You may understand that your body will age and change form to some degree over time. However, seeing how these changes actually occur is a whole different experience. Knowing is one thing, living it is another. If you’re living with a tummy that is loose, flabby, and saggy, you may feel uncomfortable wearing certain clothing. Many people do; you’re not alone. Belly fat naturally makes your clothes fit differently than you’d like. To reclaim your contoured shape, you might take several steps simultaneously. Here, we discuss some of the most common advice experts offer for getting and keeping a flat midsection.
Diet Tips for a Flat Tummy
Weight management might just be the most critical aspect of avoiding excessive belly fat. Have you heard? Fad diets are out! Instead of following a very strict, food-eliminating diet, consider how to fuel your body in the healthiest ways. To keep abdominal fat at bay, experts recommend simple steps like eating plenty of soluble fiber. Black beans, lentils, sweet potatoes, and oats contain soluble fiber, as do many fresh fruits. If necessary, you might also supplement with fiber pills or a fiber drink like Metamucil. While it isn’t healthy to fully eliminate certain types of foods, it is good to limit some. Simple carbs tend to promote belly fat, so foods like white bread, pasta, and white rice should be consumed infrequently and in small amounts. Generally, if you fill your plate with lean protein, fresh vegetables, and healthy fat like avocado oil, you are on your way to optimal weight management.
Lifestyle Tips to Minimize Belly Fat
Outside of your dietary habits, how you live each day matters in terms of health and appearance. One of the most common factors associated with belly bulge is alcohol consumption. A glass of wine with or after dinner or a few beers on the weekends might not have a significant effect on abdominal fat, but anything more than that can. These substances not only carry unnecessary calories but also cause bloating, disrupt metabolism, and slow the absorption of vital nutrients. Another factor that influences belly fat, in particular, is stress. Stress increases cortisol production, and cortisol slows down metabolism, which can then throw off your blood sugar, prompting the body to store fat in the abdominal area. For a flatter, trimmer tummy, then, find ways to mitigate the effects of stress. Exercise is an excellent stress-reliever that compounds your results!
Do You Need a Tummy Tuck?
You might be willing and able to take on dietary changes and lifestyle modifications to treat your body better. Still, these actions do not guarantee the desired outcome for every person. Perhaps you have lost a significant amount of weight. Perhaps your abdomen grew so much during pregnancy that your muscles separated and you now have loose tissue across your midsection. Situations like these tend to leave very little choice. You can lose the weight and you can work out to tighten your abdominal muscles, but if they or your skin have been stretched too much, you’ll still have excess sagging. Tummy tuck surgery is tailored to your needs. Dr. Bogue can focus this procedure on the lower abdomen only or the entire abdomen as needed to achieve lasting, natural-looking, immensely satisfying results.
If your best efforts have left you struggling with lingering abdominal fat and sagging, get help from the right professional. To explore your options for body sculpting with abdominoplasty, call our Boca Raton office at 561-886-1000.
