Do you ever take a beach vacation and look snatched on day one, but more like Winnie The Pooh by day three? You’re not the only one. What we eat and how we live daily can make us look and feel 10 pounds heavier or lighter. There are steps we can take every day to keep our bellies under control and be beach-ready at the drop of a dime.
First and foremost, you should be keeping your water intake at an all-time high. Water can make all your dreams come true: less bloat, less hunger, more energy, clearer skin, and the list goes on from there.
But for the belly, water is essential to help you flush out your digestive tract, keep you regular, avoid starvation, and keep your belly trim. Find yourself a water bottle and keep it full all day long. Drink and refill from sun up to sun down to help you hang on to that flat stomach.
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Along those lines, water helps you to flush out excess fluids that can make your belly expand and look less than amazing. But salt is one of the culprits for making your body hold onto unwanted water weight, resulting in swelling all over the body, stomach included.
So when you cook or eat out, try to do it without as little salt as possible. Cook with other herbs and spices, and request that restaurants go light on salt when they prepare your meal. It may take some adjusting to the taste, but you should have fewer days of belly bloat and uncomfortable swelling of your joints!
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You can also modify your diet to help your body flush out excess water and avoid unwanted bloat in the belly region. There are some foods that are known for their anti-inflammatory properties, which means your day one vacation body can look the same on days three, four, and five!
Start to work these foods into your regular diet to reap all the flat tummy rewards:
Apple Cider Vinegar: Add this to your salads, veggies or your first glass of water in the morning.
Cucumbers: Eat these all day for extra hydration and to reverse bloating before (or after) it starts.
High Fiber Foods: Reach for the whole grains, legumes, and fibrous leafy vegetables to help you flush your
digestive tract of heavy, stomach-expanding foods.
Foods with “healthy fats”: Foods high in Omega 3 fatty acids can do wonders for your waistline. While they are fats, they are actually a kind that helps you combat excess saturated fat, and boost your metabolism to keep your body lean.
A non-dietary way to get the beach-ready belly you desire is to get up and move after your meals. Your food is more likely to sit around and hang out in your belly if you just stay seated, or worse, lie down after eating.
If you can walk for 20 minutes immediately after a meal, you can speed up the digestive process and get things moving right on out, instead of making your belly poke out further.
And lastly, if you really want to wake up to a flat stomach every day, watch your alcohol intake. Alcohol is a lot like salt, in that it dehydrates your body and makes your body more prone to hold on to excess water.
This means that after a night of indulging in a bottle of wine, you’ll likely see swelling in your face, around your body, and likely your stomach too. Drink modestly and try to have a glass of water with every alcoholic beverage to stay hydrated.
The belly is a fickle thing, but you can do your part to keep it to its true size instead of poking out at the worst possible moments, like the requisite vacation Instagram photoshoot.
Sharita Jennings is a fitness and travel enthusiast and creator of Get Fit Like That, LLC. She is a health policy attorney and ACE certified group fitness instructor and fitness nutrition specialist. She provides online fitness plans and leads group fitness classes in Washington DC. Check out her fitness tips and workouts at GetFitLikeThat.com.
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