Stomach feeling flabby or just want to do a little toning up to get it looking good? Let these tips be your guide.
Diet:
1 Eat healthier and cut down junk food, such as replacing potato chips and chocolates with fruits. You'll see a world of difference.
2 Eat lots of lean protein (like beans and nuts - have some meat, it is rather good for you as long as you do not eat the fat!), fruits and dark vegetables, and whole grain breads and grains. If you eat "whole wheat" it's like the same as eating white bread; except with white bread all the good fibers have been stripped away. These "whole grains" keep you fuller longer than white breads like cakes, cookies, and sweets. Also, stay away from high-fat dairy products (low-fat dairy products are a great source of protein and vitamin B6).
3 Eat smaller meals a day. To get a flat stomach you should eat many small meals throughout the day. Eat just enough until you feel full; don't overeat! Wait until you feel hungry again and eat a little more. Focus on only eating healthy food items, and do not eat any sugar; it will only make you feel tired and will cause you to crave more - a vicious cycle!
4 Eat food raw. This is to avoid the loss of enzymes that result from cooking food, which also decreases its nutritional value. Raw food, unlike cooked and processed foods, takes longer to digest so you feel full longer. Your body will slowly absorb the nutrients so you'll avoid any spikes or drops in your blood sugar until your next meal. Some of the best raw foods are:
Cabbage
Carrots
Cauliflower
Celery
Cucumbers
Zucchini
Dark leaf lettuce
Onions
Pears
Tomatoes
Watercress
Broccoli
Bananas
Apples
Berries
5 Make sure you don't eat anything 2 hours before you sleep. Your body slows down when you sleep so you can't digest food properly. And if you go to bed really late, don't eat past 9:30 pm, because foods eaten late are normally stored as fat.
6 Drink plenty of water. You should replace it with all your regular beverages, especially soda and sugared drinks. Water will make it easier to lose weight. Consider flavored water as an alternative if you must. Drinking lemon water is said to be a natural way of speeding up your metabolism as well.
Your urine should be a light yellow color; dark yellow with an odor could be a sign that you are dehydrated.
Exercise:
1 Do aerobic exercises daily at 30 minutes minimum and include 1-2 days of rest break each week. Anything that brings your heart rate up. Take up dancing, running, tae-bo, swimming,cycling and walking at a good pace.
2 To better work the entire abdominal region, vary your exercises: Crunches work the upper abdomen, leg raises work the lower abdomen, side bends work the obliques (also known as love handles). Sure, you can do 100 daily crunches. But if you've got a layer of fat covering up your ab work then what's the point? You need to burn the top layer of stomach fat to see the changes- Try the plyometics and cardio exercises in the section below.
3 Do cardio exercise. Cardio exercises are best as they will heat up your core temperature and improve circulation, both of which will aid you in acquiring a flat stomach. You should aim for interval cardio training, such as alternating between sprinting and power walking. You can try sprinting for as long as you can. When you become too tired, you should walk. When you feel that you've caught your breath, sprint again. Do these alterations for a total of 20 minutes at a time.
4 Include plyometrics. Plyometrics are exercises that require explosive power. They are not just cardio, but strength training as well. Some great plyometric exercises you can do at home include:
Modified jumping jacks. Start standing, then jump up with hands and feet spread apart, creating an "X" in the air with your body, then land back in standing. Repeat as many times as you can.
Squat-Thrust-Push-ups. Start in push-up position, do one push-up, then jump you feet to between your hands, then jump as high as you can, arms over head. Then squat back down with your hands on the floor, then jump back to push up position again. Repeat; do as many as you can do well with good form.
5 Strength training. This will improve your muscular tone as well as increase your metabolism so you'll burn calories faster over time. Best strength training exercises (that don't require a gym or weights) include:
Push-ups
Pull-ups (You can do these in a park hanging from the branch of a large tree)
Squats
Lunges
Yoga arm balances
Handstands (these take a lot of strength when repeated over and over)
6 Consider some form of anaerobic exercise as well. Some simple resistance training or light weight lifting will not only help you burn fat more efficiently but tone up the rest of your body as well.
7 Raising your metabolic rate is crucial. The higher your metabolic rate, the more energy (and thus fat) you'll burn even when you aren't doing anything. Try compound exercises like deadlifts with heavier weights. See "How to Do a Deadlift" for more information.
To increase your metabolic rate, increase the frequency of your meals to 6-8 times a day. Every 2 to 3 hours, ingest a small meal. This increased frequency will put your metabolisim into overdrive. Do not overeat. For greatest effect, only eat carbohydrates before 2:00 p.m, from then on only proteins.
