Let me start off by saying my stomach definitely isn’t the flattest and I don’t have a six pack by any means, but peep my before and after photo below to see how much flatter my stomach did get when I made some changes! I was constantly, extremely bloated and even when I sucked in, I still had a pretty large belly “pooch”. I even had my doctor prescribe me some medication to help decrease my bloating, and well it didn’t really work… But then after some researching and trial and errors, I found some tricks that help keep my stomach flat and prevent bloating.
Getting a flat stomach isn’t as simple as doing some crunches, unfortunately. You can do sit-ups until you are blue in the face, but that’s only going to build muscle under the fat on your stomach, which will then make your stomach appear even larger. I learned this the hard way. And getting a flat stomach takes time, too. It’s not an overnight change. But you can start seeing results when it comes to bloating pretty quickly.
The tried and true tips I have for you on how to have a flatter stomach are as follows:
1. DIET.DIET.DIET. Having a slimmer waist/flatter stomach is 99% diet. You have to change up what you are eating, and how much of it, if you want to lose fat around your midsection. And meat and bread are the hardest things for your body to digest. Once I stopped eating meat, eggs, cheese, cream, and other dairy/meat products, two major things happened: 1.) I lost about 30 pounds, and 2.) I stopped bloating as much. I was eating vegetables, fruit, nuts, seeds, and whole grains like oats, quinoa, rice, and whole wheat pasta, and I felt amazing. I never felt uncomfortably full and I never got bloated either. To get a flat stomach, I would suggest limiting the amount of meat and dairy you consume or just cut it out entirely, control the portion sizes of what you are eating, stop snacking as much, stop eating at restaurants as much as you can (make food at home and bring to work), and log what you are eating in the MyFitnessPal app.
2. DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS. Yes, you can achieve a flat stomach by diet alone, but my stomach is always at its flattest when I am taking supplements to help aid in fat burning, healthy metabolism, healthy digestion, and weight loss. It helps give me that extra boost that I need to help make up for the fact that I’m human and I really enjoy pasta and cheese. There are many different supplements that you can take for fat burning, healthy metabolism, healthy digestion, weight loss, etc. but my favorites that I’ve been using for over a year now are the Herbalife dietary supplements and FitTea. Herbalife is a billion dollar nutrition company and for good reason, too: the stuff works. Of course, you can’t rely on the supplements alone to give you a flat stomach, but when combined with a healthy diet, it’ll really help you achieve the goals that you want. These are the dietary supplements that I use daily to help keep my stomach flat:
- Prolessa Duo 30-Day (Fat Burning) Program – this stuff literally melted the fat off of my waist the 30 days I took it. I had kind of plateaued and couldn’t get rid of the stubborn lower-belly “pooch” and love handles, but this stuff really helped me kick that ish to the curb.
- FitTea 28-Day Detox (Fat Burner) – I drink this stuff first thing in the morning or right before a workout to help burn the fat off of my stomach and waist. I’ve been using this off and on for 5 years now, mostly when I have an event that I need to be supa skinny for like a beach vacation or a wedding where I’m going to see a lot of people that I haven’t seen in a while. #Yikes
- 21-Day Digestive Health Cleanse – cleanses are good for you to get all of the bad out of your body and help you “start over” with a clean slate, but a lot of them will have you running back and forth to the bathroom or calling in sick to work. But this one is the most normal cleanse I’ve tried. And by normal, I mean no diarrhea or upset stomach or waking up in the middle of the night to use the restroom. This one just makes me use the restroom 2x a day instead of once a day or once every few days. So it is keeping me nice and cleaned out and not bloated or feeling full and just like a giant blob! Using this will definitely help kick-start your flat tummy goals.
- Herbal Tea Concentrate (Metabolism Booster) – before college, I had the fastest metabolism and I could eat whatever I wanted, sh*t it out 30 minutes later and still weigh 90 pounds. Like I didn’t just consume a large pizza by myself. And now, even the thought of eating a slice of pizza makes me feel bloated and like I need to hit the gym. But now I drink this herbal tea concentrate metabolism booster every morning and it helps me keep a regular pooping schedule and helps break down food a lot easier so I can lose weight easier and reduce bloating.
- Herbal Aloe Concentrate (Healthy Digestion) – this aloe concentrate also helps me keep a regular poop schedule. Sorry about all the poop talk, but everyone does it and it’s an important part of staying healthy. I also drink this every morning and it keeps me from being bloated and keeps my tummy nice and happy and flat. Plus it supports a healthy digestive system so your food gets broken down faster helping you lose weight!
3. EXERCISE. And I really mean the right kind of exercise. Cardio will really help shrink your tummy and help you get closer to achieving a flatter tummy and also core exercises. But you want to do bodyweight core exercises and not with weights. Otherwise, the muscle will gain under the layer of fat and you won’t actually be making any progress. You should focus on losing the fat on your stomach and waist and midsection, THEN you can focus on gaining muscle to get a six pack. When I lost 30 pounds, I was running for 30 minutes every day. Just a mile or two everyday after work, OUTSDIE not on a treadmill! I would also do occasional ab workouts to tone. Here are some of my favorite ab workouts to work on getting a flat, toned tummy (and videos on how to do each exercise):
- Plank up-downs (example)
- Bosu ball in-outs + pike up (example)
- Bicycle crunches (example)
- Reverse crunch + lift (example)
- Leg lifts holding medicine ball or dumbbell (example)
I’m not a nutrition or fitness expert, but if I can follow those tips above and get a slimmer, flatter stomach over time, you definitely can, too! It’s not impossible to get a flat stomach, you just have to focus on your eating and lifestyle habits and make the necessary changes to see the results you want. And if you are having trouble getting those results, then you should try to outsource for help by trying the Prolessa Duo fat burning program or the FitTea Detox program. Either will help you burn fat and control your hunger!
