APPENDIX B

The New Abs Diet Exercise Plan

IN THE PREVIOUS Abs Diet books, I recommend that people new to the

system get the food part of the program figured out before jumping into

the workout. Concentrate on acclimating your body to eating the

powerfoods six times a day. Take two weeks getting used to the diet,

and then add the exercise program. If you've been using this cookbook

for a few weeks, you're ready to turbocharge the Abs Diet with exercise.

The Abs Diet Workout is a fairly simple routine that's ideal for

beginners. It's not intimidating. You don't have to belong to a gym to do

it. The exercises can be done in the privacy of your own home with very

little equipment. Optional, but recommended, gear includes a flat bench,

one or two pairs of medium-weight dumbbells (5 to 25 pounds for

someone with some experience lifting weights; lighter for beginners),

running shoes, and a Swiss ball, also called a stability ball. That's it.

The Abs Diet workout focuses on three effective fat-burning

components:

1. Strength training. Three times a week. You'll target the big muscle groups

of the body: the legs, the back and chest, and shoulders because that's

where you can build the most muscle in the least amount of time. I'm not

talking about turning you into the next Hulk. Rather, I'm talking lean,

strong, sexy muscle. Each pound of lean muscle on your body uses up to

50 calories a day just to maintain itself. So by adding just 3 pounds of

muscle, you'll burn up to an extra 150 calories a day without lifting a

finger. What's more, the workout is planned in circuit-training fashion.

You'll perform different exercises one after another, with little rest. This

has two big benefits: It keeps your workouts brief so you can get on

with life; and by keeping your heart rate elevated with speedy moves,

you'll maximize your fat burn and gain cardiovascular benefits, too.