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The Abs Plan
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THE ABS PLAN

A washboard stomach isn't only about vanity, it's about being a stronger, faster runner. Here's a simple diet and exercise program for shedding fat and revealing your inner six-pack.

By Matt Fitzgerald

From the August 2004 issue of Runner's World

Smart Swaps

By merely replacing some of the foods you currently eat with lower-calorie alternatives, or even by simply adjusting the proportions of foods you're already eating, you can trim several hundred calories from your daily intake and start getting leaner. Here are some examples of how to eat for a trimmer waistline. Even if you don't eat the exact foods listed here, you can still apply these calorie-cutting principles to your own diet.

  Instead of Eat This Calories Saved
Breakfast 1 cup Wheaties cereal with 2% milk; Grande Starbucks Caffe Latte with nonfat milk 1/2 cup Wheaties with fresh strawberries and 2% milk; Tall Starbucks coffee with half-and-half and sugar 186
Rationale: Due to their high fiber and water content, fresh fruits fill more space in your stomach with fewer calories. By adding fruit and reducing the portions of other foods, you can trim calories and still feel satisfied. (Cut 20 more calories by replacing 2% milk with skim.) Coffee drinks made with syrup and milk are calorie bombs, especially in larger sizes. For a lean caffeine fix, drop to a medium coffee sweetened with half-and-half and sugar.
Snack High-calorie energy bar Kettle Valley Real Fruit Bar 90
Rationale: Energy bars are convenient and tasty snacks, but they can pack a lot of calories and are dismissed by some nutritionists as as "candy bars in disguise." Choose a bar with 150 calories or fewer, eat half a bar and save the rest for tomorrow, or look for a leaner choice. Kettle Valley Real Fruit Bars contain 1/2 cup of fruit and no added sugar or preservatives.
Lunch Turkey sub; 1 serving of baked potato chips Turkey wrap; baby carrots dipped in light ranch dressing 134
Rationale: One of the few positive legacies of the low-carb craze is the popularization of wraps as an alternative to sandwiches. Tortillas have fewer calories, and it’s easier to stuff them with veggies. Most "light" alternatives to snack chips are still relatively high in calories and low in overall nutrition. Instead, try baby carrots dipped in light ranch dressing. Carrots contain fiber, which will keep you feeling full longer.
Snack Trail mix (2 parts nuts to 1 part dried fruit) Trail mix (1 part nuts to 2 parts dried fruit) 116
Rationale: While trail mixes that contain nuts and dried fruit are quite nutritious, those with more nuts than fruit are heavy on calories. A one-ounce serving of mixed nuts contains 175 calories and 1/4 cup of dried fruit contains 100 calories, so to make this snack significantly lighter, choose a mix with more fruit than nuts.
Dinner Chicken (4 ounces) and vegetable (3/4 cup) stir-fry with white rice (1 cup) Chicken (3 ounces) and vegetable (1 cup) stir-fry with brown rice (3/4 cup) 87
Rationale: You can lower the number of calories in almost any meal by increasing its vegetable content and shrinking its meat and starch content. You can lighten up further by swapping a refined grain for a whole grain. You can make this substitution to other meals by adding more veggies and subtracting cheese from pasta dishes, burritos, and pizza. Also, choose whole-wheat pastas and breads.
Dessert Fruit sorbet Dove dark chocolate (one piece, .28 ounces) 100
Rationale: Some desserts have fewer calories than others, and sorbet is lighter than most. But dark chocolate is the world’s best dessert by far. Dark chocolate releases mood-boosting serotonin in the brain, so just a single 50-calorie piece can satisfy you better than a whole bowl of sorbet. And the antioxidants in dark chocolate are good for the heart.

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