Instead, cook at home with whole ingredients such as lean meat and poultry, vegetables, and slow-digesting carbs.īetter yet, swap out the salt and use herbs and spices instead. Over the next two days, try to avoid eating fast food, restaurant food, or packaged food-in fact, that’s where most Americans get their (excess) dietary salt. Before long, you’ll be sending a search party for your abs. Whether you like it or not, those salty chips don’t just give you empty calories-all that sodium will also encourage your body to retain water. The result: Gas, bloating, and, in some cases, diarrhea.
Olly bloating plus#
Include greens and other non-starchy vegetables like mushrooms, bell peppers, celery, and tomatoes, plus a thumb-sized amount of heart-healthy fats like extra-virgin olive oil at each meal.ĭon’t fall for the low-calorie allure of sugar alcohols, though-they’re lower-calorie because your body literally can’t digest them well. Focus your meals around lean proteins such as chicken breasts, egg whites, fish, and extra-lean ground turkey. Your body stores carbs with water, so going lower-carb for a couple of days-or focusing on “dry carbs” like rice cakes-can help you attain more defined muscles. Focus on fruits like watermelon, honeydew, cantaloupe, and cucumber for a couple of days for extra bloat-fighting power. Try eating fast-burning, high-glycemic index carbs right after your workout, when they’ll be quickly used up. That doesn’t mean easily digestible carbs are off the table, though. Instead, choose slow-burning carbs like oats, barley, sweet potatoes, and wild rice, which provide more sustained energy and help reduce sugar cravings. Improve your carb intakeįast-absorbing carbs-sugar, white bread, and white rice-can raise blood sugar and insulin levels, flatlining your energy levels and stressing your body’s digestive system. Exercise can also work to expel excess gas from your intestinal tract, helping your body beat bloat. “Going for a brisk walk after a meal can increase the speed of digestion and help food move quickly through your GI tract,” says Palinski-Wade. It’s tempting to skip a workout when you’ve dedicated the day to bumming around on the beach, but don’t glue yourself to a lounge chair the second you’ve taken your last bite of lunch. You’re better off ordering steamed veggies or a side salad, which won’t weigh you down for days. Fat slows down stomach-emptying and can make you feel overly full. We all know French fries aren’t flat-abs food, but when you’re on vacation, it’s sometimes easy to just say, “Why not?” Before you reach for the plate, keep in mind that the greasy treat could make you look puffy-and send energy levels plummeting. On beach day, stay away from carbonated beverages and drink plenty of water-that last part might sound counterintuitive, but it works. But when gas doesn’t escape via belching, it can build up and make you bloated. You know that bubbly drinks make you burp, which is your body’s way of getting rid of excess air in your stomach. Ease up on fiberĪ high-fiber nutrition bar seems like a healthy, low-calorie snack to help stave off hunger between meals, but if your stomach can’t handle all the fiber (and potential sugar alcohols in the bar), you might experience bloating and abdominal pain. “The potassium in the water helps balance sodium levels in the body and can help fight water retention,” says Palinski-Wade. The fix: drink 12oz of coconut water (look for varieties without added sugar) shortly after you wake up to rehydrate and help eliminate bloat. If you knocked back a few too many drinks on the boardwalk last night and chased them with salty food, your stomach is probably feeling swollen from the alcohol and salt.
Skip cereal and milk and start your day with eggs and veggies, or toast with all-natural peanut butter instead. If your body can’t break down lactose, consuming any food that contains dairy can result in gas, bloating, diarrhea, or constipation. Many people have some form of lactose intolerance, which makes digesting dairy products difficult, notes Palinski-Wade.
The partial-digestion process can cause gastrointestinal side effects including bloating, gas, and even diarrhea. Sure, sugar-free gum and candies are lower in calories, but they also contain sugar alcohols-sugars that have been bound with an alcohol so that your body digests only part of the sugar, explains Erin Palinski-Wade, R.D., author of Belly Fat Diet for Dummies. Follow these seven tips to ensure your stomach looks (and feels) as flat as it really is when you show up seaside. Your last step before hitting the sand? Beating back beach-day bloat. You’ve been working on your abs since January and they’re almost ready for the big reveal.