The Fat Flush Plan by Ann Louise Gittleman, Barry Sears (Foreword by)

From Barnes & Noble

When the Two-Week Fat Flush diet first appeared on iVillage, it was an instant success. Its creator, respected nutritionist Ann Louise Gittleman, has parlayed the Internet phenomenon into a comprehensive weight-loss and lifestyle plan. Emphasizing detoxification of the liver -- "a hidden key to effortless weight loss" -- and stress-reducing lifestyle changes, the Fat Flush plan is easily executed and maintained. With this book, it is also thoroughly explained and supplemented with menus, exercise recommendations, a question-and-answer section, and an appendix of secondary references and resources. Best of all, this plan will contribute to overall good health rather than sacrificing general well-being for weight loss.

From the Publisher

Kiss cellulite goodbye!

An international best-seller with legions of devoted followers, The Fat Flush Plan has been featured on "The View," as well as in cover articles in Time, Glamour, Self, and many others. It is based upon essential fats (such as flax seed oil and flax seeds), balanced proteins (including eggs, meat, fish, and moderate soy) plus low-glycemic healthy carbs from fat flushing fruits and vegetables. The Plan also features “cleansing” tonics such as unsweetened cranberry juice and water, the “Long Life Cocktail,” and daily hot water and lemon juice as well as a delicious array of fat burning, water regulating, and insulin controlling herbs and spices (think cayenne, mustard, cilantro, parsley, cinnamon, and cloves).

Product Details

• ISBN: 0071383832
  
• ISBN-13: 9780071383837
• Format: Hardcover, 288pp
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies, The
• Pub. Date: December 2001
• Edition Number: 1
• Sales Rank: 9,380
• Series: Gittleman Series

• Table of Contents
• Interviews & Essays
• Read a Sample Chapter

Table of Contents

Interviews & Essays

That’s right. Fat phobia has finally been put to rest. It was buried by The New York Times on July 7, 2002, with a landmark article entitled “What If Fat Doesn’t Make You Fat?”

But this information came as no surprise to readers and followers of The Fat Flush Plan, who already knew, firsthand, that it is the type of fat, not the quantity, that counts.

Based upon 15 years of clinical experience and research, The Fat Flush Plan provides a three-phase diet program that has proven that it is entirely possible to get thin and healthy on essential and critical fats like Omega 3–rich flax seed oil; botanicals like evening primrose, borage, or black currant seed oil; and CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) as staples of a weight loss program.

In fact, the book clearly identifies the fear of eating fats as one of the top five Hidden Weight Gain Factors. Others include a tired and toxic liver, waterlogged tissues, excess insulin, and stress as a fat maker.

Although the title certainly connotes weight loss, the results of The Fat Flush Plan go far beyond loss of pounds. Throughout the book you will be introduced to real-life Fat Flushing heroes -- men and women from all stages of life who share their stories. These personal accounts illustrate how Fat Flushers experience far more than just fat loss. They typically report having lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels; improved quality of skin, hair, and nails; a diminished appearance of cellulite; stabilized mood swings; relief from depression; and enhanced self-esteem and self-confidence. I have had the privilege of collecting enormous amounts of letters and email from enthusiastic Fat Flushers proclaiming that they are now leading more health-conscious and balanced lives than ever before.

Without harsh stimulants like Ephedra, caffeine, caffeine-based herbs, or aspirin, the Fat Flush plan contains a number of unusual elements not found in other weight loss regimens, like eggs and lean beef. Eggs with the yolks are included in the menu plans for every phase of the program because they provide the highest concentration of sulphur-bearing amino acids, which are vital for the liver’s ability to burn fats effectively.

Beef is on the Fat Flush menu because it is the highest dietary source of an incredibly effective thermogenic nutrient, L-carnitine, which transports fat into the muscle cells so it can be more effectively burned when the body is in a fat burning mode.

In addition to the food plan, there is an exercise program and an emphasis on journaling and proper sleep to relieve stress and decrease the fat-promoting stress hormone cortisol. Shopping lists with name brands are provided for convenience, as well as more than 30 recipes that are unusually quick and easy as well as tasty.

Many women share this program with their boyfriends and husbands. It is also safe for teenagers, and we have many teens whose skin has cleared up and whose ADHD is much improved on the Fat Flush plan.

I invite each and every one of you to join our Fat Flushing family. This program can be used as a stand-alone weight loss/cleansing program or utilized to kick off any other weight loss program of your choice. May this year be the year that you put yourself on the priority list and reclaim your best self. Ann Louise Gittleman

Read a Sample Chapter

Weight gain, bloating, and those stubborn fat deposits on your hips, thighs, and buttocks -- the very thought rattles your senses, not to mention your self-esteem. It's downright frustrating, to say the least. And believe me, you're not alone. There are more than 100 million of us currently fighting the infamous battle of the bulge. For most of us, it's a rigorous combat at best, trying one diet plan after another. Some regimens are too hard to follow, whereas others lack any real variety or satiety. In the end, we usually wind up back where we started -- unhappy and over-weight once again.

