Belly Off Diet or Flat Belly Diet: What's the difference?

May 3, 12:31 PMWeight Loss ExaminerGail Gedan Spencer

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Men's Health magazine has been touting their new Belly Off Diet book, which got me to thinking: What's the difference between their diet plan and Flat Belly Diet, both of which come from Rodale.

Think of the book The Belly Off! Diet: Attack the Fat That Matters Most (Rodale, $18.95) as the men's version of the Flat Belly Diet, although both plans are designed for both sexes. The Belly Off Diet started out as a feature in Men's Health magazine in 2001, and since men are less likely to jump onto diet bandwagons, this plan is geared more toward guys. The book's success stories are men and there are men showing how to do the exercises in the fitness part of the book. Plus, the book has a manly yellow, orange and black cover with a guy pulling at his too-big pants.

Both diets stress the importance of healthy fats to keep you satiated. The Belly Off Diet works more on boosting protein intake to around 30 percent of the diet and replacing refined carbs with more non-starchy fruits and vegetables. It also stresses more guy-specific problems: Don't skip breakfast, lay off the brewskis and eat 4-6 small meals throughout the day instead of a couple of gut-busters.

The book has a one-week jumpstart plan, a month of shopping lists and recipes, a fitness plan that doesn't require a gym membership and those dude-friendly success stories.

An editor from Men's Health was on CBS last week and gave a brief overview of the plan: