“Reader’s Digest” Diet: Lose the Weight in Three Weeks
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Tom Morello/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — When it comes to dieting, some people have tried virtually everything. There’s the grapefruit diet. The all-green, leafy diet. And who can forget the baby food fad diet? Now, Reader’s Digest magazine is introducing its own weight-loss plan, detailed in the book The Digest Diet.
Liz Vaccariello, editor-in-chief of the magazine, said Reader’s Digest incorporated the best weight-loss research into one simple plan that is split into three one-week phases.
“Well, it’s not a fad, you’re not eliminating food groups and it’s the nexus of healthy weight loss and super-fast weight loss,” Vaccariello told ABC’s Good Morning America correspondent Abbie Boudreau in an interview that aired on the show Monday.
Phase one targets hard-to-battle belly fat. Dieters eat mostly soups and shakes, incorporating fat-releasing foods such as strawberries, yogurt and chocolate.
“So strawberries, here we’re talking about vitamin C,” Vaccariello said. “This is one of the fat releasers. You think of vitamin C as an immune booster but, in reality, people who have low levels of vitamin C in their body have a more difficult time losing weight.”
Red wine, too, is good for weight loss, and milk chocolate and dark chocolate improve mood and help keep skin looking good, she added.
Being able to have these foods is a great benefit.
“That’s the whole key,” Vaccariello said. “The Digest Diet isn’t about depriving yourself because that’s not a plan that you’re going to live with.”
Phase two focuses on lean and green foods, which are packed with nutrients and proteins.
Phase three is all about maintenance.
“You learn how to incorporate fat-releasing foods into every meal. You learn how to go to a restaurant or navigate a party. And not fall off your diet,” Vaccariello added.
One critical component of the diet is laughter, she added.
“When we’re stressed, we have cortisol and that’s a hormone in our system that makes the body hold on to fat. So when we laugh we release fat,” Vaccariello said.
Digest dieters lost between 5 and 8 pounds in the first phase, and had lost anywhere from 15 to 26 pounds at the end of the third week, she added.
The Digest Diet, available for sale now, is packed with recipes and easy tips, including quick exercises such as lunges and tricep dips.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio