If you are finding ways to get a flat stomach, don’t worry, you are not alone. Not only there is a risk factor for developing various diseases, but excess flab can also make you feel bloated and less confident. You should know that getting a flat stomach doesn’t only depend on exercise. Consuming the right food combined with good lifestyle habits may have a huge and powerful impact on your belly. To get a tighter stomach and a strong core, you should spend some time in toning your midsection with a few aerobic exercises.
If you are looking for ways on how to lose weight and get a flat tummy, this article may be just what you need. You can incorporate these result-driven ways and tips to make yourself win the battle of the tummy bulge for always.
Ways to Get a Flat Stomach
Some of the following ways can help you get a flat stomach and strong abdominal muscles over time. And with some tips, you can get a flatter stomach quickly. So, you should try to incorporate as many of these tips as possible into your daily routine. Simply follow these 10 effective ways to reduce belly flab and flaunt your flat stomach the way you have always dreamed of:
1. Eat Healthier
It is of no surprise that eating healthy foods like vegetables, fruits, and whole grains helps in achieving a flat stomach. Once you switch from junk food to healthy food items, you’ll see a huge difference in your stomach. However, it is not recommended to switch abruptly – try to consume healthy food slowly but continuously replace it with the bad ones. Following are some of the changes you can make to your diet:
- Consume healthy fats – There are good fats like monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats that can help you in losing weight. These fats are found in nuts, fish, olive oil, avocados, and seed oils. All you need to do is avoid the intake of trans fat found in baked and processed food items.
- Take less sodium – Sodium is responsible for the water retention in your body which makes you feel and look bloated especially around your midsection. So, it is best to avoid high-sodium food with healthier options. You can take sea or kosher salt in place of regular table salt as they both are lower in sodium. High-sodium foods that you should avoid include ham, bacon, soy sauce, pepperoni, sauces, and snack foods.
- Eat whole grains – Go for food with labels like 100% whole wheat or 100% whole grain. The whole grains can keep you fuller longer which greatly helps in losing weight and getting a flat tummy.
- Increase your protein intake – Lean meat, nuts, and beans are extremely good for health.
- Consume low-fat dairy products – Products like milk, cottage cheese, and yogurt are good choices. You can avoid high-fat products like hard cheeses and ice creams.
Health experts always say that a healthy eating plan includes vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and fat-free or low-fat dairy products. A healthy diet also includes poultry, lean meats, fish, beans, eggs, and nuts that limit sodium, saturated and trans fats, and added sugars.
2. Control Your Eating Habits
If you are looking for ways on how to lose weight, your eating habits are key here. You should control your diet and eating habits for lowering your calorie consumption. The intake of nutritionally-rich low-calorie foods should be increased as they would keep you fuller and won’t ruin your diet too. Following are the steps you can follow:
- Increase your water intake. Doing this will help you prevent the additional bloat and improves your metabolism. You can consume various other drinks that can help you reduce fat.
- Avoid taking processed food items, soda, fast food, microwave items, etc. The additional sodium and sugar present in them help you from getting rid of the abdominal fat. Limit foods high in salt, cholesterol, added sugar, and saturated fats. You should know that most of the foods contain a little amount of sugar even when you don’t expect it.
- Eat whole foods like healthy fats, fruits, vegetables, grains, lean protein, etc. You can take fruit salads and products made using beans and pulses.
- Don’t skip the meals to lose some weight as it might backfire and triggers binges later.
3. Limit Your SugarIintake
Rather than keeping yourself full of empty calories, you can keep your insulin levels controlled by consuming less sugar. Added sugar has an association with some of the common diseases like type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Also, the intake of added sugar has a link with increased waist size, especially in those people who consume a large number of sugar-sweetened beverages. Firstly, you should reduce the amount of table sugar added to things you drink or eat like tea, coffee, cereal, or pancakes. Try lowering your sugar intake by half and gradually weaning it down. In place of adding sugar to oatmeal or cereal, try adding fresh fruits like bananas, blueberries, or strawberries or dried fruit. Also, you should read the ingredient lists of foods before consumption to avoid any hidden sugar. Beverages like coffee drinks, alcohol, juices, and sodas contain high levels of sugar so they should be avoided. You can use artificial sweeteners but in moderation as their increased usage may trigger hunger which results in weight gain.
4. Drink More Water
Every person needs water to stay active and energized. Drinking water is extremely important, especially if you are trying to flatten your belly. Water consumption helps in maintaining proper fluid balance, breaks down fat for energy, and shift nutrients to your muscles for maintaining your metabolism. So, you should replace all your regular drinks with water and skip the soda and sweetened drinks that are loaded with empty calories and causes the belly to bloat. Water intake may boost your overall energy expenditure by almost 100 calories a day. Drinking a cup of water before a meal may make you feel fuller and helps in portion control during the meal. Make this your habit and you’ll see it helping you in achieving your goal. If you find water boring, you can add energizing and refreshing nutrients that also help in cutting down the fat present around your stomach.
