Tips for a Flat Stomach

According to Virginia University, at least 60 percent of Americans are either obese or overweight. If you are one of these Americans and you want a flat stomach, then you're going to have to lose weight. Many individuals who are overweight make the mistake of getting caught up in abdominal exercises. Have you ever seen a skinny person who does not have a flat stomach? If your goal is to get a flat stomach, then your goal also needs to be weight loss.

Avoid Saturated Fat

• No more than 7 percent of total daily calories should come from saturated fat, according to the American Heart Association. Saturated fat is extremely high in calories, which is why it should be avoided when trying to lose weight. Fast food has a very high amount of saturated fat and should be avoided at all costs. For example, a double cheeseburger from Burger King has 14 g of saturated fat and a double junior cheeseburger deluxe from Wendy's has 9 g of saturated fat. Saturated fat cannot only make it difficult for you to get a flat stomach, it can also lead to coronary heart disease.

Exercise Daily

• According to the Harvard School of Public Health, creating a calorie deficit each day is the only way to lose weight. If you exercise every day, you will be able to burn a few hundred calories each day. If you can exercise and cut out a few hundred calories from your diet, then you'll be able to lose a couple of pounds each week. While you're exercising, it's extremely important for you to increase your heart rate. According to The Journal of Nutrition, exercises that are more intense result in a reduced percentage of body fat. The fastest rate of weight loss that's considered healthy is 2 lbs. per week.

  Some of the best exercises you can do to raise your heart rate include jogging, biking and swimming. If you haven't exercised in a long time, you may want to start with swimming or even walking. Swimming is a great alternative to running, because it does not put enormous amounts of stress on the body like running does. Swimming is also a great exercise for getting a flat stomach, because it gives your abdominal muscles an intense workout.

Sit Ups

• While losing weight is the most important part of getting a flat stomach, doing some sit ups will also help. Try starting with 50 sit ups when you get up in the morning and 50 sit ups before you go to bed. As you get comfortable with this routine, you can increase the number of sit ups you do each day. You could also do leg lifts where you lay on your back, straighten your legs, lift them off the ground and hold your legs there for several seconds. Leg lifts target the lower abdominal muscles.