Days 1-3: The Liver Laundromat
The best way to tackle your belly is to begin by cleaning up your liver. The liver is the laundromat of the body, processing all the excess food, chemicals and medications that we ingest. A sluggish liver affects your metabolism and slows down your digestion, resulting in more belly weight. In fact, many women struggle with fatty liver, a condition where fat accumulates on the liver, adding to trouble losing weight. Diets and exercise will only help weight loss if the liver is functioning efficiently.
Jumpstart your spring by beginning with a liver cleanse. While there are many complex liver cleanses on the market, simply going green for a day, and incorporating liver-friendly foods, will help. Think green smoothies, green juices and vegetables, all day long. If you want an extra boost. add a handful of dandelion greens or parsley to the mix, as they are considered liver cleansers as well.
Days 4-6: Balance Your Bacteria
The role of gut bacteria and abdominal weight has become a focused area of research, with the imbalance of our bacteria thought to be the root of obesity and belly weight. Processed foods, eating the same foods daily and environmental factors—including stress, medications and toxins—disrupt your gut bacteria. This will affect signaling of insulin, the hormone when out of balance, results in an expanding belly. Altered gut bacteria also affect your mood and your appetite, causing those pesky sugar and carbohydrates cravings.
Rebuilding your gut bacteria takes work, but is not impossible. Continue your greens but lets add a step. Rotate and vary your foods. Lose all processed and boxed foods for the next few days. Add in probiotic rich foods, including one cup of bone broth soup daily, a few ounces of homemade kefir (fermented dairy drink) or homemade kombucha. Your skin and your belly will thank you.
Day 7: Flush Out the Toxins
To really continue to flatten your belly this spring, continue the hard work of the last few days, but flushing out toxins now from your colon and large intestine is the next goal. Add a few cups of ginger tea daily to improve the digestive process and at least a 100 ounces of water. Adding a few electrolytes to your water can also improve the detoxification process.
At the end of seven days, you should notice a flatter belly, just in time for the season. If you are ready to take this even further and have not lost motivation, add in the following daily tips.
Digestive Enzymes
At some point, probably by Day 8, you will be reintroducing foods that you love to eat. Don’t undo all your hard work by adding in a digestive enzyme to continue improving the digestive process.
The best digestive enzyme has amylase and lipase, enzymes that break up starch and fat, helping your metabolism.
Probiotics
At some point the probiotic rich foods may be hard to remember to take. Adding in a probiotic is helpful, but the key is to make sure it contains multiple strains of bacteria and at least 20 CFU or colony forming units.
Start by researching these 9 probiotics recommended by a detox expert, and don’t forget to rotate your probiotics every six weeks to keep your gut challenged.
Betaine HCL
Finally, stress and poor eating can actually cause a loss in acid, HCL, which helps us digest our food. Consider adding in betaine HCL prior to meals to support digestion and flatten your belly.
Start these Spring Flat Belly Rules and welcome in your best season yet. Make those belly blues a distant memory.
