Belly Fat Diet

With the weather heating up, flat stomachs will soon be fully back in vogue.

So how can one regain their svelte form after a long winter full of calorie-laden feasts?

Enter the flat belly diet, an innovative new regimen from the editors of Prevention Magazine.

Frances Matthew's of San Jose said she began with a four-day jump-start to avoid bloating.

She said she consumed fruit smoothies; spruced up her water with cucumber, mint and lemon; and snacked on carrots, string cheese and antibiotic turkey for lunch and dinner.

"I was surprised.  I wasn't hungry, but of course I wanted lots of things. Like when I would drive by Burger King, I wanted that," she said

Matthew's resisted the temptations and stuck to the plan.

In a short time Matthew's was basking in the glory of two shed pounds and three inches lost off her waistline.

"I didn't think it would happen that fast," she said.

After the initial four days, the next move is to the flat belly diet plan.

The diet stresses eating a "MUFA", or mono unsaturated fatty acid, such as olive oil, at every meal.

"MUFAs are good fat," Prevention Magazine's Cynthia Sass said. "They raise good cholesterol, lower bad cholesterol and they're very filling."

Other major bullet points of the diet include aiming for 400 calories a meal, and eating at least every four hours.

Dietitian Lisa Richardson said she likes the balance of nutrients, but is skeptical at the claim of a flat stomach due to vital external belly fat factors such as genetics, sleep and stress.

Richardson said sit-ups are a better alternative to those aspiring to flatten their stomachs.