It sure isn’t easy to stick to your healthy eating habits during the holiday season and let’s face it: After a year like these past ones, we all deserve a little indulgence. But now is also the perfect time to examine your goals and prioritize self-care. Taking charge of your daily rituals is inspiring and empowering! You can balance all of the festivities while banishing the dreaded holiday bloat—all without the overwhelm of diets, schedules or juice cleanses. These seven simple lifestyle changes for a flatter stomach will help you wake up feeling lighter, brighter and rejuvenated. Cheers!
1. Move up your dinnertime
If you are feeling a little heavy or bloated, it’s important to give your body time to rest, digest, and heal. I love to do this through a little fast, which isn’t as scary as it sounds—just make sure to have dinner no later than 7pm to give your body a 14-hour window before you consume more food. When I give my body time to fully process my food and allow my system time to rest, I wake up with a flatter stomach and all-around lighter feeling.
2. Roll it out
Throw a few twisting and deep inverted moves into your evening rolling, stretch or yoga sesh and you’ll wake up feeling flatter and more toned. Twisting, folding moves on the roller can work wonders for constipation, bloating, gas, and bowel efficiency. You can also give yourself a relieving intestinal massage by deep breathing and applying gentle pressure to the tummy. For the 6 magical moves to flatten your stomach on the roller, check out How to Use Foam Rolling to Banish Bloat and Improve Digestion and let’s get rolling!
3. Spice up Your tea
I love having a nice, hot cup of tea before bed to warm up, soothe my body, and start feeling sleepy. If you are feeling bloated and want to wake up with a flatter stomach, add some ginger to your nighttime tea! Ginger is not only delicious, but it can relax the stomach, calm digestive spasms, and banish your bloating, nausea, gas, and indigestion. I just chop and peel a few slices of fresh ginger, then simmer them in boiling water to make a delicious, soothing cup before bed.
If you are feeling bloated, constipated, or gassy, fennel is fabulous for relaxing the colon, releasing excess water weight, and stimulating the secretion of digestive enzymes that healthily lower our appetite. Try snacking on fennel seeds or adding a few seeds to your tea before bed; It will taste like a soothing, nighttime licorice treat. Yum!
4. Hop on the Rebounder
You know I love a good bounce session on the rebounder—it’s my favorite way to get my heart pumping, break a sweat, and bounce the toxins right out of my body. Rebounding isn’t just cardio, though, it actually enhances your digestion and elimination. So, if you’re feeling bloated or heavy, try a little evening bounce on your rebounder, skip some rope or dance it out to your favorite music!
5. Sip broth for dinner
If I am trying to reset my body after a weekend of splurges, I love to have a cup of hot broth for dinner. Especially during the cold months, it warms you up, soothes your stomach, and really helps in the fatter tummy department. Check out my favorite Healing and Soul Soothing Bone Broth recipe, or if you are vegetarian or vegan, try this delicious Vegan Magical Mineral Broth recipe.
6. Have yogurt for lunch (or take probiotics)
It’s so important to make sure you get your “good” gut bacteria because it can actually alleviate digestive problems and even boost your immunity. Sometimes digestive issue can cause the worst bloat, and make us feel heavier than we actually are. My favorite way to get probiotics is through plain whole milk Lifeway kefir but any kefir, yogurt, or cultured foods incorporated into your daily diet provides a delicious dose of good bacteria! Alternatively, you can take probiotics through supplements. I like to take mine in the morning with lemon water.
7. Hydrate
I love a glass of warm or room temperature water with freshly squeezed lemon juice, it’s SO refreshing and hydrating. Lemon juice doesn’t just spice up your water, it actually works wonders for your digestion. Lemon water alkalizes the body, which flushes out toxins, cleanses your liver, improves your digestion, and boosts your immune system, thanks to the vitamin C. Enjoy a warm cup of lemon water before bed, and wake up feeling healthier and lighter than ever.