Getting Discouraged Despite Progress Everywhere Else
If you are reading this article, there is a strong chance losing belly fat is the most challenging spot for you on your body.
This can be frustrating, which is exactly why so many people quit near the end of their diet, or loosen up their discipline. Losing the last few inches or pounds in a diet is often the hardest .
Most people drop off at the end of diets because they get discouraged at how much harder it is to lose weight than in the earlier stages.
If you accept the fact that diet progress is not linear, but rather it is exponentially harder and harder the deeper you go into a diet, you will be able to wrap your mind around the challenge and be more likely to push through to the end.
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Exercising To Flatten Your Stomach
Tips For Getting A Flat Stomach
1. Do core exercises
Exercises that target your core and strengthen the muscles there can help you get a flat and toned stomach without losing many pounds. These include core workouts and resistance training. Some of the simplest core-strengthening exercises include:
- Basic plank :
- Get on all floors in a table-top position with your face down. Make sure your hands are directly below your shoulders.
- Start lifting your knees slowly until youre supporting your weight on just your toes and hands.
- Keep your body in a straight line from the top of your head to your heels.
- Keep your core tight and back straight.
2. Try resistance training
3. Mix up your workouts
In addition to core exercises and resistance training, you may need to do cardio, although this will result in overall weight loss.
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Use Smaller Plates For Unhealthy Foods
The typical food plate is larger today than it was a few decades ago.
This trend could contribute to weight gain, since using a smaller plate may help you eat less by making portions look larger.
On the other hand, a bigger plate can make a serving look smaller, causing you to add more food .
You can use this to your advantage by serving healthy food on bigger plates and less healthy food on smaller plates.
Summary
Smaller plates can trick your brain into thinking youre eating more than you actually are. Therefore, its smart to consume unhealthy foods from smaller plates, causing you to eat less.
Drinking To Flatten Your Stomach
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Listen To Your Mom And Stop Chewing With Your Mouth Open
First, its gross. Second, chewing while breathing through your mouth can make you swallow as much air as food, causing your belly to inflate. Learning proper table manners will not only help you keep a trimmer tummy but will also make your friends and family much happier. These are 8 other common causes of a bloated belly.
Throw Out Jelly And Jam
Your breakfast toast won’t miss these sugar-laden spreads when you start to shed pounds and notice a flatter belly. One tablespoon of jam easily carries just under 10 grams of sugar. And let’s be honest, who just has one? Top peanut butter sandwiches with fresh pieces of fruit, like banana and strawberry slices to infuse it with some natural sweetness. This tactic will help ward off blood-sugar fluctuations that can cause insulin spikes and put hunger into overdrive.
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Increase Your Step Count To 8000+ Per Day
Numerous studies have concluded that increasing your step count to at least 8,000 steps per day can have a significant impact on BMI and overall health .
Furthermore, some studies have concluded that a daily lifestyle that includes 8,000+ steps per day was more beneficial than an inactive lifestyle that included 30 minutes of cardio.
Bottom line, if you want to decrease BMI and waist circumference, increase your step count and daily activities outside the gym in addition to following a diet and workout plan.
Jot Down Your Thoughts
A study revealed that when women who were unhappy with their weight completed a one-time, 15-minute writing exercise about an important personal issue, they went on to lose at least three pounds over a three-month period. On the other hand, their counterparts who wrote about an unimportant topic gained three pounds, according to Cheryl Forberg, RD, author of A Small Guide to Losing.
“Researchers believe that reflecting on values can serve as a buffer to the stress and uncertainty that leads to emotional eating and help in maintaining self-control in difficult situations,” she explains. To reap the benefits at home, Forberg suggests pulling out a journal, setting the timer and free-flowing about what’s important to you. “Write as though no one else will read it. Come clean with what’s bugging you. It may surprise and enlighten you,” adds Forberg. For more weight loss hacks, check out these quick ways to lose weight.
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Cardio For A Flat Stomach
In order to get a flat stomach, you need to shed extra fat around your midsection. Unfortunately, spot reducing fat through exercise doesn’t work. You’ll need to burn fat on your entire body to reduce your belly fat. Cardio routines can help you burn calories and lose extra body fat.
You don’t need to spend hours running on a treadmill to see results. According to a smaller study published in September 2014 in the Journal of Exercise Nutrition & Biochemistry, walking briskly three times a week, for 50 to 70 minutes at a time, was enough to help trim fat in the participants.
The fat reduction occurred around both the internal organs and the midsection. The takeaway is that if you increase the number of walks you take each week, this could have a positive effect on your midsection.
If you are already in good shape, but are still trying to flatten your stomach, you may want to consider high-intensity interval training . HIIT burns a large number of calories in a short period of time. In addition, several studies have shown that HIIT helps to decrease fat, which could come off your midsection.
