How to Drop 2 Waist Sizes

A smaller waist can improve your entire figure. Many clothes are built with the ideal figure in mind, which is based on a shapely waist. What constitutes a waist size varies widely based on clothing style and manufacturer, but dropping just a few inches will have you moving down the size chart and fitting into your clothes better. Focusing on inches is a smart goal not only because of smaller clothing sizes and a svelte figure, but because waist size is a good indicator of health.

Instructions

• 1

  Drink lots of water. Water weight often adds inches to your waist, and the best way to get rid of excess water weight is by drinking water. The daily recommendation is 8 cups, or 64 ounces. Drinking water will also help with weight loss by making you feel more full.

• 2

  Burn excess fat through exercise. Resistance exercises like weight-lifting will increase your metabolism and burn more fat all over your body. Though it's not possible to spot train and lose fat only from the areas you want to, excess fat is often stored in the belly, so burning excess fat will make a difference in this problem area.

• 3

  Target your waistline with exercises that work your core. While core exercises like ones that make up a good Pilate's workout won't melt the fat around your waist, they will help create a leaner look as you lose fat by shaping and defining your abdominal muscles. Sit-ups and crunches will similarly promote definition.

• 4

  Reduce your overall calorie intake. No matter how much you exercise, if you are eating too much, you can still put on weight. To find out how many calories you should be eating, figure out the total number of calories your body burns in a day using a metabolic rate calculator. Subtract between 500 and 1000 calories from this number for a safe weekly weight loss of 1-2 pounds.

• 5

  Avoid foods that cause bloating. The biggest culprit is salt, so watch how much you sprinkle on your food, and check the nutritional information of your foods to make sure you stay under 2300 milligrams of sodium per day. Carbonated beverages and certain foods like beans, broccoli and asparagus can also cause bloating.

• 6

  Invest in a corset or shape-wear. These restrictive garments can slim a waist by up to 4 inches. They are not designed to be worn for more than 8 hours, but for a special night out, these alone can whittle your waist down to your desired size.