Diet for a Flat Stomach

Achieving a flat belly requires a healthy diet and workout plan. If you stick to your plan, your body will respond favorably.

Portion Control
Don't try a fad diet plan that only works in the short term. When you properly portion your food intake on a regular basis, you will consume fewer calories. Your stomach is the size of your fist, and consuming more food than that in a single setting causes the stomach to stretch. The full feeling that registers in your brain occurs when your stomach begins stretching after food consumption. For over-eaters the stomach can stretch four or five times greater than its initial fist-size. A healthy serving for a portion of meat is about the size of the palm of your hand, and a serving of pasta should be no larger than your fist.

Meal Schedule
To boost your metabolism, start eating five or six small meals per day as opposed to three large meals. Always start with breakfast as this is provides your body with a healthy metabolism boost to begin the day. Eat a snack about two or three hours later followed by lunch a couple hours after that. Eat another snack two hours after lunch, followed by dinner. Finish the day with your final snack a couple of hours after dinner

Cardio Exercise
A cardio workout is necessary because it burns large quantities of calories. A good cardio program consists of increasing your heart rate for thirty consecutive minutes two or three days per week on non-consecutive days. You can walk, run, job, cycle, hike or perform any other activity that you can enjoy for this time period.

Abdominal Focus
An abdominal focus is necessary because it works the exact area that you desire to tone. Exercises for the abs work the muscle group located directly in the stomach area. Select a program that works every aspect of the abdominals. Focusing on one exercise will not be productive. When you design your program, be sure to perform the movements correctly and slowly. This is what works the abs most effectively. Do your abs program two or three days a week--on opposite days from your cardio program.

Patience
The key to a flat stomach and maintaining it is patience. There is not an overnight or quick-fix solution. With a good diet and exercise regimen you will see results. Stay consistent with your approach. Tweaking and changing eating habits because you don't see a quick result will not help. Allow your body the time it needs to get accustomed to the new routine, and it will start to work for you.

Flat Belly Diet Menu Plan

The Flat Belly Diet promotes weight loss of up to 15 pounds within 32 days revealing a flat belly, with zero sit-ups required, using a Mediterranean-style diet focused on unrefined, whole foods. The key ingredient of the Flat Belly Diet is the inclusion of monounsaturated fats, or MUFAs, with each meal, which purportedly targets fat around the belly.

The Basics
The diet's creators claim that, by limiting the caloric intake to roughly 1,600 calories a day, split between four meals spaced four hours apart and the inclusion of a MUFA at every meal, belly fat will melt away. Each meal is limited to 400 calories maximum, but the macronutrient breakdown does not have to conform to a strict ratio and can fluctuate with each meal. The allowed foods are fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, beans, lean protein and red meat is allowed once a month. The Flat Belly Diet was developed by Liz Vaccariello and Cynthia Sass, editor-in-chief and nutrition director, respectively, of Prevention Magazine. Prevention Magazine is a healthy lifestyle magazine covering health, nutrition, style and cooking. According to the authors of the plan, research has shown that monounsaturated fats directly target the fat around your midsection as well as control your satiety, making it easier to stick to the plan without being left with a feeling of hunger.

MUFAs
There are five different categories of MUFAs: oils, nuts and seeds, avocado, olives and chocolate. Oils include canola oil, flaxseed, peanut, sesame and soybean and can be used to cook with, as a dressing, marinade or even pasta sauce. Nuts and seeds include almonds, natural peanut butter, dry-roasted cashews, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds and sunflowers seeds. These nuts and seeds are perfect for a snack. Avocados can be sliced and served with any meal or added to salsa. Olives are also perfect for snacking but can top salads and pastas. Chocolate can be dark or semisweet chocolate and is the perfect way to treat yourself at the end of the day. The MUFAs per meal are limited to one serving size, according to their respective nutrition labels.

Sample Meal Plan
The following is a daily sample of the Flat Belly Diet menu plan with approved recipes provided by the authors of the plan:

Breakfast Vanilla Fruit-and-Nut Parfait Mix 1 1/2 c whole grain puffed cereal with 6 oz fat-free vanilla yogurt, 1 c blueberries, and 2 Tbsp almonds.

