So youâre eating healthy and working out and doing everything youâre supposed to but yo belly is BLOATED AF and youâre feeling like you havenât made any progress.
Unfortunately, one of the glorious side effects of eating healthy is a big old belly full of air. But fear not, youâre not doomed to looking preggo forevo, there are a few things you can do to ease your digestive system and shrink the size of your stomach in very little time. These are some things I find super helpful:
1. Probiotics. Probiotics work wonders on the digestive system. They also help your body absorb nutrients like calcium from your food. I like to eat a bit of something fermented everyday just to keep bloating and gas at bay (probiotic supplements are awesome too!)
2. Water. Water is the answer to everything honestly. If youâre dehydrated, your body will retain water making your belly appear a bit bigger than it is. Sip on water all day long to prevent dehydration and keep yourself looking long and lean (bonus points if you add lemon or herbs!!)
3. Herbal tea. Herbal tea can act as a diuretic, helping you lose some belly bloat by peeing like A LOT (this is especially true of dandelion tea). Other teas like ginger or chai tea can soothe your tummy by aiding in digestion, thus shrinking the size of your food baby!!
4. Eat slower. When you chew your food, your saliva releases enzymes. The slower you eat, the more you chew, the more enzymes are released. This helps your body break down food, making it easier for your body to process it (this is especially important for harder to digest high fiber foods like cruciferous veggies and beans and legumes).
5. Take a digestive enzyme. If you canât be bothered with eating slower lol, you can take a digestive enzyme in supplement form. This can also be really helpful if youâve got a high protein diet, as protein is especially hard for the body to break down. You can also eat food like pineapple which have the naturally occurring enzyme bromelain in it.
6. Avoid culprits like cruciferous veggies. As I alluded to earlier, some fruits and veggies are just harder than others to process. If youâre trying to debloat for an event or whatever, stay away from cruciferous veggies for a couple days. This includes kale, brussel sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage.
7. Cook your veggies. If you donât want to avoid raw vegetables completely, cooking them helps to break down those tough cell walls, making digestion much easier. If Iâm debloating for something specific, Iâll stay away from raw veggies for a couple days. It really makes a huge difference for me.
8. Deep breathing. I always do some deep breathing exercises after I eat too much. It always calms down my stomach and makes it feel less full, thus decreasing bloating (or at least the appearance of bloating in my mind).
9. Spinal twists and inversions. I love to do some light yoga when Iâm feeling bloated. A simple flow with downward dogs and some supine spinal twists really works wonders on a bloated belly. Plus it feels so good, like a lovely little massage, and it reminds you to be kind to yourself, bloated belly and all.
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