In my college days I was never overweight but I had one major problem: a big tummy. I tended to eat lot of rice. As a result my tummy was always disproportionate to the rest of my body. My big tummy never failed to embarrass me during occasions where I had to be in a formal dress code. Reducing my tummy therefore topped my list  things to do for very long time ( almost 10 years) and during this time I did make numerous and real efforts to flatten my tummy.

flat-tummy

Today, once in a while I will get really frustrated with my bulging tummy (normally I get frustrated about this once in every 18 months) and will make sincere efforts to flatten it. My efforts include strict diet with less rice, jogging 4 days a week and going to the gym  days a week. I will feel really happy when my efforts do show some changes  with a reduction in my tummy line. However after few weeks or months I am usually back to my old ways, eating 1000kgs of rice, no jogging and more sleeping. As for the gym … what is that?

Causes of Failure

The true reason of failing miserably at my attempts to reduce my tummy really don’t lie on me (Yes not me)  but more so on the way human beings are designed. What? True. Think about this for a minute:

  • Too much empty initial drive created by frustration with an undesirable situation. With time, this empty initial drive quickly fades out when the frustration softens.
  • Too much change in my daily routine. Diet, Jogging and going to the Gym are life changing habits that needs lots of energy and discipline. A a simple distraction in life like a cold, headache or a  busy week at work can topple it when the habit is not backed up by a strong purpose.
  • Limited feedback following hard work. Dieting and exercise are hard work and the benefits may not be visible in few days or weeks time. Most people (not you) will get discouraged if they don’t see immediate results (feedback). I was expecting a six pack abs within six days (ok. naah.. not really)
  • Changes in food menu. Most diet books advocate a food menu of their own. It is very difficult leave the delicious foods you’ve been relishing since child hood. So you will soon revert to your old food menu habits when the craving gets stronger or you lose interest in dieting.

So how do you decrease your chances of fattening your tummy and increase your chances of flattening your tummy?

Alternate Day Diet

The alternate day diet was preached on by Dr. James Johnson. The concept is very simple like a one line story of a hit movie. No actually two lines.

  • Eat as normal on one day.
  • Eat only 30% of your normal food intake on every other day. To make sure I eat less on this day, I take a fruit smoothie for breakfast, drink lots of water, one cup of coffee around 11am and another around 4PM (I am an coffee addict), eat a light dinner typically less than half of what I normally eat. You too can form your own plan that feels good for you.

You can see that there is really no need to change a lot when it comes to your food habits. Nor is there a need to go long periods without food or count calories or even deprive yourself of the foods you love.

The alternate day diet book provides more details about the plan with scientific researcher Dr. James Johnson also selling some tablets that can help reduce your weight. My recommendation is to not to get too involved and get complicated with this diet. Keep it simple and create your own food plan on alternate days. No need follow this diet to the letter. Trust your body and make it easy. Just make sure that you eat less on alternate days. If you get too hungry on alternate days, say this to yourself,  ’just for this one day I will eat tomorrow’.

As with any other diet that is favored, the Alternate Day Diet is also criticized by lot of people. So try it yourself first and adjust based on your experience. Do not expect results in 6 days, just follow it for at least 3 months.

There is no guarantee it will work for you. The best way to know whether it will work for you or not is to try it out for yourself. I cannot emphasize this enough. If it works I can guarantee your tummy will be as flat as you want it to be for a very long time.

For more information visit http://www.johnsonupdaydowndaydiet.com/

Cheers – Jag.

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