You’ve faithfully stuck to your diet for weeks. You’ve hit the gym regularly –even on the days when you really didn’t feel like it. The pounds are slipping off, and that needle on the scale keeps inching downward. You even bought new clothes. Then, one day, you wake up to find your midsection puffy and distended. Those new “skinny” jeans won’t button, so you dig your “fat pants” out of the pile you set aside for donation. Your previously cheerful mood plummets –but it shouldn’t. You haven’t regained the weight you worked so hard to lose; you’re just bloated. And you can prevent it from happening again. Just consider these simple tips and ditch your fat pants for good.
Start by adding a little more fiber to your diet, especially if you’ve noticed some “irregularity” in a certain aspect of life. A bowl of high fiber cereal is a great way to start the day. Look for one with both insoluble and soluble fiber.
If you’ve been consuming a lot of raw veggies, switch to steamed instead. Your body has to work harder to digest the raw ones, so they spend more time in your GI tract and can cause bloat. In most cases, steamed veggies contain the same amount of nutrients as they do in their raw form.
Beans and vegetables such as cabbage and Brussels sprouts are also notorious for causing gas, which likes to hang out in your GI tract and distend your abdomen so those skinny jeans won’t button. Fortunately, the enzyme found in Beano really does work. So stock up if you’re a big fan of legumes and their relatives.
Are you addicted to hot sauce, hot spices and hot peppers? Spicy foods can stimulate your stomach to release excess acid, which can cause irritation and –subsequently– bloating. Flavor your dishes with fresh herbs and give the hot stuff a rest for a while.
Give up the gum. As you chew gum, you swallow air. When you swallow air, it ends up in your stomach, causing pressure and bloating. If you’re worried about fresh breath, pop a low calorie mint or chew on a few leaves of fresh mint instead.
Unfortunately, fake sugars, such as sorbitol, xylitol and mannitol, found in most diet sodas, tend to induce bloat. Switch to water instead. Add slices of lemon, lime or even cucumber or ginger for flavor.
