to take the edge off your appetite. Recent clinical studies have shown this diet to be very effective. The recipes are appetizing but time consuming. Average recommended daily calories are 1,500, with 14 fruits and vegetable servings.

The Zone Diet, ****
The Zone Diet was designed to keep your blood sugar and hormones at optimal levels so that you can better fight obesity and diseases. It requires that each meal consist of 30% protein, 30% fat, and 40% carbs (based on calories). The diet allows many fruits, but almost no grains except oatmeal.The meals are simple to prepare and nutritionally balanced. But having to keep to the 30/30/40 balance is very tedious and requires lots of preplanning. Recent studies showed that the overall weight loss was below average. Average recommended daily calories are 1,660, with 17 fruits and vegetable servings.

Eat More, Weigh Less, ***
The Eat More, Weigh Less (Ornish) Diet is a low-fat vegetarian diet that bans all meat, fish, oils, alcohol, sugar, and white flour. Their clinical studies suggest that strictly following the diet can prevent or reverse some diseases. Ornish argues that it is easier to make drastic changes to diet rather than small ones. The diet offers the most food per calorie of any of the diets. It is actually lower in fat than current USDA guidelines recommend. Studies have shown good long term weight loss, but a relatively high drop-out rate. Average recommended daily calories are 1,520, with 17 fruits and vegetable servings.

Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution, ***
The Atkins Diet is the grand daddy of them all. As with many of the other diets, it is divided into two phases. The first phase is a two week induction period that bans nearly all carbs. The second phase is only slightly less restrictive, but does slowly add more vegetables, fruit, and wine. Research has suggested that Atkins' dieters are less hungry than on many other diets. But the diet is difficult to adhere to and has a high drop-out rate. Long term weight loss has been shown to be average. The single most glaring concern with the Atkins diet is that the nutritional profile is far outside conventional dietary guidelines. (We've all known people eating handfuls of bacon, eggs, and cheese for breakfast, claiming they were on a diet). Average recommended daily calories are 1,520, with 6 fruits and vegetable servings.

Again, please don't worry too much about my ranking of the diet books - it's completely subjective. My suggestion is to simply find a program that seems to fit your lifestyle best.

Please be kind enough to indicate if reviews are helpful.

Written by Arthur Bradley, author of "Process of Elimination" - an intense thriller in which a martial artist, a greedy corporate attorney, and a sexy conspiracy theorist team up to stop a world-class sniper from killing presidential candidates.

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KineBody: Functional Strength Development for Men and Women (Paperback) Review

I LOVE this book! The exercises are easy to follow and have helped me lose weight and get a little more toned. After years of struggling to keep going to my gym, it was a relief to find this book and realize that I don't have to go to the gym to get a good workout. Kinebody showed me how easy it can be to work out from home and stay in shape. And the best is that i don't need to work out for a long time. Just half an hour a day, 3-4 times a week is enough. I checked out the author's website, kinebody.com, which seems fairly new, but i'm still curious to see what he comes out with next. This book saved me from the boring gym and helped me get stronger for my pilates workouts.

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Product Description:
WANT TO WORK OUT ANYWHERE, ANYTIME, WITH NO EQUIPMENT?NOW YOU CAN WITH KINEBODY!Are you turned off by going to a noisy gym?Hate working out in large groups?Do you want results without the expense?KineBody is the answer!In this concise, easy-to-follow book, Ed Aponte's revolutionary fitness program KineBody (pronounced kin-ay-body)concentrates on functional strength development for men & women, showing you how to get rock-hard abs, broad shoulders, and a lean, sculpted body-all in the comfort of your home, using your body as your gym!Whether you're an average person looking to get fit or in great shape but looking for a workout that makes the most of your time and effort, KineBody will transform your body.With over 60 bodyweight exercises and variations, all photographed and fully described, KineBody will get you on the road to having the body you've always wanted. Whether you're a beginner or an athlete, get more out of your time and workout with KineBody -- your body ... your gym!

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