The Women's AB Diet

The Abs Diet for Women is the follow up book to the Abs Diet by Men's Health Magazine editor David Zinczenko. It promotes the same meal and exercise plan as the original book, but includes tips to address unique issues that affect women's weight such as PMS and menopause. The Abs Diet for Women is ideal for busy women as it's flexible and doesn't require measuring or calorie counting.

The Abs Diet Power 12

The Abs Diet for Women bases meals around 12 groups of food that Zinczenko calls the Abs Diet Power 12. These power foods inlcude nuts, legumes, green vegetables, fat-free or low-fat dairy, oatmeal, eggs, lean meat, peanut butter, olive oil, whole grains, whey protein powder and berries. You are not limited to these foods, but the diet stresses including these foods into your daily eating plan.

The Diet

The Abs Diet for Women encourages you to eat six times a day; three meals and three snacks. Zinczenko reports that eating smaller meals more frequently keeps the metobolism burning and wards of hunder. This is supported by 2003 University of Massechusettes study that found that people who ate smaller meals more often were less likely to be obese. Zinczenko recommends eating snacks two hours after breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Exercise

The Abs Diet for Women focuses primarly on muscle building exercises to rev up the metabolism and burn calories. It outlines a strength training progrm to be done 3 times a week, plus ab exercises twice a week. Although the plan doesn't stress cardiovascular exercise, it does recommend one day of interval training in which you alternate between high and low intensity aerobic exercise. The Abs Diet for Women also includes a lean leg workout and a yoga routine to reduce stress.

For Women Only

The Abs Diet for Women includes tips for women who suffer from PMS or are going through menopause. For PMS, it suggests focusing on eating protein and fiber to keep blood sugar levels even. It also encourages 4 servings of dairy to get calcium and vitamin D, both of which can reduce PMS symptoms, according to a 2005 study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

For menopausal women, the diet stresses keeping weight down. A study published by the American Association of Cancer research indicated overweight, menopausal women are at higher risk of breast cancer. The Abs Diet for Women also suggests eating plums, strawberries, apples, grapes, oranges and raspberries, which are high phytoestrogens that may trick the body into thinking it has more estrogen.