Whether it's bikini season or the dead of winter, nearly everyone wants a trim stomach. There are no get-thin-quick schemes to eliminate your belly fat, but a combination of diet and exercise will give you flatter abs over the course of several months. Reducing your stress levels will also help, since the stress hormone cortisol causes fat to gather around your waistline.
Foods to Add
Increasing the fiber and healthy bacteria in your diet helps your metabolism work effectively to burn calories. It also cleans out your digestive tract to reduce belly bloating. Eat high-fiber fruits and vegetables such as apples and leafy greens. Eat nonfat plain yogurt daily for its bacteria. Eating foods high in protein will also help give you lasting energy so you won't overeat. Make lean protein like chicken or fish the centerpiece of each meal and snack on a handful of almonds.
Foods to Eliminate
Cut down on the carbonated beverages you drink, as well as on foods that give you gas, such as beans or broccoli. These foods make your stomach look bloated. Cut your sodium intake to 2,000 milligrams per day so you won't retain water in this area. Cutting down your daily sugar intake will also help. Eating too much sugar slows your metabolism, and all those excess calories will land around your belly.
Stomach Exercises
Targeting your abdominal muscles in a variety of exercises is the most effective way to trim your belly. Lie on your stomach and slowly raise yourself with your forearms flat on the ground under you. Your body should be a straight line. Pull your stomach muscles tight and hold the pose for 10 seconds before lowering yourself. Repeat 10 times. Crossovers will help tighten your love handles. Sit on the edge of a chair and hold your arms bent at your sides with your hands next to your head. Lift your right knee and touch it with your left elbow, then reverse the motion. Do 20 counts on each side per day.
Other Exercises
Strengthening your core will make your entire midsection trimmer, so strength exercises will lead to a flatter stomach. While holding 5-lb. weights in each hand, do a series of lunges while lifting your arms straight up. Come back to a standing position, and then repeat the exercise 10 times. Regardless of the strength of your stomach muscles, a layer of fat will obscure them from view. High-intensity exercises will burn fat and reveal these muscles, so do short bursts of high-energy exercises like cycling or kickboxing. Do each activity for three minutes, then rest for a few minutes before doing another repetition. Do five repetitions per day.
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