How To Get A Flat Belly In A Week

To achieve a flat belly, you need to drop your overall body fat, and tone your abdominal muscles, and doing this can take time. If you need to to flatten your belly quickly, there are a few things you can do to give your belly a flatter appearance, according to Liz Vaccariello, author of "The Flat Belly Diet." One cause of a pouchy belly is gas. Cutting out gas forming foods can help flatten your stomach quickly. Water retention can also cause a pooch around the navel, staying hydrated can cut down your water retention for a flatter belly fast.

Step 1

Drink water and avoid sugary drinks. MayoClinic.com recommends women drink nine cups of water a day, and men drink 13 cups of water a day for adequate body hydration. Keeping your body hydrated helps prevent water retention weight gain, which often is visible in the stomach. Choosing water over sugar drinks, or diet sodas also saves you hundreds of calories a day and cuts down on your sodium content, which can also cause water weight gain.

Step 2

Steer clear of gas forming foods. Even foods such as broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, cabbage and beans, that are packed full of vitamins can cause belly bloat. If you are trying to flatten your belly quickly, avoid these gas forming foods. Other foods MayoClinic.com recommends avoiding to alleviate gas and belly bloat are, apples, pears, hard candy, chewing gum and carbonated drinks. Cutting out these foods can give your belly a flatter appearance within one day.

Step 3

Eat monounsaturated fatty acids. Eating monounsaturated fatty acids, MUFAs, can help prevent and get rid of fat around the stomach, according to March 2007 issue of The Journal of Diabetes Care. MUFAs, such as olives, olive oil, seeds, nuts, avocados and dark chocolate should be eaten in small quantities with every meal for belly fat burning benefits.

Step 4

Do 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise daily. Cardiovascular exercise burns a high amount of calories for fat burning. Doing cardio exercises, such as walking, jogging, running or dancing also engages your core to give your abs a workout. Supporting your body weight and engaging in balance helps sculpt your abs faster than floor exercises alone, notes FitnessMagazine.com.

Step 5

Sculpt your core. Engaging your entire core, abdominal, back, hips and pelvic muscles will increase the sculpting benefits that show on your stomach. Try exercises such as the plank for an effective overall core workout. Begin the plank lying prone on the floor with your hands next to your chest, palms, forearms and elbows down on the floor. Curl your toes under and slowly push your body off the floor, balancing on your forearms and toes. Keep your body in a straight line from your head to your heels. Hold this position for 10 to 60 seconds, release and repeat two to five times.