Read more:How to do a HIIT Workout at Home
Balance It Out With Supplements
B-complex and calcium are vital for your well-being. While most women are unaware of this fact, some do take these supplements. There is a rise in the estrogen levels after puberty. This helps in housing the good fat in your hips and your tummy to prepare your body for pregnancy. When you reach menopause, the estrogen levels drop, and the protective fat settles around your belly area. Therefore, B-complex vitamins and calcium are not only vital for your well-being, but they also help in regulating the levels of estrogen in your body. These supplements flush out the excess estrogen and give you a slimmer waistline , , .
Getting rid of belly fat without working out is tough, but not impossible. Having said that, you must consider exercising and eating healthy to achieve that perfect figure, and, of course, to live a healthy life. For the time being, if you cant muster the willpower to do so, these methods should work.
Cheers to good health!
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Eat Foods That Contain Probiotics
Consuming foods that contain probiotics can help reduce belly bloat caused by an overabundance of “bad” flora in your gut. “Eating dairy with probiotics will help to ease digestive woes that can cause bloating,” says Lakatos.
Belly Buster: Add foods that are good sources of probiotics to your daily intake. Kefir and yogurt are great, as long as the label says they contain live and active cultures.
Store Unhealthy Foods Out Of Sight
Storing unhealthy foods where you can see them may increase hunger and cravings, causing you to eat more (
12 ).
One recent study found that if high-calorie foods are more visible in the house, residents are more likely to weigh more than people who keep only a bowl of fruit visible .
Store unhealthy foods out of sight, such as in closets or cupboards, so that they are less likely to catch your eye when youre hungry.
On the other hand, keep healthy foods visible on your countertops and place them front and center in your fridge.
Summary
If you keep unhealthy foods on your counter, you are more likely to have an unplanned snack. This is linked to increased weight and obesity. Its better to keep healthy foods like fruits and vegetables in plain sight.
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Eat Fewer Refined Carbohydrates
Refined carbs are one of the leading reasons for obesity. By cutting down on your consumption of refined carbs, you can reduce fat accumulation around your organs and improve your metabolic health.
A study showed an improvement in metabolic health in people who ate unprocessed carbs and whole grains. Their waistlines also reduced over time.
Core And Resistance Training
Core workouts and resistance training will help you tone and flatten your stomach. Exercises that hit your core can help you tone your stomach without losing weight. A strengthened core helps hold your midsection tight. This gives your stomach the appearance of being flatter, without necessarily cutting down on your weight or fat.
Core exercises that can help you tone your stomach without losing weigh and that you can add to your routine to help slim your midsection include:
- Planks
- Leg raises
- Crunches
You should not neglect the rest of your body when it comes to resistance training. General resistance training will help your body burn calories when at rest. This can help reduce the amount of fat that may accumulate around your midsection.
Resistance training does not necessarily require you to purchase weights. Several effective exercises use body weight, such as push-ups, pull-ups, squats and lunges.
A study published in the Journal of Sports Sciences in April 2014 examined the effects of resistance training and cardio routines on teens with obesity. The study found that using both resistance and cardio training is effective in reducing overall fat. This means you may see a slimmer midsection from simply adding resistance training.
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Too Lazy To Exercise Too Much Of A Glutton To Give Up Your Carbs Fats And Sweets Well Here Are Some Lifestyle Changes That Can Do The Trick Read Here To Know More
Every dietician, trainer and life coach in the world would try to get you to make major changes to your lifestyle to help you become the fittest version of yourself. We’re here to tell you that you may be able to at least augment this process through minor changes to your life that have very little to do with exercise or your diet. Obviously, we maintain that workouts and diets are still bound to be significantly more effective, but these hacks are certainly worth a shot.
Add A Probiotic At Night
If you tend to wake up bloated, try taking your daily probiotic supplement at night. For a flatter belly overnight, we have to make sure we are keeping all of those healthy bacteria in our gut happy.
Probiotics can also help promote a healthier balance of gut bacteria. Plus, research suggests probiotics aid energy and glucose metabolism, meaning these small but mighty microbes help reduce systemic inflammation while aiding nutrient absorption and regulating appetite. So, try taking your probiotic at night to see if it helps you wake up with a flatter belly in the AM.
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Avoid Swallowing Air And Gases
The biggest source of gas in the diet is carbonated beverages such as soda.
The bubbles in it contain carbon dioxide, which is released from the liquid in your stomach. This may cause stomach distention or bloating.
This can also happen when you chew gum, drink through a straw or talk while eating.
Eating in silence, drinking from a glass and swapping carbonated drinks out for water may help you achieve a flatter stomach.
Bottom Line:
Carbonated drinks and gum may both cause stomach distention and bloating in some people.
Adopt Healthy Eating Rituals
There are no wrong ways to eat a Reese’s. Feasting rituals, research suggests, are a form of “mindful eating,” which has the power to make food more pleasurable, and may help prevent overeating. Pleasure, according to research in Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism, catalyzes the relaxation response, promoting parasympathetic and digestive activities. In other words, you’ll metabolize dessert faster if you really, really enjoy eating it. In one study, participants who were assigned to eat a chocolate bar in accordance with a particular breaking and unwrapping ritual found the candy much more enjoyableand even more flavorfulthan a group who ate the bar informally.
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Changing Your Eating Habits