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

An excellent guide for those of us who need to change the way we eat due to gastro-intestinal troubles, and a life-saver for non-fussy, unimaginative cooks like myself who feel helpless when faced by a doctor's "don't eat this" list. Possible weight loss is just a nice side benefit! I did not find it necessary to stick slavishly to the 21-day plan or the exact ingredient list of every recipe. On the contrary: The excellent explanations of why certain foods ("belly bullies") cause gastric distress and others ("belly buddies") improve gastric health give you a perfect roadmap for grocery shopping, and the recipe methodology is so simple and clear that you get the idea right away. I was able to modify dishes to my own taste from Day 1 without violating the overall philosophy, and have had no trouble substituting ingredients when I don't have the exact ones on hand. Every recipe I've tried has been easy to make, delicious and satisfying; many of them are easy to downsize and/or adapt to the toaster oven or microwave. Also, thanks to the many snack ideas listed in the book, I've had no trouble sticking to small, easier-to-digest portion sizes and avoid hunger pangs between meals. Finally, by using the "belly bully test" method, I was able to confirm right away that some "bullies" don't bully me, allowing me to keep some favorites (like milk and regular plain yoghurt) on my list and reducing the "diet means deprivation" feel of the plan. In fact, I wouldn't consider this an actual "diet" book, though you can treat it as such, if you wish. It is more a "how to" book, in my view. My severe belly cramps were caused by the fact that a virus had destroyed my intestinal flora. The "Tummy" way of eating got rid of them immediately. That was six months ago. Since then, I've tested many of the bullies and found how best to navigate them. I discovered that I can tolerate many of them (even beans and whole grain bread) when I keep the portions very small and chew thoroughly. Others (like hummus and frozen dinners) depend on the brand (Cedar's and Amy's). I will always have to watch what I eat and how I eat it from now on, but the "Tummy" book has given me the knowledge and confidence to deal with my rebellious belly, making it a minor "watch it" issue rather than a debilitating health problem with severe impact on my quality of life.

I'm a long time RD subscriber, so I had been looking forward to this coming out. There are a lot of things to like about the book. It is extremely well researched, and very informative. It is obvious they didn't just throw this together, but rather, took their time to study, document, and footnote what they are writing about. The recipe's are varied, and so far, the I have enjoyed several of them. Here are the negatives. My main negative about the book is its organization. For me, I would have preferred that they did the intro and first chapter, and then went very specifically into what we actually have to do to make this diet work. I found the information helpful, but only after I made my first trip to the store, so putting it later would have been better, for me. I think there needed to be a separate chapter on just charts. I don't buy books anymore, because having everything right on my kindle is easier for me. I am finding it extremely difficult to flip back and forth to find what I need. A chapter on charts, and a shopping list for EACH phase would have saved me hours of flipping and writing. Despite the cheery claim of "most of you probably already have the ingredients in your kitchen" I think it is safe to say that most household's don't have chia or flax seeds, etc etc! LOL! So, more charts, and lists. **Edit--I did just find the weekly shopping lists at the end of the book. Again, I am on kindle, so did not see these!*** As to the food, I would have liked this to be organized differently. It is set up Breakfasts, Soups, Dinner, etc, and all 3 phases are in each chapter. Again, loads of time would be saved to have it organized: Meals, phase 1, meals phase 2, etc etc. It would also be helpful in my wished for chart chapter - chart, phase 1, chart phase 2, etc for shopping lists. The belly-buster smoothies. Day 1- I followed the original recipe, and it was only tolerable. Day 2, I tried the "orange creamsicle" and it was vile. Really. Tasted like tree bark, with dirt. Today, I used the original with just blueberries, and it was the first one that was drinkable. (People that live on junk food don't like smoothies that taste like tree bark-- just sayin...) Read on, for the reason I went ahead and drank them very quickly! (except for the tree bark one - I just couldn't get that down....) Now, to the question of does it work? Surprisingly, yes! I DO feel better! LOL!! And, I felt better on the first day, after the first smoothie that I choked down! I'm more concerned about the chemical reactions and they way they are causing my entire body to feel, and I do feel better! I'm not as concerned about weight loss, so I don't even have a scale, but more about how those potato chips are affecting they way I feel, so I think, on day 3, yes, it works! So, since I've only done 3 days, I can say I DO feel a lot better! There is still a lot more flipping back and forth I'm going to have to do for my next grocery trip, so if you are just starting with the book, write down AS YOU GO the foods, and the "plan" for the first week. It will save you tons of time to do it now, instead of trying to remember where it was when you need the info. I think that my stomach acids have gone down probably about 80% now, so for that alone, I'm going to give it a go, and stick with it for the 21 days. I do appreciate knowing the how and why certain foods really make my stomach churn, and telling me why they do is very helpful, and a huge incentive to stay with this. I have more energy, and don't feel like I'm "bogged down" after 3 days. I will try to remember to come back and edit after I've done it longer. Premise and research are very good, organization, could have been better. If you want to feel better, give it a go, just do it with pencil and paper in hand before you start reading. If you have the hardcover, putting labeled tabs on the pages would work also.

