Flatten Your Belly

By Linda Rao

41 super secrets to trim your tummy



So you want to trim your middle. Time to hit the floor for a zillion crunches, right? Not so fast. Power crunching alone isn't necessarily the best—and certainly not the most enjoyable—way to flatten your belly. When we talked to dozens of people, just like you, who've toned up their abs, we discovered their secrets include fun activities such as gardening, tennis, and dancing—with some crunches in between for good measure. Leading weight loss and fitness experts also suggest some simple lifestyle changes to provide you with a complete belly-flattening program.

So if you're sick of crunches--or not getting the results you want—read on for 41 surprising ways to get a belly worth baring this summer.

10 Habits That Will Shrink Your Middle

1 . Calm down. Too much stress can contribute to a potbelly. Stress increases levels of cortisol, a hormone that seems to direct fat to our middles, says Jacob Seidell, PhD, of the National Institute of Public Health in Bilthoven, Netherlands. To keep levels low, try this five-minute stress reducer: Find a quiet, comfortable place to sit. Next, take several slow, deep breaths to help clear your mind. Continue breathing deeply and repeat the word “one” to yourself as you exhale. (If you get distracted, just bring your focus back to the word “one.”) Practice this for 5 or 10 minutes once or twice a day.

2. Skip the alcohol. That glass of wine with dinner may be part of the reason your jeans are too tight. Alcohol tends to raise cortisol levels, sending fat to your belly, Dr. Seidell says.

3. Stop smoking. “It keeps me thin,” proclaim many smokers. But the truth is that smokers tend to have more abdominal fat than non-smokers, says Dr. Seidell. (The stress hormone cortisol seems to be to blame here too.) “When people stop smoking, the amount of abdominal fat actually decreases,” he says.

4. Eat more fiber. Not only is fiber great for overall weight loss (it fills you up so you don't eat as much), it also prevents constipation, which can cause your tummy to bulge, says Lawrence J. Cheskin, MD, a gastroenterologist and director of the Johns Hopkins Weight Management Center in Baltimore. To stay regular, aim for 25 to 38 g of fiber a day by eating more whole grains, fruits, and vegetables or try a fiber supplement, such as Metamucil.

5. Drink up. For premenstrual bloating, drink lots and lots of water. This will actually help flush away bloating, not make it worse.

6. Keep bones strong. Osteoporosis can lead to fractured bones in your spine, causing you to slump. That shortens your abdominal cavity giving your belly no place to go but out, says Willibald Nagler, MD, physiatrist in chief emeritus at the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center in New York City.  If you're age 50 or over, be sure to get 1,200 mg of calcium every day from the food you eat and/or from supplements. (If you're younger than 50, 1,000 mg a day is the ticket.)