Waiting weeks or months to get a flatter tummy is discouraging, but there are a few tricks you can try to flatten your tummy in as little as four days, according to a health news report on the Daily Mirror website. Your tummy is a storage house for fat, extra water and gas from food. These tips focus on naturally ridding your body of these excesses.
Foods to Eat
Eat high-fiber foods, such as fruit, cooked vegetables and whole grains. These foods are low-glycemic-index foods and will not raise insulin levels because it takes your body longer to process them. An example of a dinner meal is 3 oz. grilled white fish with 1/2 cup of cooked green beans and 1/4 cup roasted rosemary potatoes drizzled with 1 tsp. olive oil.
Foods to Avoid
Processed foods are higher in sodium, and eating them can cause you to gain water weight and look bloated. Insulin levels increase when high-glycemic foods, such as sugary, processed foods, are consumed. Your body processes these foods quickly, resulting in increased storage of glucose as fat in your tummy. Foods such as broccoli, onions, cauliflower, peppers, sauerkraut, spinach, spicy foods and alcoholic beverages are gassy foods and can cause gas build-up leaving you looking bloated. Eliminate these foods from diet if they give you a "bloated" look in your belly, suggests Consumer Health.
Monounsaturated Fats
Monounsaturated fats, or MUFAs, are proving to have weight-loss benefits in addition to benefits for your heart and prevention of type 2 diabetes. MUFAs are plant-based fats that work by targeting toxic fat in your stomach -- the fat that gives you the appearance of extra rolls on the side and front of your stomach area. Foods that are good sources of MUFAs are nuts and seeds, oils, olives, dark chocolate and avocados. These foods are still considered to be fat, so eat responsibly.
Sodium and Water Intake
The more fresh foods you eat, the better. Drinking lots of water, at least 8 to 10 cups a day, will remove the excess fluid caused by high-sodium foods. Fruit juices, coffees and teas are acidic drinks that can irritate your stomach and leave you looking puffy. Limit these as much possible. Watery foods such as celery and watermelon are good for adding additional water into your diet.
Exercise
Ab exercises are recommended for a flatter tummy. You need 30 to 40 minutes of cardiovascular exercise three to four times a week. Training your stomach muscles is like performing weight-lifting exercises for your biceps. You have to strengthen your abdominal core to see any changes, according to personal trainer on CBS News Health Watch website.
Flatter Belly Diet in Four Days
On the flatter-belly diet, weight loss is jump-started by removing foods from your diet that cause bloating in your abdomen for 96 hours. You drink lots of water and reduce your calories to 1,600 by eating four 400-calorie meals a day. At each meal, you eat foods from the MUFAs -- monounsaturated fats -- food group at each meal and avoid gassy and processed foods. During the second phase of the flatter-tummy diet, you reintroduce foods that were removed, but in moderation.
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