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.

I lost about 9 pounds. The diet plan was ok, and I followed the recipes (though not in the order of the book but in the order of the phases) for about 9 days. By then I realized that it was low calorie yogurt in morning with fruit. Low calorie soup lunch, fruit or vegetable snack with some type of spread, and a low calorie sensible dinner. No big surprises. A week of their "yogurt bellie smoothie" had my stomach churning something awful and gave me the S$*t's. The first 3/4's of the book is boring filler. They just need to get to the heart of the matter and can trim the book down to 1/4, but they probably feel that they have to give you your moneys worth. Anyway, lost some weight, so it is a good start.

I have never tried a formal diet, but after gaining 15+ pounds in 1/1/2 years, I knew it was time. I read about this book in the Readers' Digest and decided to give it a try. Not only was I overweight, all the fat seemed to be in my tummy and I looked 6-months pregnant. Plus, I was having bouts with GERT and I wanted to find out if certain foods were causing it. SO, yes, the first 5 days were hard. YES, the recipes are delicious! And most are very simple and really quick to make. Loved the mini quiches (DO NOT use a muffin pan unless you want to spend 3 days scrubbing out the dried egg; instead use porcelain ramekins, which means you can also cook them in the microwave--about 4 minutes on medium high, depending on the size of your ramekin.), the flank steak and the soups. YES, my tummy shrank noticeably. NO, I did not find any foods that caused the bloating or the GERT, but I did realize I was mindlessly eating food during the day. Not because I was hungry, but because I needed something to do while I was thinking. The diet shrank my stomach so that I feel full after eating about half of what I would normally eat, I lost 15 pounds and am still losing, and am trying to eat mindfully. I checked the book out of the library but will be buying a copy to keep. The recipes are that good. Plus, I discovered Greek yogurt--can not believe how delicious it is, so much tastier than other kinds of yogurt. It's as rich as sour cream. But healthy. I did not do her exercise regime as I already work out on my own. I might have lost even more weight if I had.

I read this book with high hopes - I know that inflammation and low metabolism are playing a large part in my weight issues as I've hit my 50's. I've also read Lyn-Genet Recitas' book "The Plan", which deals with the same inflammation issues, but is much more complicated and hard to follow. I hoped that this one would be easier. And, while the recipes and eating plan do seem easier and much more user-friendly, it's still almost impossible for me to follow - mainly because I don't eat Greek yogurt. And that's a big base for many of the foods, and from what I understand reading through this book, it's a requirement - I get the "probiotic" value and all that, but I just can't choke the stuff down, the smell makes me gag. So - I'm still looking for a viable alternative eating plan. Until then..... Eat less, move more.

Have almost finished reading this wonderfully informative book about the digestive system. Can't wait to start the 21-day plan. This book gives you not only the food you should eat on each day but also a shopping list for each of the 3 weeks. How easy is that? Lots of good chemical/medical information about our guts, food actions and reactions. The theory is to have you eat foods, for 21 days, that will help get your gut flora back to a normal balance. You can then add back in your favorite foods in an organized fashion to determine which foods are upsetting to your balance. No huge restrictions on the 21 days. Good food, tasty recipes - it looks like enough food in each of the 3 phases so that most people will not be hungry. I will certainly appreciate any tummy fat loss that may happen, but will be hugely thankful for less gas, bloating, and that vague sense of unease that I hope to gain from completing this 21-day food plan.

Not sure if this book is for digestive issues or weight loss but it seems it's for both and in my opinion should be for one or the other. I promised to read from the beginning since I have a bad habit of looking for the answers by jumping ahead but I quickly realized this wasn't the book for me. I appreciate the info about what causes digestive issues because it totally makes sense and I liked how there are actual results that even the author gets from changing her eating habits however, I feel like this is too much to think about. I was also surprised to see certain fruits and vegetables that were not on the list of foods you can eat like Apples! I love Apples and they have fiber! Plus what happened to a Apple a day keeps the doctor away?! Anyways, my point is I was surprised with the list of fruits and veges you should and shouldn't eat. I thought all fruits and veges were good for us??!! For example Watermelon was on the not to eat list. I think that this book is good for people with severe digestive issues and can't find relief from medication or don't want to take medicine not so much a way to lose weight. I have daily stomach issues that I've learned over time how to prevent and what to stay away from when I'm feeling icky. I will keep this book to refer to for tips but I don't plan to do the "21" day diet. Don't get me wrong this isn't a bad book its probably a great plan for someone with bad stomach issues and poor eating habits. Also, I'm not and never been a fan of provided recipes I rarely like any of them and would rather be provided with the facts and snacking options because that's usually the hardest to stick to. This is a good book for someone who has tried everything for stomach issues with a bonus of weight loss not so much for someone who has bloating sometimes or a stomachache after eating processed high fat foods. We all get bloat even if it's caused by gum chewing, drinking out of a straw or our monthly cycle. Again, I'm not knocking the book it's just not for me. I also wouldn't recommend for someone looking for just weightloss because I feel someone who needs to lose weight is better off eating Apples than cookies.