Medicine's guidelines say an average man should drink about 15 cups of water per day and about 11 cups for a woman.
5. Reduce Your Stress Levels
Anxiety and stress are very common and they have a great association with different health problems. Stress causes the over-production of the stress hormone called cortisol which is known for boosting the appetite and make people eat without being hungry in the first place. This way, the weight gain is encouraged around the belly area. This area is one of the trickiest to lose weight. Exercises meant for these areas hurt a lot too. So, you should look for the other ways with which you can cope with the stress and maintain and get a flat stomach. Following are the ways to relieve stress:
- Try yoga or meditation
- Take a break from the hectic or stressful routine
- Communicate with a friend or loved one
- Spend time doing some enjoyable stuff
- Do aerobic exercise
- Avoid getting involved in multiple projects or events at one time
- Prioritize important tasks
- Spend time outdoors
- Practice deep breathing to relax your body muscles
6. Eat Small and Frequent Meals
Some people who don’t consume the wrong kind of food but take a lot of right foods. Thus, it is important to reduce your portion size and eat until you feel full. The best approach is to eat regular, healthy food throughout the day that won’t leave you feeling hungry. You can do this by replacing your three meals a day with more regular, small meals. Many people, especially those trying to lose weight, make the mistake of not eating food between breakfast, lunch, and dinner. This may negatively affect blood sugar levels and makes it harder to lose weight. One good trick is to chew thoroughly and slowly. Chewing every bite thoroughly helps the digestion process and leaves you feeling less bloated. You can also use raw nuts and seeds which can make you full if eaten in moderation.S
7. Cut Down on Alcohol
While cutting alcohol out of your diet completely may be quite difficult for you, you should consider minimizing your alcohol intake. Alcohol, especially beer and wine, is full of calories and makes your stomach feel bloated. Consuming two glasses of alcohol a day gives an additional 72,000 calories annually, which equals 20 pounds of fat. Also, it releases estrogen into the system which causes the body to retain weight. Alcohol enables your body to store more of the fat you consume and burn around 35% less flab that you would normally do. Moreover, it can impede your body’s generation of fat-burning hormones. Though moderate alcohol consumption doesn’t increase the weight gain, heavy drinking is linked to weight gain, especially around the midsection. So, to get a flat stomach, you should reduce or avoid drinking alcoholic drinks.
Global study says, no amount of alcohol is good for your health anyway
8. Walk for At Least 30 Minutes a Day
A healthy diet combined with regular exercise is a perfect combination that can help in losing weight and improving overall health. Even if you can’t go to the gym, adding a 30-minute walk to your daily routine can help a person in burning more calories and sneaking in some extra movement. With this, the simple improvement in metabolism helps in burning the waistline fat more effectively. If you try taking a 30-day minute walk during lunchtime, you can get rid of the stubborn fat and feel more productive. And if you do this after dinner, you’ll get a better digestive system.
9. Strengthen Your Core
The core muscles are made up of abdominal muscles as well as the muscles of your pelvic floor, hips, and lower back. And to get a flat stomach, you should do exercises that target all of these muscles. Core exercises are great for gaining muscles and burn more calories throughout the day. The best exercise to strengthen your core is plank as it hits the core muscles hard and helps the stomach look and feel toned while losing the belly fat. Core exercises help in improving the posture and strengthen your spine, enabling the person to appear taller. If you do these exercises regularly, you can add mass to your midsection which prevents back pain caused due to the weak posture.
10. Do Cardio
If a layer of flab covers your stomach, you need to burn the topmost layer of that fat to see great changes. Nothing can beat cardio or aerobic exercise in the fight against belly fat. Doing some cardio is an amazing way to burn calories, achieve the flat belly, and improve overall health. Such exercises heat the core temperature and boost the blood circulation, helping in acquiring the flat stomach. Most of the cardio exercises like walking, running, and swimming helps greatly in reducing and building up a person’s midsection. Studies recommend that healthy adults should get at least 150 minutes a week of moderate-to-vigorous aerobic exercises like brisk walking or swimming. Other examples of cardio include biking and rowing. You can also do boxing, dancing, and tae-bo at a nice pace that will provide a great aerobic workout. Any exercise that increases your heart rate greatly helps in flattening your stomach. Trying interval cardio training such as power walking and sprinting makes you achieve your fitness goal too.
Final Thoughts
You cannot get a flat stomach in a day as it is not an easy business, it takes some time. However, it is possible if you combine a good diet with a good weight loss program. But before you begin, you should know that it requires you to make some bigger changes in your lifestyle. By adding some of the above-mentioned tips into your daily routine, you can see a flat stomach sooner. Always remember that it requires some time and effort, but it will be worth it if you have done it right.