Want to know how to get a flat stomach? Discover the best flat belly foods, ab workouts, and legit tips to achieve your goals. Whether you’re toning up after a baby or want a flat belly for summer, this collection of fat-burning foods, tips, ab workouts, and flat-stomach diet plans will help you achieve your goals.
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my disclosure page.
I’m sure you’re familiar with the headlines: How To Get A Flat Stomach in 2 weeks, 2 days, or even overnight. That’s because weight loss is big business.
Women spend millions of dollars a year on diet pills, supplements, gadgets, and diet plans that overpromise and underdeliver, leaving them feeling like failures.
The secret of how to get a flat stomach is simple. Change your eating habits, clean up your diet and get moving. Today we’ll cover exactly how you can do it with legitimate tips and workouts that get results.
How To Get A Flat Stomach: 7 Tips That Work
1. Change Your Diet
Thousands of diets claiming to be the holy grail of weight loss are in our faces 24/7. Some are evidence-based, some are downright ridiculous – and the majority are outright lies.
Moment of Truth Bomb: No one diet works for every woman.
Great abs are made in the kitchen, not at the gym.
Eating a diet that focuses on lean protein will help you lose weight and belly fat. Try to eliminate junk foods and fried food, cut down on or eliminate sugar, and limit your intake of refined carbohydrates. Focus on eating more meals with protein from chicken, fish, and turkey and serve them with steamed or baked vegetables.
Diet To Consider: The Ultimate Low Carb Diet for Women
2. Eat More Protein
Protein is a powerful weight loss macro! It reduces cravings, boosts metabolism, and can help you eat up to 400 fewer calories daily. This study shows that people who eat more high-quality protein have less belly fat.
Whole eggs, broccoli, salmon, shrimp, chicken breast, almonds, and Greek Yogurt are good sources of protein. If you’re like me and stay on the go 24/7, try a protein-packed drink like the Proplant Complete Shake formula.
3. Don’t Drink Your Calories
Soda, juice, energy drinks, & blended coffees are all full of empty calories & sugar.
The average 12-ounce can of soda contains 150 calories. Drinking one can per day adds 130,000 calories per year or 15 pounds of fat, for one can per day.
If you’ve been hitting up the 7-11 or fast food joints it’s worse: a small drink at up to McDonald’s is 16 ounces. 100% Apple juice may sound healthy, but one cup (8oz) has 120 calories & 28 grams of sugar.
Your body doesn’t register liquid calories like food, so you end up consuming more calories & packing on the pounds when you drink sugar-sweetened beverages.
4. Stop Drinking (Alcohol)
Drinking alcoholic beverages – especially beer – is associated with increased belly fat. Beer is also known as liquid bread because it contains an insane amount of carbohydrates! And it’s not just beer that you need to avoid.
Here’s the thing: when you are hardcore working towards a flat stomach, drinking any beer, cocktail, or spirit is a bad idea.
Your body sees liquor and beer as a toxin. The moment an alcoholic beverage enters your system, your liver will immediately stop burning fat to metabolize the alcohol – which slows down your weight loss!
Drink water. Shoot for 8 – 8-ounce glasses per day! Drink more if you’re active.
Staying hydrated keeps energy levels up, and drinking a glass of H20 before meals will reduce the number of calories you consume.
Read: The Best Detox Water Recipes for Weight Loss! 20 Flat Belly Drinks
5. Cook At Home
The Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics showed that nearly all restaurant meals—no matter what style of cuisine—pack on significantly more calories than you should be eating, with many containing more than an entire day’s worth of calories!
Cooking at home is a nutritious way to control portions and ingredients in your food. Plus, research shows that people who cook at home take in 140 calories less than those who eat out.
Read: How To Meal Prep for Weight Loss
6. Eat At The Table
Ever sit down to watch Netflix, and the next thing you know, you’ve eaten an entire family-size bag of Doritos? It happens. When the focus is on the TV and not what’s going into our mouths, we all tend to overeat and miss the signs our body sends when it’s full—eating at a table surrounded by loved ones, aka people who hold you accountable.
Once you get the hang of eating mindfully, you’ll not only lose weight and your muffin top, but food will also become more enjoyable and even taste better.
7. Get Active
Walk. Run. Bike. Do Yoga. Pilates. Hip Hop Cardio. Get down with a hula-hoop!
Get your body moving for at least 25 minutes 5 times a week. (See 3 home workouts below:)
Flat Stomach Foods
Almonds
Swap your carb-loaded chips for the flat stomach superfood: almonds! This study shows eating 1.5 ounces of almonds daily helps burn belly fat.
Almonds are full of fiber, vitamins, and minerals, making them one of the world’s healthiest foods.
Read: 26 Healthy Snacks for Weight Loss
Avocados
Eating three tablespoons of avocado reduces belly fat by 1.6% over four weeks. Avocados are a nutrient-dense fruit packed with healthy fats.
Avocado can be used to dress a sandwich in place of mayo, make Guacamole, and be used in salads and wraps.
