My New health and Fitness Challenge

Developed by Dr. Ian Smith, The Fat Smash Diet is a book that has attained a certain level of popularity through its involvement on VH1’s Celebrity Fit Club. The Fat Smash Diet is a diet divided into four different phases. The book promises to provide the dieter with the resources necessary eat well, change lifestyles, and keep the weight off forever. Most dieters, claims the book, will see a difference in thirty days, and all without counting calories or putting the body through gimmicks or short-term fixes. Due to heavy marketing we are asked if we "Got Milk" and told that "Beef is What's For Dinner." The reality is that the focus on these two food sources is making us fat and probably killing us. This does not mean eliminate meat and dairy. Just go easy on it. And eat all the fruit and veggies you want.


Program At A Glance
The four phases of The Fat Smash Diet are as follows: Phase 1: Detox. This is a nine-day detoxification program in which the dieter will eat mostly fruits and vegetables, and so rid the body of any impurities. Detoxification is accomplished by supplying the body with the nutrients, vitamins, and minerals essential to purification. Interestingly enough, this section also deals with the detoxification of the mind, though it is unclear what that means or how it is achieved, other than the ambiguous practice of surrounding the self with “positive energy and people.”

Phase 2: Foundation. This is a three-week program designed to replace the foods the dieter excluded during the detoxification week. During this phase, the rules of fat smashing apply stringently, as this phase is obviously about setting good habits and getting rid of bad habits. These rules are perhaps somewhat obvious: don’t overeat, eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, don’t skip meals, continue regular exercise according to Smith’s program, and stay away from fried and fatty foods.

Phase 3: Construction. This is a four-week phase that will allow the dieter to reintroduce some favorite foods into the well-balanced foundation set in Phase 2. The portion control lessons of Phase 2, however, will apply to the favorite foods of Phase 3, and so this is definitely an implementation stage, when the rubber hits the road.

Phase 4: The Temple. This final and lifelong phase is the full function of the diet. The structures and habits set in the early stages will come to bear on the rest of the dieter’s eating habits in the future. A good understanding of how the body stores fat, and what it means when the body “plateaus” will aid the dieter in understanding how mistakes are inevitable in a diet. This honesty and the lifelong pursuit of health in the “temple” will allow the dieter to enjoy his/her favorite foods, while still living in a healthy and well-balanced way.