10 Completely New Ways to Fight Belly Fat

I'm a fan of Self Magazine on Facebook and came across this post in their news feed.  It's from Yahoo Health.  Looks like I need to eat some bananas today!

Belly fat can be annoyingly stubborn: Even when it seems as if you’re doing all the right things—regular cardio workouts, core strength training sessions, cutting back on sweets and fatty foods—that frustrating muffin top can just stick around, like it’s hanging on for dear life. Ugh! Ready for a new approach that really works? Try a multipronged one with these tummy-toning tricks. They’re backed by science and experts, but the best proof they work will be your noticeably flatter, sexier abs!
AVOID:
Stressing out Feeling frazzled and frantic?
Increased levels of the stress hormone cortisol, a result of chronic worry, lead to excess stomach fat, research shows. To de-stress, help lower cortisol levels and weigh less, learn to breathe deeply like they teach in yoga (my new favorite restorative workout). Slowly inhale through your nose, counting to four. Then exhale from your mouth for a count of eight. Repeat until refreshed.

That white-bread basket!
Those fluffy white rolls? They’re your flat-ab foe! When facing a bread basket, check its contents before digging in. If you see whole grain or dark, fiber-filled bread, enjoy a roll or slice—in fact, feel free to enjoy 3 ounces a day. (One slice of whole-wheat bread or 1/2 cup of cooked brown rice are each 1 ounce.) Dieters who ate 3 oz of whole grains a day lost more stomach fat than those who merely cut calories and ate refined grains, a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reveals.

Late-night munching
Your body may not burn nighttime nibbles as efficiently as it does those you eat during the day, a study of people on high-fat diets in the journal Obesity finds. Declare “last call” two hours before bed. “If you’re really hungry, have a healthy 150-calorie snack,” says SELF contributing expert Janis Jibrin, R.D., such as 1 1/2 cups cooked edamame in the shell, a medium orange and 1 part-skim string cheese or 1 small banana spread with 2 tsp peanut butter. If not, sip tea, cut the lights and bid farewell to the fridge until morning. (Final note: If you do give in to a late-night hankering for ice cream, cookies or other sugary treats you were trying to avoid, let the guilt go: Stress such as remorse can actually contribute to the kind of belly fat you’re trying to erase!)

ENJOY:
Avocados
Just half of one avocado contains 10 g of healthy monounsaturated fats, which stop the blood sugar spikes that tell your body to store fat around your midsection. Order guacamole instead of cheese-based dip, or mix some avocado chunks with a little lemon juice and use it a sandwich spread in place of mayo.

Oranges
Supermarket shocker: Vitamin C in the citrus fruit can help you zap up to 30 percent more fat during exercise, research from Arizona State University at Mesa suggests. Other great sources of C include red peppers, kiwi, strawberries and papaya.

Green tea
Three cups daily may rev your metabolism and burn an extra 30 calories, a study in published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise shows. (Hey, it adds up over time!) The compound ECGC in the tea makes it easier to burn fat.

Bananas
The fruit packs 422 mg of potassium, a mineral that can help limit the amount of belly-swelling sodium in your body. A few other potassium-packing bloat busters: sweet potatoes, lowfat yogurt and dried apricots.

AND TRY THESE GADGETS:
BOSU
($150; BOSU.com)
Standing on this flat-bottomed dome during strength exercises, like lunges or biceps curls, creates instability, forcing you to recruit more muscles in your middle to stay steady. For a less pricey version, try the Xerdisc, a wobbly inflatable disk that makes crunches and squats more difficult (read: effective); it’s $35 at Spri.com.

Gaiam BalanceBall Chair
($80; Amazon.com)
Lose the La-Z-Boy. Instead, take a seat on the Gaiam BalanceBall chair. Enlist your abs or you’ll topple over while watching the tube or eating dinner. Talk about mindless, but mandatory, middle management.

Core Roller
($15; Power-Systems.com)
This tone-up toy can make a “wheel” difference. Grip the handles and kneel, placing the roller on the floor in front of you. Contract your abs and roll out into a modified push-up position. Hold for five counts, then roll back to kneeling. Repeat up to 10 times.
To discover more flat-belly foods and suprisingly simple stomach slimmers, click on Self.com.
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