Blueberries
Healthy and antioxidant-rich blueberries have been a superfood for a while, but new research suggests they may influence genes regulating how we store and burn fat.
Add blueberries to smoothies and salads, use them to flavor water, or eat as a snack.
Read: 23 Low Carb Protein Shakes
Eggs
People who start the day with eggs are less likely to overeat later in the day.
Eggs contain several power nutrients, like B12, which helps the body break down fat, as well as Vitamin D and Choline, which have a positive effect on fat metabolism.
Green Tea
Drinking Green Tea on the regular can speed up metabolism and weight loss, taking you one step closer to a flat stomach! Plus – one cup’s worth is filled with antioxidants that prevent fat absorption.
Wild Salmon
The key to getting a flat stomach is eating more omega-3 fatty acids!
Fill up on healthy fish like salmon, tuna, and herring at least twice a week. Omega-3 fatty acids reduce fat mass and shift your body into a fat-burning mode.
Cucumbers
Cucumbers are full of water, silica, caffeic acid, and Vitamin C, which reduces bloat and water retention.
Add cucumber to water and salads, or eat slices with avocado as a snack.
Broccoli
Eating plenty of dark-colored veggies like broccoli produces less visceral fat (dangerous fat around organs).
Broccoli contains calcium, which has also been shown to increase fat loss, especially in the belly area.
Snack on raw broccoli, use it in salads, roast it, bake it, or steam fresh broccoli as a side dish.
Read: 46 Low Carb Side Dish Recipes
Apple Cider Vinegar
Consuming vinegar will keep you feeling full – which helps you eat less.
Bonus: Apple Cider Vinegar lowers blood sugar and insulin levels, helping keep cravings at bay.
Mushrooms
Powerful antioxidant mushrooms are a potent weight-loss food for women. Use high-fiber crimini mushrooms to cut half the fat in recipes with ground turkey or lean ground beef without sacrificing the flavor.
Cutting carbs to get a flat stomach? Swap your burger bun for a portobello mushroom!
See: 23 Healthy Mushroom Recipes
Asparagus
Models often use asparagus to get a flat stomach before photo shoots when they need a natural diuretic. Asparagus also contains asparagine – an alkaloid that affects cells and breaks down fat.
Lemon
Lemon juice can boost your metabolic rate, and it’s a tasty addition to plain H20 that helps eliminate toxins and improve digestion.
Cinnamon
¼ – 2 teaspoons of cinnamon per day helps your body metabolize sugar and cut cholesterol numbers by up to 25% Add cinnamon to tea, coffee, or sprinkle it on Greek Yogurt.
Garlic
Along with being an energy-boosting appetite suppressant, the compounds in raw garlic are associated with fat-burning. Also, fresh garlic is a powerful detoxifying agent that helps with digestion.
Start the day with raw garlic (and lemon) water. Add it to recipes that are sauteed, roasted or baked.
Turmeric
Known for it’s anti-inflammatory and healing properties, the super spice turmeric also helps you shed unwanted pounds. The critical ingredient is Curcumin, an antioxidant that helps insulin resistance, lowers cholesterol and blood pressure.
New evidence suggests it suppresses fat tissue growth. Turmeric can be used to add spice to marinades, salad dressings, grilled meat, and tomato-based recipes.
Dark Chocolate
The MUFAs in dark chocolate help supercharge metabolism and burn fat. Eat 1 ounce of dark chocolate three times a week.
Ultimate 10-Minute Ab Workout
I LOVE this FitnessBlender 10-minute flat belly workout! It works your entire core with 45 seconds of 10 exercises you can do at home with NO EQUIPMENT other than an exercise mat! They do a fabulous job of mixing Pilates & good old fashioned flutter kicks to tighten & tone in 10!:)
5-Minute Flat Abs Yoga Workout
You’ll appreciate this easy step by step 5 minute yoga ab workout hosted by Anna Renderer of POPSUGAR Fitness especially if you’re a beginner yogi. It’s simple & it works the entire core – both challenging & relaxing.
Sore-y Not Sorry Ab Workout Challenge
Need a fast & fun 5-Minute Ab Challenge? Cassey Ho, the creator of Blogilates, walks you through every upper, middle & lower crunch with a pop of Pilates!
Before you go, it takes hard work, discipline, dedication, and a focused mind to lose weight, get the flat stomach of your dreams, and finally feel confident in your body. I know. I’ve been there! I’ve lost over 148 pounds, and it was not easy, but it was worth it. Take the first step and start today. Your future self will thank you!
While you’re here, check out these tips and recipes.
Don’t Miss These Tips and Recipes!
7 Empowering Fitness Marshall Workouts For Women (That Work Your Body For Free At Home)
20 Fabulous Detox Waters
Clean Eating Simplified: Clean Up Your Diet & Eat Healthy
7 Healthy Juicing Recipes for Weight Loss And Detox That Go Above & Beyond Fat Burning Green Juice
25 Weight Loss Tips (That Actually Work)
7 Fitness Marshall Workouts
If you found these flat stomach tips helpful, please share on Pinterest!
