With everyone trying to beat the holiday bulge, I figured I’d chime in with my two cents (actually from a small team of NYC doctors and nutrition specialists) about the easiest ways to flatten your belly without hours at the gym.
1) Avoid beer. Sorry everyone, I know it’s fizzy and delish, but beer drinkers tend to have a higher waist-to-hip ratio than wine drinkers according to the American Journal of Epidemiology.
2) Get More Calcium. According to researchers at the University of Tennessee, dieters who consumed 1,200-1,300 milligrams of calcium every day lost 3 times more weight than those who consumed the same amount of calories but with less calcium. That means drinking your milk and eating spinach will get you back in your skinny jeans!
3) Quit Smoking. Research in the Netherlands suggests that smokers have significantly more deep abdominal fat than non-smokers. (like we really needed to give you another reason to quit smoking!)
4) Wear Mid-rise Jeans. Low rise jeans create a muffin-top effect, and high-rise jeans create a your-mom-when-you-were-in-middle-school effect. So let’s meet in the middle for a flat, lean-looking belly. We suggest an 8″ rise, which you can find via most major denim labels.
5) Put Nuts in Your Mouth. The International Journal of Obesity reports that dieters that ate 3 ounces of nuts per day (60-70 nuts on your tongue) lost about 7 inches from their waists, compared to only 5 inches from the nutless crowd.
Very helpful!