If you want a strong stomach -- and a slim look -- exercise and a healthy diet can help you achieve your goals. Abdominal exercises tone your tummy, which can improve posture and give you the strength to work out and try your hand at some heavy lifting, whether that involves boxes or babies. Meanwhile, cardio exercise helps shed fat so that your toned abs don't hide beneath a heavy countenance. With a few extra tricks to minimize bloating, your stomach can look sleek and feel powerful within weeks.
Step 1
Perform abdominal exercises three to four times a week. Perform crunches, jackknifes, standing torso twists and tailbone lifts, which involve lying on your back with your legs straight up in the air and slowly lifting your tailbone off the ground repeatedly. Working your abs four times a week should produce results within a month, trainer Leandro Carvahlo, who devised Equinox Fitness Club's Brazilian Tummy Tuck course, tells Marie Claire.
Step 2
Get your heart rate up with a cardio workout at least three times a week. Run, jog, bicycle faster than 10 mph, swim, perform aerobics or walk briskly, all activities effective at burning calories, according to the USDA's Food and Nutrition Service's "Calorie Burner Chart." This will help you achieve and maintain a healthy weight to show off your toned abs.
Step 3
Drink eight to 10 glasses of water every day to prevent bloating. When your body isn't getting enough water, it tries to retain water -- and that shows up in a bloated tummy.
Step 4
Eat foods high in soluble fiber, which absorbs water and helps prevent water retention that causes bloating. Oatmeal is a healthy source of soluble fiber, while apples and pears provide both soluble fiber and water for a double dose of tummy reduction treatment.
Step 5
Lower your daily salt intake. Salt only aggravates water retention and bloating. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration website states that adults should not exceed 2,300 mg of sodium in their daily diets, and limiting sodium to 1,500 mg a day is even healthier -- and more helpful in achieving a flat stomach.
Step 6
Eat slowly and chew your food. This helps you digest your food and minimizes the amount of air you swallow when you scarf down a meal in record time.
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