Diets for a Toned Stomach

You can do as many sit-ups as you want and still not achieve a toned stomach if you continue to eat too many calories. Having excess abdominal fat is a product of consuming more calories than your body can burn off. Fortunately, making a few tweaks to your diet can help you burn off excess fat and supplement your efforts to tone your muscles.

Considerations About Toning Your Stomach

Diet alone can help you lose excess fat but it will not tone your muscles. Toning your stomach requires you to perform muscle-boosting exercises such as bicycle crunches, planks and bridges. You may also find that diet alone doesn't get rid of the soft-looking belly. Aim for at least 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise per day to boost your dietary efforts to shed stomach fat.

Flat-Belly Foods

Flat-belly foods complement a diet that is already low in saturated fats and high in complex carbohydrates such as vegetables and whole grains. Foods that help flatten your stomach contain a few essential nutrients: fiber to reduce bloating and contribute to satiety, protein to help you build muscle and keep your metabolism revving and antioxidants to improve your exercise routine's effectiveness, according to "Fitness" magazine. One food that contains all three of these nutrients is almonds. Grab a handful on your way out the door or sprinkle them into a salad to reap the benefits. A high-quality source of protein is eggs and a source of abundant fiber and antioxidants is berries.

Helpful and Harmful Drinks

Alcoholic beverages won't fill you up. Drinking them will just tack on calories and slow down your metabolism. Alcohol can cause your body to burn as much as 36 percent less fat than you would burn if you didn't drink and it will cause you to store more fat that you consume, according to "Women's Health" magazine. Limit your alcohol intake to two or three drinks per week and up your intake of healthy beverages such as water, green tea and low-fat milk. Aim for at least eight glasses of water per day to stay hydrated, keep your metabolism revving and reduce the bloated belly.

Eating Frequency

Keep your calorie intake in balance throughout the day to lose fat and build muscle in your abdominal region. Eating three large meals a day will cause you to burn more calories than you consume in between meals and take in more calories than you burn during meals. Maintaining an hourly surplus or deficit of only 300 to 500 calories throughout the day by alternating larger meals with healthy snacks will promote fat loss, according to research at Georgia State University. This means you should be eating every two to three hours.