The Belly Bulge {part 2} A Review

After the birth of Gracie {my youngest}, I went on a binge of pancakes, Little Debbie's Nutty Bars, and rice crispy treats.  It always seemed a race to see how much of the rice crispy treat batch I could eat before it started to cool and harden.  Am I being transparent enough?   I had to get back on track... and quick, before I turned into the shape of a pancake... but on a much larger scale!  No pun intended.

I say that to say... I had have a real problem with sweets and carbs.  Maybe they have a problem with me?  I mean, they seem to jump right onto my hips when I walk by them... or smell them from another room.  That's the way it feels sometimes.  So. Hard.

People tend to assume that by appearances, I don't struggle or that turning down sweets must be easy for me.  Those same people should hear the dialog I sometimes have with myself in an effort to get this body to the gym.  Or... see the effort I have to put into my workouts.  I resemble some sort of sweat blob.  Not. pretty.  How is it that everyone else seems to stay lookin' so cute?  The newest sweat machine I'm rotating in my self torture cardio is the stairmaster!  Wow.  I've been working out for years, but my legs have not hurt like this... ever!  Everything about health is... work.

I'm not without hope though!  I began implementing what I had learned from Sugarbusters  again and before too long, I was on my way.  Sometimes, it's 2 steps forward, one step back.  Baby steps.  These genes were not built to eat carbs the way some can eat, escaping negative results.

{*Edit:  I failed to mention that on this 'lifestyle change', I lost 55 lbs overall.  You probably didn't see that one coming, huh?  Ha!}

If you are just getting started and want a deeper understanding, I would say that buying the Sugarbusters book would be a better investment in the beginning.  Unlike The Belly Fat Cure, they go into a deeper education of how certain foods cause an unhealthy rise in your body's insulin levels, telling your body to store fat.

For instance, many people eat a white baked potato, thinking it's a better option.  However, according to Sugarbusters, your body converts that bad carb into the equivalent of one cup of sugar!  Shocking, huh?  They also explain the importance of eating an insulin rising fruit 30 minutes before other foods as to not get a similar reaction. 

My main concern with Sugarbusters is that they promote the use of artificial sweeteners... Which is a big no-no!  I mean, if you don't mind killing brain cells, that is.  I don't know about you, but I need all I have... left.  ;)  However, there are many products to chose from... and that's where The Belly Fat Cure comes in.

Measuring 8x8, it's a great size.

You just gotta love a spiral bound book, too!

 

Chapter 1:  Lose your belly in one week.  What?  Has he seen my belly?

Not. happening.  It's gonna take one week at a time.

 

Here's where he breaks it down.  If you need to lose 30-60+ lbs, expect to lose 10-13 lbs each week.  If you need to lose between 10-29 lbs, expect to lose 4-9 lbs.  If you need to lose 3-9 lbs, expect to lose 1-3 lbs.  I think that's more realistic.

The recipes look both easy and yummy!  I love that he uses bad examples against great alternatives so that we can see how subtle changes make a huge difference in helping to keep our sugar levels from spiking.  Berries, as you see here, are lower in sugar.  The safe sweeteners he recommends are stevia and xylitol.

 

His pictures tempt me to start eating meat again, but I'm holding steady.  There are so many alternatives available, that it's really doable!   Well, I do eat some fish, of course! ;)  How could I resist hubby's yummy dinner??

 

Unlike Sugarbusters, this book offers a system to help you keep track of your good carbs and sugar. For extra help, there's a table in the back of the book to help calculate individual foods.  You can have up to 15g of sugar and 6 servings of carbs a day. {0-20 grams of carbs = 1 serving, 21-40 = 2 servings... and so on}  He calls it the Sugar/Carb Value.  That may seem impossible, but with the recommended dietary changes, it is doable!  It was no wonder I had put on a few pounds... 

Mental note:  Just because something says 'healthy' on the label does NOT mean you can eat 3 servings at once! 

 

Chapter 5 is what makes the book worth buying!  It's the Carb Swap Products list... 32 pages of good vs. bad recommended products.  This book would be great to tuck in your purse while grocery shopping.  He also includes a page of websites to help if you can't find the products in your area.

The author implies that this is a new movement, but I find the premise similar to that of Sugarbusters. However, they each have great things to say.  Basically, doctors love these books because it really works at trimming down belly fat, where it tends to be the most dangerous.

All in all, I give The Belly Fat Cure a thumbs up for the price!  I'm not gaining anything by advertising these books, just trying to keep myself on track... and maybe help someone else out along the way.

To find a copy...

The Belly Fat Cure 

Sugarbusters

If you missed The Belly Bulge {part 1}, click here.

Next...

Do you want to know what some of my favorite products are?  ;)

Email me if you have any specific questions.  I may not have all the answers, but I'm always willing to learn.