How to Get a Flat Stomach & Lose a Belly Bulge

Belly bulges often develop due to bloating, fecal impaction or excess subcutaneous fat, the fat that lies between your abdominal wall and skin. Because a bulge can appear for a variety of reasons, you have a few options available to flatten your stomach. You cannot spot reduce your abdominal area, so performing stomach crunches and situps won’t do the trick. Flattening your stomach requires you to take measures to reduce bloating and eliminate fat throughout your body.

Performing high-impact aerobics is the best way to burn subcutaneous fat. Aerobic exercise elevates your heart rate, tones your muscles and boosts your metabolism, causing your body to burn fat throughout the day. Brisk walking, jogging, swimming, dancing and skating are aerobic exercises that will eliminate excess fat from your stomach area while keeping your overall weight under control. Perform 30 to 60 minutes of aerobic exercise daily to eliminate your belly bulge.

Monounsaturated fats are healthy fats that boost your metabolism and help to reduce fat throughout your body. According to ABC’s Good Morning America, monounsaturated fats not only burn subcutaneous fat, they eliminate visceral fat, the deeply rooted fat within your abdominal walls. Olives, avocados, pumpkin seeds, pistachio nuts and almonds are high in monounsaturated fats. Snack on these foods instead of potato chips, cookies and other trans-fatty foods to slim your waistline.

To burn excess fat, you must consistently expend more calories than you consume. Since 3,500 calories equals one pound, you must burn 500 more calories than you take in every day to lose one pound weekly. For example, if you consume 1,000 calories daily, you must expend 1,500 calories each day to lose weight. As you begin to slim down, you’ll notice your stomach getting flatter. Use a calorie counter to determine your daily caloric intake, and use an energy expenditure chart to keep track of how many calories you burn while exercising.

High-fiber diets reduce bloating, which causes stomachs to appear larger than they are. Getting adequate fiber also reduces your caloric intake by eliminating excess food particles from your colon before your body absorbs these particles and stores them as fat. Whole grain cereals, raspberries, beans and broccoli are high-fiber foods you can eat. Consume at least 5 grams of fiber with each meal or a minimum of 25 grams of fiber daily to keep your stomach free of excess food and waste and to eliminate your belly bulge.