Katherine’s Ten Commandments for Flat Abs This Summer

Katherine Presenting "Achieve Your Ideal Health and Weight While Juggling Your Crazy, Busy Life!" exclusively for the Four Seasons Spa

Have you relegated your best suits, bathing suits and skinny jeans to the dark recesses of your closet? Aren’t you tired of going undercover every summer to avoid exposing your less-than-supple body? Wouldn’t it be nice to have beautifully defined arms, legs, and a flatter belly?

So, before you dump on (or just plain dump) your workout for not giving you killer abs and the slim body you dream of, you should know the real culprit could be your diet-and even your high-stress lifestyle.

When it comes to going from fat to flatter abs, new research shows that what you eat is just as important as how–or even how much– you work out. And lifestyle counts, too, because while stress doesn’t just mess with your head-it can also induce a pooch. And that killer work-out? It may not be slimming your body the way you hope!

As a longtime weight-loss specialist, I can assure you that a slim body and flat abs aren’t an impossible dream or something seen only on fitness models. In fact, I’ve helped thousands of people (myself included) whittle flabby middles into beautiful flatter bellies by combining an eating plan especially designed to decrease fat and bloating with aerobic exercise, strength training and stress management.

With my plan, you’ll build a show-off body that is the center of attention when you’re wearing a fitted business suit, a bathing suit, a pair of skinny jeans–or nothing at all!

Let’s Get Started … with Katherine’s Commandments…

I. Diet Simple Tip #77: Do Some Calorie Shifting
Americans traditionally eat a large dinner – one that we attack with zeal. Is it any wonder we gain so much weight? Rearrange your days’ calories so you’re eating one third in the morning, one third mid-day and no more than one third at night. For most of you, that means you’ll be eating a larger breakfast – about 600 to 700 calories, and a lighter dinner than usual.
Bottom Line: Lose 30 pounds
Eating relatively light dinners at night, and shifting more of the calories to breakfast and lunch – so that you’re eating 2/3 to 3/4 of your calories before dinner – and you arrive at dinner just barely hungry, can easily save you 300 calories a day

II. Diet Simple Tip #28: Shop at the Farmers’ Market
I’ll never forget my Grandmother’s home-grown tomatoes. They were soft, plump, sweet, deep red, and still warm from the day’s sun – the kind you only get fresh from the vine. At your farmers market, you’ll find fruits and vegetables picked at peak ripeness, which means maximum flavor, texture, and nutrition. And when food tastes better, you eat more. That’s a SCIENTIFIC FACT!
Bottom Line: Lose 36 pounds
Adding salads, vegetable soups and fruits to your daily meals will help you cut back on other more fattening foods. Studies show starting each meal with a salad saves at least 100 calories – and that’s without dieting! For a summer treat, try my Gazpacho or Cool Cucumber Soup… in my new Diet Simple Farm to Table Recipes

III. Diet Simple Tip #36: Hit the Ground Running
No one believes me when I tell them they can burn 600 calories before work or before even waking up! They’re even more surprised when I explain that’s the best way to do it.  Try this: Wake up in the morning. Yawn. Roll out of bed, go to the bathroom, have a drink of water, and slip on some exercise clothes. Start moving. Right away! Exercising first thing in the morning is one of the best things you’ll ever do for yourself. And before you know it, it’s over with before you’re even awake!
Bottom Line: Lose 28 – 42 pounds
All it takes is thirty minutes in the morning: just walking briskly will burn up to 28 pounds in a year. Another great thing about morning exercise: no midday heat to contend with. Wear a pedometer and make sure you’re getting at least 10,000 steps a day. Men LOVE the Nike Fuel Band… Women’s favorite: the Fitbit!

IV. Diet Simple Tip #43: Listen When You Chew
Actually, you don’t have to go that far. But you should focus your entire attention on your food so you enjoy and savor every bite. When you eat on autopilot, when your mind is somewhere else, you don’t enjoy your food very much. More important, “mindless” eating generally turns into overeating and doesn’t provide physical or psychological satisfaction.
Bottom Line: Lose 21 pounds
Once you start focusing your attention on the food in front of you – relax and take a few deep breaths before eating – you’ll almost automatically eat a little less. In fact, even if you leave only a few extra bites on your plate, it could add up to a savings of 200 or more calories daily

V. Diet Simple Tip #45: Write it and Lose It
The food diary is the main tool for self-examination of your eating habits. Socrates told us that the road to wisdom is to know ourselves. This is never more true than in your eating habits.Research shows self-monitoring – keeping a food journal in this case – is the most highly correlated behavior for successful behavior change and weight loss.
Bottom Line: Lose 23 pounds
If keeping a journal enhances your attentiveness and helps you eat less here or there or even think twice about that vending machine candy bar, you could save 220 calories per day.

VI. Diet Simple Tip #76: Fight the Beast
Hunger is pretty rational. It tells you when you need to eat and when you’ve had enough. Cravings, on the other hand, are cruel and capricious. They always demand more, more, more! Using a scale of 0 – 10, rate your body’s hunger signals before and after eating.
Bottom Line: Lose 30 pounds
If you listen to your body signals and regularly eat when your stomach says you’re hungry and stop when you are no longer hungry, before you are too full, you save at least 300 calories a day.

VII. Diet Simple Tip #103: Cook More Than You Can Eat
A strange suggestion to find in a weight loss book? Believe it or not, it’s among the best approaches for shedding extra pounds because the foods you cook today become nutritious leftovers for later. Having delicious, healthy food at your fingertips when you need it can save you hundreds of calories each and every day because you’ll be less likely to irrationally grab high-calorie restaurant or to-go meals and fattening snacks.
Bottom Line: Lose 30 – 42 pounds
A meal cooked at home, including those delicious leftovers (“Batches” in Diet Simple), can save you 300 to 400 calories at dinner. Get tons of ideas in my new Diet Simple Farm to Table Recipes.

VIII. Diet Simple Tip #132: The 25 Percent Blowout
During a summer vacation, you might find yourself invited to four parties in a week. Go to all of them – and indulge at ONE. Here’s some rocket science: What happens when you go to four or five parties or restaurants in a week, and eat yourself silly at each one? You’ll make a good social impression, but the impression on the scale at the end of the week will be even more impressive.
Bottom Line: Lose 9 pounds
No matter how much you eat at a special event, remind yourself that you saved at least 600 calories at the other end where you practiced self-control. If you do a similar thing throughout the summer, you can plan on saving a whopping 31,000 calories!

IX. Diet Simple Tip #185: Fish For Health
After all this talk about the dietary dangers of meals out, I think it’s worth mentioning one standard entrée, seafood, that always pays off. Seafood starts out so lean and low in calories that even when the dish is drenched in butter, the result won’t bust your buttons.
Bottom Line: Lose 22 pounds
A comparison: One 16-ounce prime rib has 1,300 calories. The baked potato and sour cream is 330. Oh, and the Caesar salad? 310! If you order grilled seafood and vegetables instead, you’ll save about 1,500 calories – and that’s just in one Saturday night!

X. Diet Simple Tip #1: The Sundae Solution
Now it’s official: You can eat a chocolate sundae every day and still lose weight!
Bottom Line: Lose 9 – 35 pounds
A tablespoon of regular chocolate syrup has about 50 calories. Pour it over fruit, and your total is about 110 to 160 calories. Compare that to the usual snacks – a candy bar has about 250 calories, and an ice cream cone has about 500 – and  you can see why substituting the ice cream with fruit in your sundae can lead to impressive amounts of weight loss. Make the switch every day, and you can count on losing nine to 35 pounds in a year.