Ian Smith's Fat Smash Diet is a simple, four-phase plan that gradually walks you through the stages needed to successfully lose weight and keep it off. It is designed to help you spend 90 days developing both healthy eating habits and a healthy lifestyle, so that you can enjoy life to the fullest.
Why the "Smash" Diet?
Dr. Smith named his diet because it is supposed to help you "smash" bad habits and conquer the "demons" of your past, so that you can build a "new and improved" you. It also "smashes" the misconceptions and misinformation about diet and weight loss that may have been holding you back from achieving your weight loss goals.
Phase One: Detox
The nine-day first phase of the diet is a time when you eat primarily fruits and vegetables, to allow your body to cleanse itself of impurities and toxins. The focus on raw or lightly cooked (steamed or grilled) vegetables and fruits also allows your body to make use of the abundant vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that are present in these most natural of foods. During this phase, you establish the habit of eating four to five small meals daily at three-hour intervals. While the menu for meals is rather limited, there is no restriction on how much you eat -- though overeating is discouraged. A 20- to 25-minute walk after dinner (or some other light exercise) is recommended, or 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise five times per week.
Allowed Foods
- all fruit
- all vegetables except white potatoes and avocados
- tofu
- dried beans (e.g., chickpeas, lentils)
- brown rice
- oatmeal
- limited skim or soy milk
- herbs and spices
- low-fat yogurt (no more than 12 oz. daily)
- up to 4 egg whites daily
- herbal tea
- unlimited water
Phase Two: Foundation
The three-week second phase continues the building of good habits while introducing additional foods and increasing physical activity. You continue to eat four to five small meals at three-hour intervals, and you try to maintain a high intake of fruits and vegetables. Skipping meals is not permitted, and fried foods are discouraged. Physical exercise is increased by 10 to 15%."New" Allowed Foods
- one-half an avocado per day is allowed in this phase, but white potatoes are still forbidden
- 3 to 4 ounces of meat or seafood daily
- 1 whole egg
- 1 ounce of cheese
- 1 1/2 cups of certain cold cereals (e.g., shredded wheat, Total, Chex)
- 1/2 cup of certain hot cereals (e.g., oatmeal, farina)
- up to 4 teaspoons of sugar or artificial sweetener
- up to 2 teaspoons of salt, and unlimited quantities of herbs and spices
- 2 teaspoons of peanut butter
- 2 cans of diet soda
- 10 ounces of coffee
- 8 ounces of fresh-squeezed fruit juice
Phase Three: Construction
Phase three of the Smash Diet adds still more foods to the allowed list, and increases physical activity yet further. You must eat at least four times per day, and you should continue eating ample quantities of fruits and vegetables. The list of allowed foods both adds new foods and increases allowed portions of other foods. The good news is you can now add a non-fruit dessert once a day. Exercise should be increased by 25%."New" Allowed Foods
- you can now drink up to 16 ounces of fresh-squeezed fruit juice
- meat servings increase to 5 ounces (seafood stays at 3 ounces)
- two whole eggs
- up to 3 cups of skim or soy milk
- 1 cup of whole wheat pasta
- 4 thin slices of whole grain bread
- 3 chocolate chip cookies
- 2 oatmeal raisin cookies
- 1 scoop low-fat ice cream
Phase Four: The Temple
This final phase of The Fat Smash Diet is equivalent to the maintenance phase of most other diets. In this phase, most previously forbidden foods are allowed (albeit in limited quantities), and physical activity is increased to one hour five times per week. At this point, if you have not reached your goal weight, you can repeat the sequence of phases as many times as you wish until you have achieved your goal.
Don't Skip the Appendices!
In addition to 83 pages of recipes and menu ideas, the book has four appendices, each of which contains very useful information:
- Appendix 1: a body mass index chart which helps you determine a healthy and reasonable weight goal.
- Appendix 2: three pages listing the fiber content of a number of common foods, designed to help you increase your dietary fiber intake.
- Appendix 3: information on how to read a food nutrition label
- Appendix 4: calorie expenditure charts for several common exercise programs and physical activities.
Evaluation
The Fat Smash Diet is a simple, manageable approach to weight loss. Unlike many fad diets, it's also a healthful weight loss program, with its emphasis on fruits and vegetables and reasonable amounts of exercise.
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