Most women are looking for simple ways to get in shape in a healthy way? Belly fat may affect your self-confidence and can cause various health problems. A well-toned figure and slimmer midriff is what most women want to achieve, but abdominal exercises like crunches are just not enough to tone the stomach. Further, a flat stomach can be attained by eating healthy fats, exercising, walking, swimming and etc.
Here are 7 simple ways to flatten your belly fat.
De-Stress
Stress or depression can affect both the mind and body apart from encouraging the body to store fat. However, high stress levels can cause high blood pressure, rapid breathing and increased heart rate.
The more you’re stressed, the more your body tends to increase the levels of the stress hormone “cortisol”, which can boost the fat build up in the abdominal area. To tone your abs, take a few minutes each day in practicing deep breathing exercises, minimizing the stress levels in your body. Whenever you’re stressing out constantly, try this breathing exercise to reduce the activity of stress hormones, which ultimately helps you to reduce your belly fat.
Eat Fibre Rich Food
The secret to a slim abs is incorporating a healthy diet and heavy workout that helps reduce that midsection. Eat veggies and fruits that are rich in fiber to shrink your belly. Also, eat a bowl of oatmeal with berries for your breakfast as the berries contain high amounts of antioxidants, it helps in shedding abs fat. Don’t forget to eat cabbage, broccoli, oranges leafy green, which are all high in fiber, helps to slim your stomach.
Various studies have proven that eating every 10 grams of fiber on a daily basis helps to shed almost 4% of fat stored around your belly. You can also eat apples, ½ cup of pinto beans or ¼ cup of Brussels sprouts, one egg yolk, or one cup of artichoke with cauliflower. All these will contribute 10 grams of belly-flattening fiber.
Drink to Detox
For a slimmer stomach, it’s not just enough cutting calories and practicing exercises. But, you must also detox your body every day. Drinking a glass of water every morning aids in alkalizing your body and thereby helps you burn fat.
What you drink really matters to flatten your tummy. Consume lemon water which can be prepared by adding one teaspoon of lime juice with a glass of water. A gulp of this lemon water in the mornings on your empty stomach helps to detox your body every day and get a flat abs.
Salmon
Seafood is great for flattening your stomach faster. It is a good source of abs-friendly protein. Especially, oily fish like salmon and tuna are high in omega-3 fatty acids, which are very powerful in improving fat burning by making your metabolism more efficient.
Take two four-ounce servings for every week. If you are a fruitarian, you can take flaxseed or walnuts with your cereal to burn your belly fat.
Foods to be Avoided
Chewing Gum:
When you chew gum, you actually ingest excess air that gets trapped in your gastrointestinal tract and causes stomach enlargement by puffing up your stomach.
So it’s better to avoid chewing gum that causes belly expansion. Instead, you can grab a piece of hard candy or a healthy and high-fiber snack like fruit, vegetable and etc.
Sugar Alcohols:
The sugar alcohols named xylitol or maltitol, are most commonly found in low-calorie or low carb biscuits, cookies and energy bars. Your digestive tract can’t absorb most of these sugar alcohols and can cause tummy expansion and bloating. You eat these foods to reduce your calorie intake but it’s not good for your stomach.
Salt:
The best way to reduce water retention is consuming less sodium. This means you should add less salt in your everyday meal. You can also flavor your food with herbs and spices like coriander, cardamom and etc. The intake of higher amounts of sodium than usual can temporarily retain more fluid in your body, which ultimately gives a dull feeling and extra water weight.
Avoid Fizzy Drinks
Over consumption of fizzy drinks can widen your waistline. All carbonated drinks have gas in them, which causes abdominal distention. You can also drink peppermint tea which has the ability to soothe the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome and minimizes bloating.
Fried Foods:
Avoid eating fatty foods, especially the fried variety. These foods are digested very slowly by stomach, and make you feel heavy and bloated.