Last night I happened to stumble upon on a great debate on the Joy Behar show. On the panel, discussing how to lose belly fat, were Jorge Cruz, Dr. Roizen, and that cute little Joy (can’t think of her last name) that is a regular on the Today Show. The danger of belly fat has been recognized for years. I remember Dr. Oz talking about it on the Oprah show and mentioning the word OMENTUM, the first time I had ever heard about that part of the body. Now it’s all the buzz….but how to target belly fat is the big debate. Jorge, who has written many books on fitness, has a new book out, that targets belly fat loss. He claims the latest science proves it’s as simple as eliminating sugar from our diet. No white breads, rice or pasta and keeping sugar intake to 15 grams a day or less. (If you think you don’t eat a lot of sugar, start reading your food labels!) He claims that you can lose between 4 and 9 pounds a week that way and you don’t have to count calories. I know people who have tried this approach and in fact have had those huge losses. Joy, on the other hand, contends eating this way will encourage people to eat the unhealthy fats found in high fat cheeses and will discourage the all important exercise component. Dr. Roizen says we need to do cardiovascular exercise for our heart, watch the sugars and watch the fats. Well doesn’t that make sense?! There is much to be taken away from all 3 of their philosophies so I suggest combining all their wisdom. Want to lose belly fat? Eliminate the white products, keep your sugar intake very low, eat lean protein found in white meat chicken, fish low fat cheese and tofu. Then get off your butt and get some exercise almost every day. I wasn’t sitting on the panel, but if I were I certainly would have added the importance of strength training in order to boost the metabolism and increase muscle mass, hence burning more calories and building better bone density. Maybe next time, they’ll invite me 🙂 Have you had success losing belly fat? If so, let me know what worked for YOU!