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7 Day Challenge Quick Start Guide
7 Day Challenge Quick Start Guide
Quick-Start Guide
Hey, thanks for signing up for the Zero Belly Smoothies 7-Day Challenge. And good luck!
This guide will give you a jumpstart on the challenge today! Here’s what you’ll find in this packet:
Easy instructions for how to document your starting point (ie. weight, waist
measurement).
Delicious recipes and a sample meal plan based on the Zero Belly Diet book
A few fat-burning smoothie recipes that’ll satisfy your hunger and taste buds, and help
you kick fat-loss into overdrive. For more smoothie recipes, pick up a copy of Zero Belly
Smoothies.
The Zero Belly Body Weight Workout. This no-gym exercise plan is fast, effective, and
convenient. (Of course, feel free to use your own workouts or other types of exercise.
As long as you’re burning calories, you’re on your way!)
No book can replace the diagnostic expertise and medical advice of a trusted physician. Please
be certain to consult with your doctor before making any decisions that affect your health,
particularly if you suffer from any medical condition or have any symptom that may require
treatment.
Introduction
The last time you purchased a major appliance, it probably came with a thick instruction manual
packed with hundreds of pages describing dozens of features, most of which were written in
German and Japanese. It also came with a quick-start leaflet showing easy-to-follow diagrams
of how to hook the thing up, turn it on, and begin enjoying it within five minutes.
Think of this document as the quick-start guide to the Zero Belly life. If you want to understand
how and why the Zero Belly Diet works, to avail yourself of literally hundreds of meal and
smoothie recipes, and learn how to create your own delicious Zero Belly meals, you’ll want to
pick up copies of Zero Belly Diet and the Zero Belly Cookbook. However, if you just want to
jump right in and start shedding belly fat today, all you need is this guide and a copy of Zero
Belly Smoothies.
Weigh yourself: Use a scale that you will have access to at the end of the Challenge as well,
to ensure consistent measurement.
Measure your waist: Measure the circumference of your waist at your belly button. Wrap a
cloth measuring tape around your waist, above your hips so it is level at your navel.
Snap some selfies: You will be submitting before and after photos as part of your Challenge
entry. Please keep the following requirements in mind when taking your photos:
Shots taken with your phone are fine, as long as you shoot with enough light and the
photo is not blurry.
A few example photos are shown below, to give you an idea of what we are looking for.
How to complete the Zero Belly Smoothies 7-Day Challenge
The Zero Belly Smoothies 7-Day Challenge is nothing more than a simple tweaking of the
standard Zero Belly Diet. It’s just a little more intense, because you’re replacing two meals a day
with drinks. Replacing both breakfast and lunch with drinks will cut your daily calories just a bit
more.
The plan is simple: you’ll enjoy two Zero Belly Smoothies as meals (breakfast and lunch), two
snacks and a Zero Belly dinner. If you’d prefer to eat breakfast and drink dinner, that’s fine. We
suggest breakfast and lunch because they tend to be the most harried times of the day, and
hence a smoothie can help, er, smooth things out.
Remember, it is perfectly fine to make breakfast, lunch or dinner your non-smoothie meal, and
to drink any category of smoothie at any time. The plan above is just a sample. It is also
always permissible, even encouraged, to drink as much water as you like with or between
meals.
The recipes for these smoothies, meals and snacks, plus a few others, are included at the end
of this guide. However, there are more than 100 additional meal recipes in the Zero Belly
Cookbook and 100+ smoothie recipes in Zero Belly Smoothies, so grab a copy of one of these
books if you are looking for more variety.
Exercise Plan
Complete as many circuits of the Zero Belly Body Weight Circuit as possible on days 1, 3, 5 and
7 of the 7-Day Challenge. If you are new to exercise, or have not exercised in a long time,
complete the walking HIIT workout for beginners instead.
This quick interval workout burns tons of calories and tones trouble zones.
After a warm-up, perform each exercise as fast as you can with good form. Not counting
warmup and cooldown, you can do two circuits in just 4 minutes. Eventually, you will build up
to four circuits, resting for up to 30 seconds between rounds, if needed.
Here’s the routine:
3 minutes: Warm up with jumping jacks, jogging in place, or marching in place while doing arm
circles with your outstretched arms
20 seconds: Push-ups
3 minutes: Cool down with any of the warm-up movements, performed slowly
A WALKING HIIT WORKOUT FOR BEGINNERS
Give a high intensity interval training walking workout a try out. Start each session with a three-
minute warm up of steady walking at a moderate pace. Wear a watch or set your smart phone’s
timer to alert you when interval times are up. Do interval walks three or four times a week,
leaving a day in between to rest or walk at a continuous pace. Here’s a simple plan:
After a warm up, speed up, walking as fast as you comfortably can for 1 minute. Slow
down if you are too winded to carry on a conversation of short sentences. Speed up if
you are not breathing hard enough. Bend your arms and swing them to get your upper
body in play. Doing so will also move your legs faster.
Repeat the sequence four more times for a 20-minute HIIT walk.
