18 Oct How to get a Flat Belly and even Abs
How to get a Flat Belly and even Abs
“How do I get a flat belly or even ABS ? How do I drop the BLOAT and belly fat?” In all the years that I have been sharing fitness , nutrition and fat loss the #1 question I get is SOME variation of that question! I’m going to answer it the best I can in a short post starting with what NOT to do:
What does NOT work for a flat belly or Abs
Wraps for “fat loss”… What they MAY be good for? Loss of water weight. But they won’t get rid of fat or loose skin. Sorry!
Pills and Potions. Don’t waste your money. There is no way to rub on a potion or swallow a pill to get rid of belly fat. Save your money. This is marketing fluff. I AM a fan of supplements in addition to an unprocessed diet, lots of water and movement but a pill to create a flat belly or abs is nonsense.
Giving up entire foods groups. Another mistake. Although eating HEALTHY is a MUST eliminating entire food categories like FATS or Carbs is not only not necessary, but it can be detrimental to your health.
Doing endless cardio. This COULD work short term for burning excess calories BUT can you sustain this for life? Not likely. AND, when you DO the cardio, are you going intense and hard? Or are you just putting in the time. Putting in the TIME may “feel good” but in the end, all it may do is make you hungrier. I am a fan of cardio for lifestyle and living and also I am a fan of short burst of high intensity for fat burning and conditioning, but doing endless cardio to “get a flat belly or abs” is not necessary. More on cardio for weight loss HERE.
Starving yourself. This is another big mistake. When eating correctly and eating foods that nourish and fuel you, you should not be hungry.
Waist trainers and gadgets. YES they may help you sweat off some water weight temporarily or stop you from eating (heck you can barely breathe with those things on) gut they will NOT melt your ab fat away. I made video about these a while back HERE. Some may argue that a waist trainer is great for back pain. I disagree- especially as someone who ruptured and how has no disc left between L5 and S1 a STRONG CORE is a must to strengthen and alleviate back pain. When wearing a trainer, it is doing the work FOR YOU which can weaken your core.
Here is what DOES work for abs and a flat belly.
This is what I’ve helped so many with and I myself have abs even at 48 even after having a baby and gaining 60 lbs. And even after doing none of those things I listed above.
First, is it Loose skin? Is it BLOAT or is It BELLY FAT?
If it is Loose skin, that can NOT be changed through diet and exercise. However, don’t despair! You can DRASTICALLY change the appearance of things by doing the recommendations below. Please watch this super short video HERE where I share more about loose skin and abs.
Drop the artificial stuff. When you eat artificial sweeteners you BLOAT. And gas and bloat do not help your appearance.
Worse, they mess with your hormones. ALSO your body thinks it’s getting those calories (but it’s not) so you actually crave MORE. I go into full detail here about the various types of artificial sweeteners and the problems that they cause HERE.
Hydrate. Sounds funny but the more dehydrated you are the more your body holds on to water.
Tone and train that area.
The more muscle you have the more your body burns calories at rest. And the more muscle you have in that area the more toned you will look. Do CORE targeting exercises. These can ALL be done with your own body weight. If you want help with bodyweight exercises that target your core specifically look HERE.
Constantly use and work your core. Stand instead of sit, walk with an engaged core, be aware of how you use and hold it. Stand instead of sitting, limit wearing heels (which puts you in a anatomical mess) and engage your core throughout the day.
Lose OVERALL fat. We can’t spot reduce but we can lose overall body fat by eating unprocessed natural foods (not too much) and by using more calories/energy than we consume)
Most importantly? Fuel yourself with lots of healthy unprocessed real foods. Foods that once grew.
Foods found in nature in their most original state. Think lean proteins, fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds. Natures food.
This sounds simple- I know. But most are not doing these things! Without doing these things FIRST no “gadget” or any other “quick fix” will give you the long term results you want.
Finally: Simplify things. Make it easier for you and stop the guess work. FOLLOW an eating plan from someone you resonate with. Of course I’m going to suggest mine as I wrote it and it works 😊
This is a very simple method to jump start fat loss, and your flat belly goals.
For MORE of you Ab questions I did a very detailed Q&A blog HERE about ABS
You are not too old and it’s not too late
XO,
Natalie Jill
