21-Day Tummy Diet: A Revolutionary Plan that Soothes and Shrinks Any Belly Fast

At 65 years of age, I have been on many diets over the years. Some work for a while others not. My husband and I gave this the 21 day test and didn't deviate too much from the program. We seldom felt any hunger pangs because the foods on it were very satisfying. I have to admit that the first days of the smoothie were a bit of a challenge, because they are more tart and tangy that we were used to (after the holiday sugar indulgences). But soon, they tasted delicious. I have to say that all of the recipes were wonderful. We really enjoyed them - so much that after a one-week hiatus, we are going to go back on it. The results: I only lost 4 pounds, but lost 2 inches off of my waist and much of the bulkiness around my midriff. For the first time in many years, I actually tuck in my shirt! My husband lost 9 pounds, but not so many inches. We have lots of energy because of the healthy foods (and no sugar or flour). I think we are learning a healthy way to eat and live; which is what we had in mind when we started. We don't want to spend our last years sick and miserable. This was a great book and diet program.

I just finished day 9 and I have had 9 wonderful days with my tummy. Not one solitary issue and I deal with many digestive issues since I no longer have a gallbladder. I was uncomfortable almost all day every day with one thing or another. I am sure when I do the bully tests I will find out what is not agreeing with me.I wish the layout of the book was a little better - I have put my meal plan on a spreadsheet with the location #s from the book for easy referencing.My favorite breakfast is the banana smoothie Liz shared (I switched the pumpkin seeds with half chia and half flax seeds). (oh and freezing the banana before hand is a must - I forgot one day and I could barely tolerate the smoothie) The one snack I keep craving is the Mini Caprese Salad - it is to die for. The Curried Chicken Soup is wonderful. My kids loved all the meals so far with the exception of the salmon/cabbage meal - but I got smoked salmon by accident and the lemon was just way too much. I will try it again with chicken (or maybe tuna steaks) and switch the lemon out with something else...I used to basically have coffee, lunch maybe once or twice a week, then at dinner a lot of pasta or bread meals. (strangely enough I do not miss bread or pasta) Then late night snacks with awful for me foods. I cut out the coffee and now my late snack is a handful of almonds or a piece of soft cheese which is not really part of the plan (to eat a late night snack). I lost 4 lbs the first 4 days. I have not done any exercising as of yet.The trickiest thing for me was the fact I have 7 in my family and so the shopping list was something I had to tweak and my fridge can not hold a week's worth of the fresh veggies so I have to go shopping 2x a week instead of my usual 1 day a week.This is the first time I have ever really worked on eating healthy and I hope to make my goal of feeling fit at 40. It is sad how just eating properly can cause weight loss. My weight has been slowly creeping up - like a pound a month for the last year so to actually lose weight is amazing - but honestly the best part is how my belly feels. I gave up ever feeling normal. I am so relieved that it is something I have achieved..and I don't have to sacrifice yummy flavors for it!Edited to add: My husband lost 5 lbs and he still eats like before (skipping up to 2 meals a day and still having late night snacks and chips) all he does is the dinners.After writing this review I was watching TV and absentmindedly grazed my face with my hands and notices my skin is softer and smoother than it has been in a while. I was also able to remove my wedding band from my finger with little effort and no dents in my skin - a difficult task when I go in every 6 months for cleaning and inspection. It was so bad the clerk suggested I re-size it cause I may damage the nerves. A lot of puffiness all over my body is gone and I have this general sense of well being.I see a lot of people complaining about the lack of flavor - but what you need to understand is the flavors we eat on processed foods are artificial and preservatives. Once you get past the 3 weeks and can add garlic back in (if it passes the bully test) that may help - or you can add a tad more salt to the meals afterwards. The soups were really good - yes - a tad more salt would have been nice - but you have to weigh the pros and cons of extra salt etc and your health.I do not miss garlic bread or bread at all. Nor do I miss pasta.... I am finding I am not missing the coffee so much either. The only thing I can't wait to have again is garlic and as a treat bacon maybe once a month...Update: I am past week 3 and in the test phase. I lost a total of 8 lbs in the first 14 days and maintained my weight loss in the 3rd week. Now that I am on my own I went back to phase 2 and have lost an additional 1.5 pounds. Basically switching to smoothies for breakfast 5 days and regular breakfast for 2 and picking from the lunches during week 1 and 2 and I have just gone through the list of dinners that were not on the 21 day plan - like the ratatouille frittata and the spiced fish cakes and a few others for this week....So, in 25 days I have lost 9.5 lbs and just did a before and after picture and was amazed at how different I look. It is hard when you see yourself everyday. The swollen face is gone!Edited again to add the part about freezing the banana for smoothies and to update my weight loss - it is at 16 lbs now.