Lunch Mediterranean Sandwich Spread 2 slices sesame-sprouted whole wheat bread with 2 tbsp black olive tapenade; fill with 2 oz deli turkey, 1/4 cup sliced red onion, 1/2 sliced fresh plum tomato, and 3 large romaine lettuce leaves. Serve with 1/2 cup sliced banana

Dinner Salmon Steak Amandine Serve 4 oz grilled wild Alaskan salmon with 1 1/2 cup steamed green beans dressed with freshly ground black pepper and 2 tbsp. sliced almonds.

Snack Chocolate-Strawberry Smoothie Blend 1/2 c fat-free or soy milk, 6 oz fat-free vanilla yogurt, and 1 cup frozen strawberries for 1 minute. Transfer to glass, stir in 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips, and eat with a spoon.

The Flat Belly Diet allows you to be flexible with the foods you eat on a daily basis so that you don’t become burnt out on eating the same bland foods day-in and day-out. They is to maintain the 400 calorie limit per meal and include one MUFA.

Warnings
According to an ABC News report profiling the actual effectiveness of trendy diets, the Flat Belly Diet is overall a fairly healthy diet plan and the strict limit on calories will certainly prevent weight loss. As far as the weight coming strictly off the midsection due to the inclusion of monounsaturated fats, ABC News reports that there is nothing in scientific literature that substantiates these claims, but initial weight loss in general tends to start at the midsection.

As always, before you start a new diet and exercise routine, it is important to consult with your physician to ensure your body this change. Fad diets such as this tend to take a toll on the body, especially within the first couple of weeks.

How to Get a Flat Belly in 7 Days

Getting a flat belly in seven days requires dedication to exercise and observing what you eat and drink. But you will see results if you're committed to eating a healthy diet and working out every day. To get a flat stomach in seven days, an intense series of physical activities and fat-blasting exercises are required.

Do crunches several times a week. Performing about 10 crunches per hour is a good way to keep the muscles in your belly tight. However, to lose maximum fat in your belly do 20 crunches every hour of the day instead. This will increase the size of the muscles in your stomach which will give it a flatter appearance once you have lost the fat in your stomach.

Run at least one mile per day. This is an intensive cardiovascular workout that will burn the most fat in your body. If you are unable to run a full mile non-stop, run as far as you can and then walk for a few moments while you catch your breath. When you are ready, continue running. This will not burn as much fat as if you were running non-stop, so push yourself as hard as you can. If you feel up to it, run one mile in intervals several times during the day. When you are finished running, consume a lot of water to replenish your fluids and then continue your crunches. If you are up to it, do jackknife sit-ups as well which will tighten your stomach muscles even more. You can perform a jack-knife sit-up by laying flat on your back and raising your arms and legs into the air simultaneously, being sure that your back is arched and shoulders are off the ground.

Eat small amounts of protein. You should not eat any meal that is heavier in fat during the course of this week. Eggs are great sources of healthy workout proteins, so consuming eggs before or after your workout can greatly benefit you. You can also purchase some protein shake-mix at a local fitness store. This mix can be blended with fruit and will give you a maximum amount of workout proteins. Keep your metabolism working consistently by eating five small snacks per day rather than three large meals. Eat small portions of raw vegetables or whole-wheat crackers as well as protein-rich granola bars. You can also eat one hard-boiled egg which will fill you up and provide you with healthy protein.

Drink plenty of water. Avoid sodas and juice. Unless it is a protein shake that you are drinking, drink water only. Water flushes your system, keeping it in top condition for your intense workouts. Water will also help you keep hydrated before and after running.

Work on doing as many sit-ups as possible. Pick a time during every hour where you can do a series of sit-ups quickly and then have a short rest. Crunches will tighten the smallest amount of muscles in your stomach, but they will take less effort. Sit-ups might hurt your back, but will tighten many more muscles in your stomach. Jack-knife sit ups are probably the most effective for toning your stomach muscles, but they are also the most difficult. Try starting out with 10 crunches per hour on the first day, then 20 on the second. Move on to 20 sit-ups every hour. For the last three days of the week, upgrade to jack-knife sit-ups and consistently do 20 of them every hour. This will be challenging, but stomach and abdominal exercises are instrumental to flattening your belly.