Women’s Health: Get A Flat Belly By Changing Your Eating Habits
Have you ever wondered how those celebrities flaunt such fine abs all-year round? Do you feel jealous of your friends showing off their hourglass figure with a to-die-for flat tummy?
Losing the stubborn fat around your midsection can be a fierce battle. However, if you promise to not set unrealistic workout routine goals and go on crash diets anymore, then we can share some secrets that might help you get that flat belly you always dreamed of! And believe us when we say it is not as hard as you imagine it to be.
Here are Some Small Changes in your Eating Habits That can give you Flat Belly
1. Never, Ever Skip Breakfast:
Most people ditch breakfast altogether due to extremely busy schedules or just pure laziness. So, if you’re one of those people, we advise you to start waking up early to prepare breakfast so you never have to skip it, ever again! By eating a balanced and satisfying breakfast, you will get the right amount of energy and nutrients in the morning that will curb inappropriate cravings and munching throughout the day.Furthermore, eating breakfast controls your satiety levels so that you stay fuller for longer. As a matter of fact, studies revealed that people who regularly consume breakfast were able to shed off unwanted pounds and fats more easily.
2. Change Your Meal Sizes:
Regardless of diet experts and new studies constantly telling you otherwise, most individuals still choose to eat the bulk of their calories in 2-3 large meals every day. This is an attempt to lose unwanted pounds by spacing out your meals without snacking in between.
This method might be effective for a little while but when it comes to long-term weight loss, your body will stop burning fat and you won’t shed any pounds. Instead, try to eat a nutritious meal or snack every 3 hours to keep your blood sugar levels stable and control unwanted cravings that lead to binge eating. Stick to small meals and spread them out through the day.
3. Drink, Drink, And Drink Even More:
People simply can’t follow the “8 glasses of water daily” rule. However, if you want to start seeing a flat tummy, then you will need to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! There are at least 3 ways in which water can help you achieve a flat belly.
First, it increases your metabolic rate that assists with weight loss. As a matter of fact, drinking water increases your total energy expenditure by at least 100 calories daily. Secondly, drinking water can help relieve constipation and reduce stomach bloating. Lastly, drinking water before every meal can make you feel fuller, so you eat fewer calories.
4. Practice Mindful Eating:
Mindful eating is a method or technique that helps you cope and recognize your physical sensations and emotions regarding food and hunger. This involves eating without distractions (i.e. eating while watching tv), slowing down when eating (chewing slowly), focusing on your hunger cues and eating only when you feel hungry. Mindful eating can help you achieve your flat belly goal by changing your eating behavior as well as reducing stress-related behavior like binge-eating and stress-eating. Moreover, it helps you maintain your weight in the long run since it focuses on changing your eating behavior.
5. Cut Down On Calories, But Not Too Much:
In order to achieve weight loss, you will need to cut back on your calorie intake. A popular approach is to reduce your daily calorie intake by at least 500 – 1,000 calories in order to lose at least 1 – 2 pounds per week. However, cutting down your calories too much can also be counterproductive. Having too few calories can majorly decrease your metabolic rate or the number of calories you burn every day. What’s more is that this decrease in metabolic rate can persist even after you choose to eat your normal calorie intake again. This only means that you might have a lower metabolic rate than you had even before you tried to severely restrict your calorie intake.
6. Eat Your Protein:
Protein is the single most important nutrient in terms of losing unwanted fats. The body burns more calories when digesting protein than carbs and fats. Thus, a high-protein diet can help burn an extra 80 – 100 calories daily. In addition, a high protein diet can reduce your appetite and make you feel fuller for longer. Plus, it helps you retain muscle mass when losing weight. In general, you should aim for 20 – 30 percent of calories from protein daily. This can be achieved by adding a protein source in every meal.
7. Choose Whole Foods:
Base your diet around eating more whole foods and you will see great improvement not only your tummy but to your overall well-being. Whole foods are packed with minerals, vitamins, fiber, nutrients, and water. This makes it quite difficult to overeat these types of foods with some having their own benefits of shedding fat and preventing weight gain. Moreover, fiber can help the body take in fewer fats since it makes you feel satiated for longer. Try to eat plenty of nuts, whole grains, legumes, dairy, and most of all the rainbow— vegetables and fruits. But, if you are not into eating raw, crunchy veggies and fruits, you can always turn them into hearty soups with the soup makers out there and increase your fiber intake that way to keep you satisfied for longer.
8. Brave The Fats:
People trying to lose weight fear fats. Makes sense, right? You’re trying to remove unwanted fats so you avoid the fats. However, fats are needed to burn fats! Plus, not all fats are stored in the body as fats. Generally, the body takes more time in absorbing and digesting fatty foods which makes you feel full for longer. But, not all fats are good for you. You need to choose the good ones. Monounsaturated fatty acids are categorized among the “good fats.” This type of fat can prevent the accumulation of belly fat and has been linked to various health benefits, including a lowered risk of central obesity. In addition, fatty fishes are quite healthy and loaded with omega-3 fatty acids and is a source for a good-quality protein which helps in reducing the accumulation of fat in the abdominal cavity and liver.
So, make sure to eat natural good fats like flaxseeds, nuts, walnuts, coconut oil, avocados nut butter and fatty fish such as salmon and mackerel.
9. Restrict The Salt:
Salt is a primary seasoning. However, a diet high in salt content can be bad. Well, for one salt can cause the body to retain more water. This extra water weight can make your tummy look bloated and discourage your flat tummy efforts.
10. Take Probiotics:
These live bacteria are proposed to play a huge role in losing weight and weight maintenance. Obese and overweight individuals have been shown to have a very different composition of gut bacteria than people with normal weight, which can influence the fat distribution and weight gain. A regular intake of probiotics can shift the balance of beneficial gut flora and reduce the risk of fat accumulation in the abdominal cavity leading to weight gain.
As a matter of fact, some probiotic strains are shown to be effective in reducing belly fat. These include:
- Lactobacillus gasseri
- Lactobacillus amylovorus
- Lactobacillus fermentum
Probiotic foods include some kinds of yogurt, tempeh, kefir, pickles, and kimchi.
11. Limit The Sugar:
Sugar is associated with many common diseases today, including fatty liver disease, type II diabetes, and heart diseases. Studies have revealed a direct link between increased waist size and high intake of added sugar, particularly in people who love drinking sugar-sweetened beverages. Make sure to read the ingredients lists on the foods you buy since added sugar is usually hidden in there somewhere.
12. Alcohol No More:
If you are one of those people who frequent bars or can down a bottle of alcohol or two, then you need to stop if you wish to see your flat belly become a reality. Alcohol contains 7 calories per gram, which is why alcoholic drinks usually tend to be loaded with liquid calories. Beer, ounce for ounce, contains a similar number of calories as sugary sodas and soft drinks. Whereas red wine contains twice that amount!
And even though moderate drinking is unlikely to affect weight gain, heavy drinking is associated with increased weight gain, particularly around the midsection.
Final Thoughts
As you can see there are various eating strategies that can help you achieve your dream of a flat belly. By incorporating the strategies above and changing bad eating habits, you will get the six-pack sooner rather than later.
It may take effort and time and lots of discipline, but, it will be worth it in the end, especially once you can wear that sexy bikini come summertime!
