Sexy, Strong Abs: The Easy Way!

A flat stomach can be yours: Our four-part guide to what to eat, drink and do will have you bikini-ready in no time

By Lara McGlashan

Eat Your Way to a Flat Stomach

Cut back on low-carb snacks.
Many bars and candies contain glycerin or sugar alcohols, which can cause bloating because your body can't fully digest them, says Leslie Bonci, R.D., at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

Run one mile less.
"Your body can interpret excessive exercise as stress, causing you to retain fluid and become constipated," says Diana Taylor, R.N., Ph.D., at the University of California-San Francisco Center for Reproductive Health. But moderate exercise, such as yoga or walking, can speed things through your system and help nix the problem.

Watch it with condiments.
Condiments can be high in salt, leaving you bloated and puffy. A quarter cup of ketchup gives you a third of a day's sodium allotment; a tablespoon of soy sauce holds nearly half a day's worth.

Push the potassium.
This natural diuretic can counteract the belly-bulging effects of extra salt. Find it in tomatoes, bananas, salmon, almonds and cherries.

Have more H₂O.
Drinking water makes you retain less water by carrying bloat-causing elements such as salt out of your body.