Background:My Dr. wanted me to follow a low FODMAP meal plan because of my continuous problems with bloating and constipation. I dreaded starting such a plan because you cannot have what Liz (the author) refers to as Belly Bullies which include onions, garlic, apples, peaches and other yummy staples! I was ecstatic to learn that Liz came out with a book to address these problems because having been successful on The Digest Diet (also authored by Liz) I knew that the recipes included in this book would not disappoint.The results are in: I decided to recruit my mother and sister. We started on 1/1/14. We completed the first phase (5 days) ... I (age 36) am down 8.5 lbs, my mother (age 57) is down 6.5 lbs and my sister (age 28) is down 7.5 lbs. My sister and I can stand to lose between 15 - 20 lbs and my mother is about 50 lbs overweight. Both my sister and I exercised about 45 minutes per day for all five days and my mother only exercised one day for about 45 minutes. We all did light to moderate cardio such as elliptical and stationary bikes.Meal Plan Insight: I believe the book says that you can eventually add back "belly bullies" but I think it does a good job in helping you identify which of these bullies is the culprit of tummy issues. I have been 7 days and counting without them and I can say that I have ate delicious meals! I tried most of the recipes in the book but have created my own meals by using recipes in the book as guidelines and paying close attention to allowed portions. I agree the shakes are just OK so I just have them at breakfast. The first 14 days require you to have a shake as a meal. Sorry no way around them! On another note my husband who is not participating on this meal plan has enjoyed the onion-less/garlic-less meals.The recipes are quite simple to make my sister who does not cook managed to make the recipes in the book.Rating explanation:There are a few random ingredients in Liz's recipes that had me venturing to specialty stores. I only needed 2 teaspoons of Garam Marsala (what is this?!? --really do you have this in your cupboards???) and because I was so determined to follow the recipe to a "T" I went to 3 stores to locate it. There are quite a few recipes like this and YES it will make you crazy! This book is more deserving of 4.5 stars and I am comparing it to Liz's other book (The Digest Diet) because I recall the shake having over 10 ingredients and I found myself on the search for finding items I never heard of and only to use it once. Also, I can appreciate that in this book Liz does a better job of making sure those hard to find/items you had no choice but to purchase in excess (sorry but you just can't purchase two teaspoons of Garam Marsala!) get used more than once through different recipes. I see myself using some of these ingredients for my own creations. Also, like other reviewers it would be nice to have all the recipes separated by phases rather than by breakfast, lunch and dinner. I purchased the hard cover copy.Suggestions/TipsLiz gives you a meal plan for the full 21 days. I found it easier to stick with two snack choices and change out my meals once every couple of days. For example, I would make a large batch of soup and have it every other day for lunch. The same with dinner I would repeat it every other day or so. I have 2-cup servings of soup in the freezer so it's easy to grab them and thaw them as needed. The only requirement is to stick with meals in the current phase or in a prior phase. Go into this as using it as a guideline and pay special attention to the Belly Buddies (foods that you can have) and mock the portions and create similar meals to the ones suggested. As far as the shakes; I have been sticking to having banana/blueberries as a fruit and adding cinnamon/vanilla extract for flavoring. Also, I find that using flaxseed vs. chia seeds in the shakes give them a much milder taste.Wishing you much success!!!

I’ve been on this diet for a bit now and it really is great. The recipes are varied and quite delicious, and the diet itself works really well for me. I’ve done it a few times now.However, the book immediately started falling apart, pages falling out everywhere. I contacted the company and they graciously sent me a new copy. Fast forward one year later and my new copy is doing the same thing: all my pages are falling out. At this point I’m considering taking it to a copy/print place and having them spiral bind it if that’s possible. Very frustrating.

Reader's Digest always delivers - the best in content and also in beautiful presentation!

This book is very informative and a good read. Thanks for sending it to me. It took a little while longer but it was worth the wait. Thanks.

I bought this book thinking it was a normal cook book. The tables of lists inside the front and back covers more than made up for my initial disappointment. A must have for people with sensitive tummies.

Excellent book. Very useful advice on the right foods to eat for losing weight but also for calming stomachs. It explains the theory of how some foods - FODMAPS - can contribute to discomfort and pain in IBS and indigestion. This is a relatively new concept and I am so pleased to see it brought into the public domain in such an informative accessible way. One of the best aspects of the book is that there are so many very healthy and tasty recipes incorporating all the recommended foods and leaving out the "baddies". This is also a delight to those of us who already follow a low fodmaps diet because it's restrictions can mean a monotonous regime - not so with this book!!

An enjoyable & easy read. Good advice. Love the way the plans are laid out. Easy to follow. Well illustrated.I would recommend this book.