Life changing information
It's so good to get a book that explains why people get belly fat as they get older and I wish I had read this book when I was in my 30's! There is a solution to this problem! I would recommend this book for anyone who has started getting the stubbord belly fat or who wants to know how to avoid it. The information given in this book is right on! I had already been doing many of the necessary things listed but have incorporated a few other key things that I did not know and I've already seen a difference in only 2 weeks. A very informative and educational must-read book!

LADIES - DOMINATE YOUR ESTROGEN!
Have you wondered why, no matter what you do, you cannot lose the weight around your middle? Dr. Randolph answers this question by targeting hormones - "estrogen dominance" - as the culprit, not calories, carbs, or lack of crunches. He provides a 3-step plan consisting of exercise, natural progesterone supplementation, and an anti-estrogenic diet. The hormone-balancing diet includes ten critical foods such as fiber, citrus, and cruciferous vegetables, and a number of vitamins and key supplements such as calcium-magnesium and DHEA. The book focuses on women over thirty.

The book includes a one-month menu with meals such as: Grilled Salmon with Dill and Lemon; Crab Cakes; Grapefruit and Avocado Salad; Flaxseed and Fruit Smoothie; Garlic Chickpeas and Pasta; Lemon-Curry Cauliflower and Kale; Lentil, Carrot, and Turnip Stew; and Not Your Ordinary Tuna Salad.

The contents of the book include:
Part 1. Where Your Belly Fat Came From and Why It Won't Budge
1. Estrogen Dominance
2. Are You Estrogen Dominant?
Part 2. The Three-Step Plan to Balance Your Hormones and Whittle Your Middle
3. Step 1: Eat Foods That Balance Your Hormones
4. Step 2: Use Progesterone--the Simple Way to a Flat Belly
5. Take the Right Supplements to Support, Not Sabotage Your Hormone Balance
Part 3. Keeping That Flat Belly for Life
6. Keeping Weight Off in the Real World
7. The 80-20 Rule
8. The "Flat Belly for Life" Recipe Collection

This book draws a connection between belly bulge and hormone imbalance and seems to work for many women. The author explains that age-related decrease in progesterone production causes the body to become estrogen dominant, which leads to increased body fat, and fat tissue produces and stores more estrogen. Simultaneously, body fat contains an enzyme that converts adrenal steroids into estrogen. Making things worse, when you are in an estrogen dominant state your body supposedly does not effectively use fat for energy compromising your body's ability to metabolize or burn body fat. The author further states that having high estrogen levels affects the distribution of body fat and predisposes the body to store fat around the abdomen. Why having a high level of estrogen would affect where fat is stored is unclear to me. It seems that if you lose enough body fat, your stomach will eventually go flat, providing you maintain good muscle control, good posture, avoid overeating, or eating bloat-causing foods.

Readers should enjoy the tasty hormone-balancing recipes, and I applaud the idea of balancing hormones in a more natural way - especially using foods and vitamins! My only caveat is to check with a breast doctor before taking DHEA as I was specifically told by a breast cancer specialist not to take it. For a life-changing method of weight control, I also recommend THE 3:00 PM SECRET: Live Slim and Strong, Live Your Dreams

Dr. Randolph Speaks from Experience
Dr. Randolph was one of the first medical doctors to incorporate bioidentical hormones in his practice, and by now he has treated thousands of women, so when he gives hormone and diet advice he speaks from a lot of experience! This book is about much more than a flat belly (although that's a bonus) -- it's about creating optimal health with elegantly simple solutions. If you follow Dr. Randolph and Genie James' guidelines, you're nearly guaranteed to be healthier and have more energy.

Diet Yo-Yo'er
The Belly Flat plan finally got me back into my "skinny" jeans and has kept me there for eighteen months straight! I have been a diet yo-yo'er who rotated pant sizes from 8 to 12 for years. As a patient of Dr. Randolph's he started me on his plan two years ago when I was at my highest weight i've ever been. After three months I was back in my "skinny" jeans again! I finally stayed at a size 8 since and have not spent one day hungry. In addition to looking great I now have my hormones in check and am happier, sweeter and according to my boyfriend ...a much sexier person!! I'm telling you girls THIS IS THE ONE!!

Thank You !!!!
I stumbled across 'Belly Fat Belly Flat' on the internet a few weeks ago, in my ongoing (fruitless) search for a way to get rid of that darn muffin. The book is wonderful! The muffin has vanished (in just 2 weeks) and now I am working on that remaining general pudge. And I feel great !! I just ordered two more copies of the book for my sisters. Thank you Genie and Dr Randolph!! (I am 58 and feel like 30 right about now ...)