How to Get a Perfectly Flat Stomach

Getting a flat stomach takes more than just doing multiple crunches. Unless liposuction is an option, spot-reduction is impossible. You have to eat right, get regular cardiovascular exercise and include weight training in your workout. Reducing fat from the stomach not only makes you look and feel better, but it also substantially lowers your risk for diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and stroke.

Instructions

• 1

  Avoid foods that bloat your tummy and make it look bigger. Stay away from carbonated beverages and alcohol. Drink water instead because it flushes toxins, including sodium, out of the body. Limit your salt intake. According to the American Heart Association, you should consume no more than 1,500 mg of sodium, daily. Avoid gas-forming vegetables, such as legumes, broccoli, cabbage, onions and Brussels sprouts.

• 2

  Eat frequently to avoid triggering your body's starvation mode, where it holds onto fat. Eat five to six nutritious meals per day. Consume fiber-rich foods, such as oatmeal and leafy greens, lean protein and healthy fats. Eliminate sugar, fried foods and processed foods. Control ingredients used in meals by cooking your own meals.

• 3

  Burn fat around your core with cardiovascular exercise, such as swimming, running, walking or biking. Work out at a moderate intensity, which is approximately 60 to 70 percent of your maximum heart rate. Train three days of the week and build up to 45 minutes per day.

• 4

  Tone your entire body by lifting weights three days of the week. By building muscle tissue, you jump-start your metabolism into overdrive so it keeps burning fat even when you are at rest.

• 5

  Tighten the abdominal muscles that are hiding underneath your stomach fat. Once stomach fat starts melting away, your toned tummy will show. Combine a variety of stomach exercises, such as crunches, planks, leg lifts, side bends and bicycle crunches. Add exercises on a stability ball for a greater challenge and deeper range of motion. Train the abdominals three non-consecutive days of the week for at least 15 minutes per day. Give yourself one rest day after each abdominal workout. Focus on your form instead of quantity.

• 6

  Remove excess stress from your life because it increases the production of the stress hormone cortisol. According to the University of New Mexico, cortisol is responsible for fat deposits, mainly in the stomach area.

• 7

  Reserve seven to nine hours to sleep every day. Sleep allows your body to restore itself and be productive the following day. Obesity, fatigue, increased appetite, diabetes and heart disease are all linked to insufficient sleep, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.