Eat Your Way To Killer Abs: Five Foods To Fight The Flab

You can crunch, crunch, crunch on the gym floor until your abs are squealing from the effort, without ever seeing the results of your hard work.

The truth is, unless you're doing a different kind of crunching - on foods that promote fat loss - you might as well give up the sit ups.

Bums, thighs, shoulders, back, arms are all made in the gym, but abs are made in the kitchen.

As women, our bodies are prone to storing reserves of fat in the general belly region. It makes sense, if you think about it, because this is the area of our bodies that needs most cushioning and protection when we carry children.

Frustratingly, though, most of us would rather have a washboard stomach for the part of our lives where childbearing isn't really on the agenda.

And this can be hard to achieve.

The truth is, even if you exert yourself daily in the gym, doing sit ups and dead lifts and crunches and lunges, your core could be rock hard, but you still might not be able to see any of the definition, if it sits beneath a layer of flab.

Truly, the only way to successfully make a difference, is to create a nutritional plan that complements your workout routine.

Five Foods To Fight Belly Flab

Nuts

We've all heard the advice about swapping sugary snacks for nuts between meals, but a lot of us don't really know much about good nut nutrition.

Nuts are rich in magnesium, which in the long term, can improve your sleep hygiene, promoting weightloss.

They also stave off hunger.

But you need to know some simple nut rules: avoid salted and roasted nuts altogether - high sodium can increase your blood pressure and encourage water retention, which is precisely what you are NOT trying to achieve.

A maximum of 24 unsalted almonds per day would be the ideal amount!

Fish

Fish contains Omega 3s, which is an incredibly important addition to your diet.

An Omega 3s deficiency can encourage your pineal gland to alter the production of melatonin, meaning your body doesn't shut down properly during rest periods.

This can lead to a lack of energy and the production of stress chemicals in your body, which lead to fatty build up on your tum.

Your body also burns more calories digesting protein than it does carbs!

Stick to lean white fish that you've either grilled, poached or steamed. Salmon is fantastic for you, but don't overdose on it.

Cherries

This seems like an odd one, for sure.

Cherries are one of the few plant-based sources of melatonin, which aids your sleep, but it also a POWERFUL anti-oxidant, promoting weightloss.

Stick to just the one cup of cherries though, and aim for the tarter Montmorency ones, instead of anything squishy and overly sweet.

Oddly enough, the best time to eat these is in the evening, half an hour before bed.

Milk

Not just good for growing bones, milk might actually help you lose weight too.

Calcium helps to break down fat and can actually prevent it forming in the first place!

In 2010, researchers at the University of Alabama found that among a group of over 100 pre-menopausal women, fat was noticeably reduced in those who consumed higher-calcium foods.

For every 100 milligrams they consumed, they lost an extra inch of intra-abdominal fat.

Say whaaaaat!

Iced Tea

Green tea is full of anti-oxidants.

And interestingly, tea drinkers can burn up to 260 more calories per day than non-tea-drinkers, according to Swiss researchers.

During the summer months, hot drinks can be pretty unappealing, but don't be sucked in by the bottled iced teas that you'll find in most popular lunch spots. These are likely PACKED with sugars and all sorts of things that your body doesn't need.

The best practice would be to steep a green tea bag for a minute or two in hot, but not boiling water (so as not to burn the leaves), pop in some ice cubes and straw and hey presto!

Enjoy up to four cups of this a day for the best results.

Extra tip: if you've got a sweet tooth, don't be tempted to chuck in some sugar cubes, as this will destroy all the healthy benefits. Instead, why not invest in some Stevia - an all-natural, plant-based sweetener.

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