Over the years, I've had my own struggles with weight gain. Right from the start, I had to deal with a stacked deck, genetically speaking. Part of my body shape -- the proverbial pear -- I inherited from my mother and her side of the family, judging from the pictures of my maternal grandmother, aunts, and female cousins that graced our den wall when I was growing up. And like me, all the women on my mother's side were always on a diet, trying to lose those infamous last 10 to 20 pounds that seemed to stockpile below the waist.

On my father's side, my family history of diabetes didn't help matters any. From as early as I can remember in both junior high and high school, I suffered from low blood sugar, or "reactive hypoglycemia." I was always craving something sweet (such as cookies, candy, cake, or ice cream) to raise my blood sugar, which really piled on the pounds. I simply couldn't find the time to eat on schedule. Back then (much like today), I was too busy being responsible and a caretaker for everyone else -- being a high school correspondent for the Hartford Courant newspaper, serving as the president of the Service Club, and teaching religious school after regular school -- that I ignored my own body. So it's no wonder that I was always going up and down on the weight scale.

My use of food as an anesthetic to offset the stress of a competitive college environment during my freshman and sophomore years only compounded the matter. I would drift into one dorm for lunch and then into another one for yet another meal. In fact, men used to love to take me out because I didn't drink but had a hearty appetite. The truth is that I could eat anyone under the table. In addition, my body never seemed to firm up the way some women's do when they exercise. Moreover, I had to literally force myself to exercise anyway.

THE FAT FLUSH GENESIS

I spent my junior year abroad in London. There I started to frequent health food restaurants. Vegetarianism and drugless healing fascinated me. My whole life took an about-face once I began a program of cleansing and detoxification. (Which, by the way, helped me lose fat from those stubborn hips of mine rather effortlessly!) For the first time, I realized that whole foods, herbs, and dietary supplements could become a path not just to healing and wholeness but also to weight loss. Back in the United States, after I graduated from college I decided to enroll in the New York Institute of Dietetics as part of the Dietetic Technician Program. Later, I received a master's degree in nutrition education from Teachers College at Columbia University. Later on, I became a certified nutrition specialist (C.N.S.) with accreditation from the American College of Nutrition.

It was a classroom experience at Columbia, however, that foreshadowed the nature of my professional journey and eventual Fat Flush discovery. While I was a student there, I heard the "Lamppost Story," which continues to this day to motivate me. It goes something like this:

A gentleman goes out for a walk on an extremely dark evening and arrives at his destination, only to find that he has lost his wallet along the way. He immediately retraces his steps and starts looking for the wallet under the lamppost, where there is light. But he is unable to find his wallet because he had really lost it in the dark, where the light didn't reach. The moral of the story is that the answers are out there somewhere; you just have to look in the right places that have yet to come to light.

Inspired by this to search for answers beyond where the light was already shining, I was convinced that the real answers to weight gain, cellulite, and bloating were out there somewhere. I believed that we had yet to search in the right places, evidenced by the enormous amount of unsuccessful diet plans. Thus I embarked on a quest to find the missing links to weight loss. In my heart, I knew that the answer wouldn't be like any other diet plan. It had to be a program that addressed the underlying sources of weight gain and also embodied sound nutritional guidelines.

Today, while many women in their thirties, forties, and fifties are concerned about their changing shape, I've been able to keep my body pretty much fat-resistant for nearly three decades now. And that's despite my heredity. I found that once I had discovered an entirely new approach to managing my weight, it no longer mattered how the genetic cards were stacked.

That approach is my Fat Flush Plan -- a program based on a unique diet model using healthful essential fats, balanced proteins, colorful carbohydrates, and a strict daily routine. It is designed to address and correct the most prevalent underlying causes of weight gain. These unseen causes have nothing to do with your genes. Instead, they reflect simple body chemistry imbalances that you probably never suspected. I call them the five hidden weight gain factors, which are the key to just about all of our overweight and obesity issues. You'll find that most diet plans typically target only one or two of these factors, which may explain why they don't work in the long term and cause recurring weight gain.

Ignored, overlooked, or simply not taken seriously enough, the five hidden weight gain factors include the following: an overworked liver, lack of fat-burning fats, too much insulin, the stress-fat cycle, and a unique take on "when fat is not fat." These factors are caused by a stagnant lymph system, sneaky food allergies, birth control pills, hormone-replacement therapy, and medications. You will learn all about these problematic factors in the next chapter, along with the scientific developments behind each factor that have reached a critical stage only in the past decade.

The discovery of my Fat Flush Plan didn't happen overnight. It progressed naturally out of every area of my life, from my personal weight control quest and working alongside my nutritional mentors to a wide variety of professional experiences spanning my entire career in counseling, consulting, and researching.

Early in my career, I had the privilege of working beside such nutritional pioneers as Hazel Parcells, Ph.D. and Nathan Pritikin. Their contributions helped me on my own weight control journey, which in turn enabled me to assist thousands of my own clients in their weight control efforts. In fact, when my first book, Beyond Pritikin, came out, my private practice in California grew, and soon people everywhere were resonating to my message that essential fats were absolutely necessary for rapid weight loss, longevity, and good health. For years I had a thriving practice that included sports figures, movie stars, fashion designers, producers, and members of the Joffrey Ballet. In this way, I was helping others who in turn were helping me fine-tune my program and stay on track myself as the messenger of a new weight loss approach.

Copyright ©(2002) by Ann Louise Gittleman.