When summertime rolls around, there isn’t much that you can do to hide the belly bloat and it can make you feel very self conscious at a time when you just want to have fun and feel like you look great. You know that you haven’t gained a lot of fat, but your belly has still swollen out by several inches. Here’s what you can do to flatten your tummy down again, in time for the next trip to the beach or backyard barbecue.
Start with hydration. If you feel as though you’re extremely puffy, then the odds are that your body is retaining fluids. While there are many reasons that it could do this, one of the most common is dehydration. If you’re not taking in enough water, your body will start to reserve what it has. But if you show your body that water is plentiful because you drink it all day long, then your body will stop retaining and you’ll lose the extra size in no time, flat.
Get your sodium intake under control. Sodium is another very common contributor to bloat because it can cause your body to retain more fluids than are necessary. Not only is eating too much salt bad for your looks, but it can also be hard on your cardiovascular system. Start paying attention to the amount of salt that is contained in the foods that you eat and put the salt shaker in the cupboard instead of on the table. After you start eating foods without salt on them, for a while, your taste buds will change and you’ll discover that there is a world of flavor out there that you hadn’t been tasting because you were too dependent on the salt.
Exercise regularly. This is great for making sure that your body is using fluids properly, but it also burns fats and helps to promote regularity. Those are all great ideas when you want to beat the bloat.
Finally, be sure that you boost your fiber intake throughout the summer months. Add some chia seeds to your breakfast cereal. Have a fruit smoothie with low fat yogurt, a banana, and a couple of handfuls of blueberries. Switch to whole grain bread and pasta, instead of the white stuff. These little changes can make a huge difference to both your health and your overall size. Once they become a habit, you can keep them up all year long.
