theinformer

If you want to have a healthier heart, you might want to go with your stomach. Now that the holidays are about over, it’s a good time to thing about getting healthier.

Here are the best ways to flatten your stomach:

Measure your stomach
The first thing you should do is measure your stomach. The amount of your waist might make you a greater risk of getting cardiovascular disease. For men, the amount is more than 40 inches. For women, the amount is more than 35 inches. The best way to take your measurements is to place a tape measure around your bare abdomen. It should be just above your hip bone. The tape measure should feel snug but not tight enough to push into your skin. The tape measure should be level all around. You should breathe out first then measure your waist.

Eat less food
This one sounds easier said than done. You have to cut your calorie intake and adopt a healthier eating plan. Try to eat smaller portions of the food you eat. You actually can lose weight through changing your diet alone, but you can lose more if you add exercise to your plan. I’ll talk about this one more in the next tip.

Exercise
You must exercise, but have to choose the right exercises. Surprisingly, crunches do not burn belly fat. That’s because it’s impossible to target fat in a particular part of the body. The best calorie burners are aerobic exercises, particularly ones that are weight-bearing. Anything that forces you to hold yourself up while you’re doing them, burns more calories. Examples are: brisk walking, running, or stair stepping. It’s important to exercise at the right intensity. You should do them until you find it a challenge to talk continuously for 30 seconds. If you are alone, test yourself by reciting the pledge of allegiance. You should also include strength training in your workout. You should fit strength training in at least three days a week.

Reduce stress
Stress tends to raise levels of appetite-boosting cortisol. Cortisol stimulates us to eat sugar and fat. Try to do some breathing exercises. Deep breathing is important. It lowers your heart rate and your blood pressure. Close your eyes and concentrate on your breathing. Breathe in to the count of four and exhale to the count of four and repeat several times.

Skip the trans fat
Trans fat is a type of saturated fat that may cause more weight gain than other fats especially in the abdomen area. Be careful of the food labels. They may claim that they don’t have trans fat, but some of them may be substituting other saturated fat products that include palm oil and coconut oil. You should include monosaturated fat with each meal if you can. This type of fat can prevent weight gain in the stomach. These foods include: olives, nuts, seeds, avocados, and dark chocolate. Since I like dark chocolate, I am glad that it’s on this list.

Avoid super low fat diets
This type of diet will make you more hungry. Try to eat a variety of healthful foods that will get you satisfied and help you avoid gaining weight.

Don’t skip meals
It will only make you hungrier which will cause you to overeat. Try to have portion-controlled meals throughout the day. That way you will curb your appetite and you won’t be as hungry.

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