Follow This 7-Day Diet to Burn Belly Fat Before Next Weekend

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Aside from the obvious reason why you might want to cinch your waist (ahem, crop tops), carrying extra weight around your midsection is also linked with health problems such as heart disease, diabetes, and hormone issues.

Amy Shah, M.D., a double-board-certified doctor with training from Cornell, Columbia, and Harvard universities, specializes in helping people lose weight, detox, and resolve hormone imbalances using food, and told us that fat around your midsection can increase the risk of insulin resistance, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and spiked blood sugar levels. “The most alarming stat is that, regardless of BMI, people with thicker midlines have higher risk of premature death,” she said.

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Shah also emphasized the importance of sleep for anyone trying to trim their midsection—being tired can often lead to mindless eating and snacking, and reiterated how key it is to chug a ton of water (“more than you think.”)

It might sound obvious, but a vegetable-packed diet, cutting out all refined sugars and processed foods, and tossing out artificial sweeteners except for the occasional pinch of stevia are also crucial to losing belly fat, fast.

To help get you started, Dr. Shah devised a full seven-day eating plan to jumpstart your new eating routine and burn belly fat by next weekend.

Breakfast: Green vegetable juice made using one organic green apple, celery, cucumber, kale, half a lemon, one inch of fresh ginger, one teaspoon of turmeric powder, a few cilantro or parsley leaves, and half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper. Follow with a protein shake made with one scoop of nondairy protein (hemp or pea protein), 1/2 cup fruit such as berries, one cup almond milk, half teaspoon vanilla extract or tablespoon cocoa powder.
Lunch: Large salad topped with avocado and dandelion greens with a simple olive-oil-and-vinegar dressing.
Dinner: Bean soup (like black-eyed pea soup), half sweet potato, and green salad.

Breakfast: One green juice and a chia-seed pudding made by blending two tablespoons of chia seeds with one cup of coconut milk, half teaspoon vanilla, two chopped dates, one tablespoon hemp seeds.
Lunch: Large green salad and half a sweet potato, roasted or grilled.
Dinner: Grilled cauliflower and seasoned quinoa.

Breakfast: Green juice and a protein shake.
Lunch: Creamy cauliflower soup with a salad. Make soup by slicing, blending, and heating one clove of garlic, one tablespoon of olive or coconut oil, one small head cauliflower, one cup of low-sodium veggie broth, one tablespoon of thyme leaves, a pinch of salt and black pepper.
Dinner: Mexican bowl using black beans, guacamole, tomatoes, cubed grilled sweet potato, salsa, lettuce, onions.

Breakfast: Green juice and chia-seed pudding.
Lunch: Leftover Mexican bowl.
Dinner: Grilled asparagus with seasoned cauliflower rice (available at Trader Joe’s).

Breakfast: Green juice and a protein shake.
Lunch: Leftover asparagus with a salad.
Dinner: Seasoned, grilled Brussels sprouts with sweet potato.

Breakfast: Green juice and chia pudding.
Lunch: Leftover Brussels sprouts with salad.
Dinner: Grilled portobello mushrooms with salad.

Breakfast: Green juice and gluten-free pancakes.
Lunch: Leftover grilled portabella mushrooms.
Dinner: One grain-free naan with spinach.