9 Simple Habits to Wake Up With a Flatter Belly

Seeing the results of our efforts is the key when we want to reach the ideal weight. That’s why Bright Side suggests you incorporate 9 habits into your routine to help you wake up leaner and keep you motivated to achieve your goals.

1. Eliminate yogurt


Although yogurt is known to be an essential part of a healthy diet, a lot of yogurts contain high levels of added sugars. In addition, they contain lactose, a natural sugar that is often difficult to digest for humans. The combination of both sugars can cause inflammation and swelling.

If you still think yogurt is the best option for dinner, choose one with 8 grams of sugar or less.

2. Do 8 minutes of exercise

To work your whole body you only need to perform an exercise for 8 minutes each day. If you do it before going to bed, you will wake up thinner the next day, and if you practice every day, you will shed those bothersome extra pounds.

Dumbbell Thruster: Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding the dumbbells on your shoulders. Next, squat down until your knees and hips are fully bent or until your thighs are just past parallel to the floor. Stand up through your heels, and press the dumbbells up at the top of the squat. Repeat the exercise as many times as you can. When you get tired, take a break of 20-30 seconds. Repeat the exercise until you reach 8 minutes.

3. Take a cold shower before bed

A cold shower before bed is an excellent way to lower your body temperature and stimulate brown fat, a fat tissue that consumes energy to raise your body temperature, thus helping you burn more calories. If you’re not a fan of cold showers, at least try to shower in lukewarm water instead of hot.

4. Start your day with a delicious breakfast

Butyric acid helps reduce inflammation in our body and improves insulin sensitivity. Oatmeal, dark chocolate, red fruits, nuts, and a little cinnamon for breakfast stimulates intestinal activity by increasing the levels of this acid. Thus, you will wake up less bloated and puffy, and you’ll feel thinner.

5. Remove Chinese food from your menu

Despite being delicious, Chinese food usually contains large amounts of sodium, leading to uncomfortable bloating. For example, one serving of Chinese soup contains your total sodium intake for a whole week. Mexican food is also among the foods with the highest amount of sodium.

6. Decrease consumption of sugar-free chewing gum

Studies show that sorbitol (a sugar alcohol used in sugarless chewing gums) requires a great deal of time for its digestion. This favors the fermentation of bacteria, causing swelling and flatulence. In addition, every time you chew gum, you send a signal to your brain that awakens the hunger hormones.

7. Forget about energy bars

There are four reasons why energy bars are not a good choice:

  1. They contain whey lactose that causes swelling.
  2. Among their ingredients are soybeans, which often generate gases.
  3. They’re a processed food, and people who consume them gain more weight than those who don’t.
  4. They contain more calories than you can imagine.

8. Avoid dehydrated goodies

Dehydrated fruits can be an important source of nutrients and fibers, but they are particularly high in fructose. If you have problems absorbing these sugars, it is very likely that they will cause swelling and gas. Fresh fruits are the best option to avoid these problems.

9. Make your own natural smoothies

Despite being very effective for losing weight, commercial smoothies often contain chemicals that counteract the positive effect of natural nutrients. Try making your own shakes with natural ingredients such as spinach, seeds, almond milk, coconut oil, fruits, etc. Here are some ideas.

Based on materials from Nutry fitness