The stomach is an area of the body where fat appears in both men and women. The cause of this accumulation is generally due to poor eating and lifestyle habits, and a long layoff from physical activity. If you recently put your favorite pair of jeans on and came to the realization that your stomach is too big, you can flatten it out by following some key steps.
Step 1
Reduce your intake of fat building foods. Foods that are high in saturated fat, sugar and sodium all need to disappear from your diet plan. This includes deep fried foods, cheeseburgers, french fires, apple pies, cakes, cookies, doughnuts and high-fat dairy products. If you are looking for a quick flat stomach, eat all nutrient dense foods like fruits, vegetables, lean meats, low-fat dairy products, beans and whole grains.
Step 2
To lose weight, cut your calories. In order to get a flat stomach, you have to reduce your intake of calories to create a deficit. If you consume 500 less calories a day, you can lose one pound of weight a week. Being that there is no such thing as spot reduction, this weight loss will be dispersed over your whole body.
Step 3
Drink more water. Water helps keep you hydrated, it flushes toxins from your system and it helps aid in digestion. It also has no calories and it can help fill you up when you drink it with your meals. Replace all the beverages in your diet that contain calories with water. The Institute of Medicine recommends that women get approximately 2.7 total liters of water a day and men get approximately 3.7 total liters.
Step 4
Get your heart rate up. Cardiovascular exercise strengthens your heart and lungs and it also helps burn calories. Do cardiovascular exercise three times a week for 45 to 60 minutes on alternating days. Examples of exercises you can do include running, indoor cycling, elliptical training, stair climbing, rowing, swimming and jumping rope.
Step 5
Work your whole body with weights. Weight training can help further increase your metabolism and burn calories all over your whole body including your stomach. Do exercises that target your chest, shoulders, back, triceps, biceps, abs and legs. Examples of these are chest presses, lateral raises, lat pulldowns, triceps dips, cable curls, ab crunches and lunges. Perform three or four sets of each exercise and 12 to 15 reps.
Step 6
Be disciplined with your regimen. If you want to get a flat stomach quickly, you need to get with the program and stay with the program. Do your weight training on the three alternating days of your cardio. On your seventh day, go for a 30-minute walk or bike ride.
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