Whether we’ve been too pressed for time to cook ourselves healthy meals or haven’t been paying attention to our water intake, rapid weight gain is a very real phenomenon, bloat, water retention, and hormonal fluctuations can also play a major role in making everything you own seem a size too small.
While losing weight can be a process, there are plenty of ways to get a flatter belly in no time without resorting to crash diets. Start charting your course to beat bloat, water retention, and a puffy midsection with these simple tricks and wake up healthier, happier, and feeling more like the old you again!
Chewing gum has often been touted as a weight loss-friendly alternative to snacking between meals, but it may actually be contributing to your belly bloat. When you chew gum, you often swallow air, which can cause that distended and uncomfortable feeling in your belly. Even worse, many gums are made with artificial sweeteners that can cause your belly to puff up. For a healthier alternative, try brushing your teeth between meals or chew on a minty toothpick instead.
While going gluten-free is something of a diet trend these days, that doesn’t mean that celiac disease isn’t a very real, very serious illness. If you find that you’re often bloated and uncomfortable, ask your doctor to test you for celiac disease. If you have a positive diagnosis, cutting gluten out of your diet can help you flatten that belly and feel better in no time.
We’ve all heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but what you eat for breakfast is what makes it such a crucial factor in your flat belly success. Starting your day with oatmeal will help load your diet with fiber, improving the health of your digestive tract, aiding in your weight loss efforts, and keeping your belly flat.
While eating late at night probably won’t cause you to pack on the pounds, it can cause serious belly bloat. When you eat right before bed, you’re less likely to be moving around much, meaning your digestive tract can grow sluggish. The result? Waking up to a food baby. If you find yourself looking bloated in the morning, try giving yourself a few hours of snack-free time before bed and you can beat the morning belly.
While seltzer is a great alternative to the high fructose corn syrup, sugar, and artificial sweeteners you’ll find in soda, it can still cause your belly to puff up. If you’re dealing with an ever-expanding waistline with or without weight gain, trade in your sparkling water for still for a few days; the lack of carbonation can help get your belly flat fast.
Dairy is one of the biggest allergens out there, and what’s worse is that many of us are ignoring the signals that it’s not agreeing with our bodies. If you find yourself with a distended belly after a grilled cheese or glass of milk, try cutting out dairy products for a few days. Even if you’re not lactose intolerant, ditching dairy can help you fight belly bloat.
You don’t need to turn to supplements to flatten your belly in a hurry. Adding some flaxseed to your food can help regulate your digestive system and fend off bloat without the undesirable side effects of chemical-laden laxatives. As an added bonus, you’ll be infusing your diet with plenty of omega-3s, which can improve your heart health, help you lose weight, and can lower your risk of certain types of cancer.
If you’re certain that you’re eating healthy food, but you just can’t seem to get your belly flat, your posture may be to blame. When you’re not standing straight, your belly has a tendency to pooch out, making you look bigger than you actually are. While looking in a mirror, suck in your belly, open your shoulders outward, and lift your neck — you might be surprised at how much slimmer you look.
Seeing a bigger-than-normal belly in the mirror? Instead of skipping meals to flatten it out, try adding some pineapple to your diet instead. Pineapple is packed with bromelain, an enzyme that can make your gut healthier by helping your body digest protein more effectively and easing the build-up of gas in your digestive tract.
Soda is one of the biggest contributors to our expanding waistlines, and even diet soda can be a trigger for belly bloat. Between carbonation, high-sugar formulas, and belly bloating artificial sweeteners, soda should be the first thing you cut from your regular routine if you’re trying to flatten your belly.
Rice and other whole grains can be a healthy part of your weight loss plan, but if you’re eating white rice on a regular basis, you may be triggering serious belly bloat. To flatten out your gut while enjoying the foods you love, opt for brown rice instead; the fiber will help your digestive tract get moving and keep you full for longer.
While the capsaicin in hot peppers can help speed up your metabolism and fend off hunger, it can also cause belly bloating gut inflammation. Even worse, many hot sauces are loaded with sodium, which can make you retain water, too. If you’re looking to get that belly flat in a hurry, try cutting back on your spicy food intake for a few days.
While it seems counterintuitive, drinking water is often the best way to rid your body of belly expanding water weight. While eight cups a day is a good place to start, if not an exact measure of how much you should be drinking, you may need more fluids if you’re particularly active or live in a hot climate.
Salt is one of the biggest contributors to belly bloat and water retention, so if you’re feeling bloated or looking bigger around the belly, try alternative ways of flavoring your food. Flavorful spices like rosemary, thyme, and parsley are all potent anti-inflammatories and can make your dishes tastier without relying on salt.
Adding fiber to your food doesn’t have to mean eating a dull diet. Bulking up your fiber intake can be as easy as enjoying a handful of berries, sprinkling some flaxseed on your morning oatmeal, or adding some chia seeds to your favorite Zero Belly smoothie. Upping your fiber intake will speed up your digestive tract, flattening that belly in no time.
With the aforementioned and many more other ways of healthy living, you can reduce your bloated belly in no time and maintain that slim sexy you that you desire.
