Former journalist in search of a flat belly tries to find a diet that is tailored to his personal preferences. But he finds it more easily said than done.
By PAUL BRIAND
I’m trying to figure out whether I’m a diet person, whether I can transform a fat belly into a flat belly.
I’m wondering if I can follow the prescribed actions required by a diet program. Is it in me to join Weight Watchers? Or Jenny Craig? Or Nutrisystem? Or any of the other billion or so weight-loss programs you see advertised on television?
While I consider myself healthy, my body mass index tells me otherwise.
I’ve been on the north side of 185 pounds for a while now, and at 5 feet, 8 inches tall, that puts my body mass index at 28.1, which, according to medical standards, is considered overweight . . . on the way to being obese.
Beer Belly a Problem
It’s weird. I don’t consider myself fat. I still have a skinny ass (if I do say so myself), likewise my arms and legs. It’s the beer belly. The weight I need to lose is right around the middle.
But I don’t know that I’m a diet-program kind of guy. I like to eat what I like to eat, especially since I’m maintaining a recipe blog – Eats@Home – which gives me a tremendous excuse and reason to experiment with all kinds of food.
But I’ve at least come around to studying a diet . . . not following it, mind you, studying it. It’s the “Flat Belly! Diet For Men” from the editors of “Prevention” magazine.
It promises: Real Food. Real Men. Real Flat Abs.
And when I say I’m studying it, I really mean I’m studying it. I’m reading through it, analyzing how it might work, debating how it might not work, agreeing with myself to adopt some of its recommendations while rejecting other recommendations.
Won’t Give Up My Coffee
For example, I wholly reject the notion of giving up coffee as part of a four-day “cleansing” program. Under no circumstances will I give up coffee. There will be blood otherwise. Hide the women and children. It won’t be pretty.
What attracted me to the book, which I browsed through recently at the bookstore, was the quality of the meals. They were the kind of meals I like to prepare – bold flavors, spices, meats, and cheese. And I’ve sampled a few on my recipe blog.
The Flat Belly diet is big on what it calls MUFAs — monounsaturated fatty acids. They’re contained in oils, olives, nuts and seeds, avocados, and dark chocolate.
The Flat Belly diet claims that MUFAs reduce bad cholesterol and increase good cholesterol, ward off Type 2 diabetes, lower inflammation, maintain brain health, and – best of all – target belly fat. So the idea is to have a MUFA with each meal, but keep each meal less than about 450 calories.
Experimenting with MUFAs
So I’m experimenting with MUFAs, which isn’t that hard to do, quite frankly. I’m trying to watch my portions and retrain my brain to understand that a series of small daily meals is better than a daily breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
I am not a good dieter. I need a diet I can adapt to my needs, not a diet to which I need to adapt.
So far, at least, I’m a good student of how to diet. The idea is to eat and drink less of the bad stuff, more of the good stuff. And get exercise. It’s a pretty simple case of supply and demand – you’ve got to take in less, expend more.
Since I’ve paid attention to what I’m doing, I’ve lost five pounds. That’s nudged my BMI down to 27.5. Ultimately, I need to get well under a BMI of 25.
Like a lot of baby boomers, I’m interested in my health. But I’m more interested in reaping the rewards of my age – good food, good drink, and good times.
So this is going to take some work.
About the Author: Paul Briand spent 33 years in newspaper journalism. Based in New Hampshire, he now writes about issues of interest to baby boomers.
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