6 Tricks For a Flatter Stomach
Angela Jenkins
| 2 min read
Muffin top, pooch, love handles and jelly belly have all been terms to describe someone who has a little extra around their mid section. It does take some work and commitment, but having a flatter looking stomach may not be as hard as you think.
It’s not all about doing crunches or abdominal exercises to achieve a flatter stomach. Although it does help, there are some other tips that you can practice to actually make your abdomen look flatter:
You Don’t Have to Suck it In
- Eat smaller meals more frequently. Eating five or six smaller meals throughout the day as opposed to two or three large meals will reduce bloating and that really full feeling.
- Eat fiber-rich foods. It is recommended for most adults to consume 25 to 30 mg of fiber a day. Most people do not come close to eating enough fiber. Fiber keeps you regular and helps eliminate waste instead of sticking around in your intestines, which can make your stomach look bigger than it really is.
- Drink water. Drinking around 64 ounces of water per day keeps your systems going and helps to keep you regular. Drinking water also aids in keeping you fuller, decreasing overeating, which can also cause bloating.
- Reduce Your Stress. When the body is under high levels of stress, it releases a hormone called cortisol, which is linked to weight gain. Learning stress management techniques will help in keeping cortisol levels minimal.
- Don’t skip breakfast. Eating breakfast kick-starts the metabolism in the morning, helping to burn more calories throughout the day than not eating breakfast. When you skip meals, your body goes into “starvation mode” and actually holds onto the stored fat already accumulated because it doesn’t know when you’re going to eat next. So eat those meals and burn those calories!
- Incorporate physical activity. Burning calories will help with overall weight loss. Even though spot reduction is unlikely to happen when just doing abdominal exercises, these exercises do help with overall calorie burn and strengthening the core muscles. Getting in cardiovascular activities along with strength training exercises increases calorie burn, boosts the metabolism and helps to shed unwanted pounds. Fitness magazine has some great abdominal exercises.
It is going to be a few months before these methods work for me since I am currently pregnant 🙂 but I would love to hear how these work for you in the meantime!
Photo credit: ~*Leah*~