Sample Recipes
Fruit Smoothie
BLUEBERRY DAZZLER
A favorite of the original Zero Belly Test Panel. Consider using wild blueberries (you can find
them in the freezer section); they’re higher in just about every nutrient than conventional
blueberries.
Green Smoothie
GREEN MONSTER
This filling, creamy drink isn’t what you think of when you imagine a classic green drink: It’s a lot
more like a milkshake than a juice. But it will affect you in the exact opposite way: A 2012 study
in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that consuming pears (as well as apples and
blueberries) reduced the risk of diabetes.
½ Bosc pear
½ frozen banana
¼ ripe avocado
½ cup baby spinach, loosely packed
½ cup no-sugar-added apple juice
¼ cup water
1 scoop plain plant-based protein powder
Water to blend
Four words that combine to sound like a jam session at Ben & Jerry’s house. The density of the
banana will have you convinced you’re drinking a milkshake, while the omega-3s in the walnuts
will keep your mind sharp and your belly lean.
1 frozen banana
2 squares of dark chocolate
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
¼ cup walnuts
3 ice cubes
1 scoop chocolate vegan protein powder
Savory Smoothie
TURMERICAN DREAM
Turmeric may be the single most powerful anti-inflammatory food in nature’s arsenal, thanks to
its unique active compound, curcumin. It’s a staple of Indian food, and blends perfectly with
tropical fruits like pineapple.
Snacks
DEVILED EGGS
Serves: 4
Cook Time: N/A
4 hard-boiled eggs
2 tbsp Zero Belly Mayonnaise
1 tbsp relish
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
¼ tsp smoked paprika
Slice each egg in half lengthwise and scoop the egg yolks into a small mixing bowl.
Place the whites on a serving dish.
Mash the yolks into a crumble with a fork. Stir in the mayonnaise, relish, and mustard.
Evenly disperse heaping teaspoons of yolk mixture back into the egg whites. Sprinkle
with paprika before serving.
Serves: 4
Cook Time: N/A
Place the nut butter, coconut milk, honey, cinnamon, and vanilla in the bowl of a food
processor and puree until smooth.
Arrange the banana chunks on a plate and serve family style with a small bowl of nutty
honey-cinnamon dip.
Yield: 4 Cups
Bake Time: 25 Minutes
Dinner2s
Serves: 4
Cook Time: 35 Minutes
FRITES
STEAK
VEGETABLE
1 bunch green asparagus, white part of the stems removed (about 20 spears)
Place the arugula and parsley in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until well chopped.
Add the rest of the ingredients and pulse until well incorporated but still chunky.
Serve immediately, or store in a glass jar in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Grind the coriander seeds, peppercorns, and cumin seeds in a spice grinder or clean
coffee grinder until very fine.
Add remaining ingredients to a bowl of a small food processor and puree until smooth.
Add the ground spices and process to incorporate.
Store in a fridge for up to 1 week.
1 serrano chili
⅓ cup roughly chopped shallots (about 2 large or 3 small)
⅓ cup fresh, roughly chopped ginger
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
Take the stems off of the serranos and cut in half. Take the seeds out and slice thin.
Place the chilis, shallots and ginger in a food processor and chop until finely minced.
Heat the oil in a saucepot on medium heat and add the shallots, ginger and chillies.
Reduce the heat to low and cook until the shallots are very soft, about 8 minutes.
Take off the heat and cool.
Store in a BPA-free glass jar in the fridge for up to one week.
½ rotisserie chicken
1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
½ cup finely diced onion
½ cup finely diced celery
½ cup finely diced carrot
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
3 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
1 tsp kosher salt
1 cup cooked brown rice
¼ cup chopped fresh herbs (your choice)
Remove the skin from the chicken. Pick the meat, both white and dark, from the bird and
shred. Reserve half of the meat for a future meal.
Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a 4-quart pot. Add onion, celery, and carrot and
cook until soft, 5 minutes.
Add the chicken and vegetable broths, and salt to the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce
heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
Add the chicken, rice, and fresh herbs and simmer for 5 minutes more. Serve hot.
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
¾ lb snow peas
1 lb pre-cooked, shelled and deveined shrimp
5 radishes, thinly sliced
¼ large red onion, thinly sliced
1 large red bell pepper, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
3 Tbsp Asian Salad Dressing, premade (in a glass jar, combine ⅓ cup rice wine vinegar; 3 Tbsp
extra-virgin olive oil; 2 Tbsp raw Manuka honey; 2 Tbsp low-sodium tamari. Shake vigorously
until emulsified. Store in fridge for up to 2 weeks)
Combine snow peas, shrimp, other ingredients and dressing in a large bowl. Mix and
divide into four plates.
If you have time to blanch the snow peas: Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Fill a
large bowl with ice and cold water. Place snow peas in the boiling water for 30 seconds
or until tender. Transfer peas into the ice water using a large, slotted spoon. Once cool,
take peas out and place on a plate lined with paper towels to dry.
MAKES 4 SERVINGS