Top 10 Ways to Flatten your Stomach

**Check out all the photos at the bottom of this post!**

Let’s break these tips into two categories; 1) Foods & 2) Exercise

The Foods   

     1. Eat less, especially foods that make you retain water and keep you bloated. Everyone has different foods that make them bloated, so you may need to do some detective work to figure it out. For me personally it’s wheat, dairy, bread, and most importantly the way I combine foods (see #2).   

     2. Combine your foods properly – http://www.drbass.com/sequential.html In general, you want to eat meat and carbs either in different meals or separately at a meal, i.e. eat all your meat then all your potatoes instead of combining them with each bite. Other foods are also like this and it is because it takes totally different stomach acids/bases to digest them that can be antagonistic.   

             Yes I know this is not as glorious as stuffing one’s mouth with everything on the plate, believe me I LOVE doing that, but try doing this a few times and watch your stomach feel and look better.   

            Also, do not drink more than 4 ounces with each meal and CHEW YOUR FOOD INTO  LIQUIDS.   

     3.   Eat the right foods for your body. Again, everyone is different and therefore needs different combinations of proteins/carbs/fats. This is called metabolic typing –http://www.metabolictyping.com/     

     A simple way of metabolic typing yourself without going through the test is to notice how you feel after meals. Are you sluggish? Low energy? Mucous build up? If you are then you are  not eating  the right foods for your body and therefore you are not getting the right energy, which leads to more eating and sluggish digestion, nutrient absorption, etc.   

     4.  Do cleanses and or juice fasts. Now I am not a doctor and cannot recommend you do this without asking one first, but once you get the green light I highly recommend it. One to three days of  just fruits and veggies will get your stomach flat QUICK. And then you can use that momentum to stay motivated.   

     Now you don’t just go do it without any research, so please read up on it first before you try it. Cleansing and juice fasting can be dangerous if done the wrong way. And it would take way to much space for this top 10 list to talk about. Maybe next time I will post my favorite cleanses….   

     5.  Try a good natural meal replacement once day. I love having a shake for breakfast made with the following; berries and or banana, ice cubes, water, hemp protein (it has tons of good stuff like omega 3’s, all your amino acids, and protein) and a scoop of green vibrance (contains a concentrated formula of 60 green leafy vegetables and enzymes that support health, nutrition, digestion and immunity as well as rejuvenate the whole body) – http://www.vibranthealth.us/ You can get both of these at whole foods or a health food store, or of course online.   

MAKE SURE THE SHAKE DOESN’T MAKE YOU FEEL BLOATED, which can often be from choosing a protein powder that is unnatural or just not agreeable with your system.   

The Exercises   

     6. Exercise regularly so your metabolism stays high. You can do this with simple jogs, hikes or walks of at least 30 minutes 5-7 days per week.   

 Also, USE YOUR STOMACH FOR EVERYTHING! Keep it slightly sucked in as often as you can; driving, cooking, typing, etc., make sure you can do that and keep your breathing relaxed.

     7. Workout the lateral abs (see below)   

     8. Workout the lower abs (see below)   

     9. Workout the obliques (see below)   

     10.  Workout the upper abs (see below)   

 Now the secret is in HOW you do the ab exercises (#’s 7-10). Here is your…   

 

 Secret Ab Flattening Routine   

 

–          Choose two of the ab exercise categories (#’s7-10) each day (no days off you got work to do!).   

–          Perform one of the exercises below from each of the categories you chose that day and do them until exhaustion, back to back, i.e do one exercise until you can’t do it anymore and then do the next, two total exercises.   

–          Then with as little rest as possible go into a set of push-ups until exhaustion.   

–          Then choose another set of exercises from the same categories and do them back to back until exhaustion.   

–          Then follow-up with more push-ups and keep rotating this cycle until you’ve had enough, which depending on your fitness could be 10-30 minutes.   

–          On the next day choose the other two categories and repeat the same format. If you are too sore to do push-ups then do them on your knees or just hold them isometrically.   

By the end of a week you should be pretty balanced between upper, lower, obliques and side. NOTE, your lower abs are usually WAY weaker than the upper due to poor posture so do more lower than upper.

 

Push-ups

– Literally 100’s of variations…these are just a few.

 

 

Lateral Abs

– Side planks, side bends, etc.

 

Lower Abs

– Bicycle kicks, double leg raises (watch out if you have low back pain) – keep the back flat on these

 

Obliques

– Any type of rotation (if you stand then you add the hips into it), crunches with rotation, etc.

 

 

Upper Abs

– Sit-ups, crunches on a ball, etc.