If you are looking to flatten your belly and burn more belly fat, you are probably looking at a combination of nutrition and fitness. This is the cornerstone of any ‘diet’ or weight loss routine, regardless of where in your body you have the extra fat that you want to get rid of.
Some of the common recommendations for getting rid of belly fat include:
- Watching your portion sizes
- Eating less refined carbs, and more complex carbs
- Reducing your sugar intake
- Avoiding sugar-laden beverages like soft drinks and sports drinks
- Exercising on a regular basis
Among the different foods that can help you burn more belly fat, many of them are vegetables. A lot of these vegetables are not starchy, which means they also happen to be low-carb, and are going to help even more with your flat belly goal. Here are some of the top vegetables you can choose if you want a flatter belly through nutrition.
1. Mushrooms
The first vegetable on the list also happens to be a super low-carb vegetable, so most diets will allow you to consume it. Mushrooms are excellent for you and are even considered a superfood since they have so many vitamins and minerals.
Mushrooms are low in fat and calories compared to meat and other food items you would have otherwise enjoyed. For about a half cup of sliced mushrooms, there is no fat and only 21 calories.
The great thing about mushrooms is that they are easy to add to any meal (or snack), so it is easy to eat more of them and burn that belly fat. If you want to have a healthier meal, you could replace your hamburger patty with a portabella mushroom, giving you some fat-burning nutrients, while also reducing the overall fat and calories from your burger at the same time.
White mushrooms, which are the smaller baby mushrooms, can be cooked whole or you can slice them and add them to your eggs, sandwich, salads, and many other dishes. As you can see, mushrooms are not only good for you but there are tons of ways to add them to your family favorites!
2. Bell Peppers
Next up on the list of flat-belly vegetables is your bell peppers. Bell peppers are an excellent source of vitamin C, which is needed in order to provide your body with energy for burning fat.
For this reason, you really want to consume more yellow bell peppers, as these have the highest amount of vitamin C, and also have carnitine, which is going to help your muscles to use your fat for energy. This gives your metabolism a nice boost and helps to flatten your tummy.
Like mushrooms, it is easy to add bell peppers of different colors to your meals. You can add some color and crunch to your salads, or even get the yellow and orange mini bell peppers and eat them raw dipped in ranch or hummus. Bell peppers can be cut up into small pieces and added to any soup or chili, where you can ‘hide’ the veggies into something your family enjoys.
Here are some healthy dish ideas for using bell peppers:
Make a low-carb and healthier batch of bell pepper nachos by using bell peppers instead of tortilla chips.
Chop up different colored bell peppers and add them to some low-fat chili.
Add ground turkey, quinoa, seasonings, and chopped veggies to the inside of a bell pepper and roast it for healthier stuffed peppers.
3. Cucumbers
Cucumbers are a good vegetable for just about everyone, but especially if you are trying to lose weight and flatten your belly. Cucumbers are a wonderful source of nutrients, including vitamin K, B1, magnesium, vitamin C, and potassium.
With all of these nutrients, ½ cup of sliced cucumber is only 8 calories and less than 1 gram of fat. Because of the low calories and fat, you can fill up on cucumbers, but still, help to lose weight in your midsection.
If you are on a low-carb diet, you can enjoy cucumbers with cream cheese or make a creamy cucumber salad with sour cream and dill. You can also add cucumbers to any garden salad for a little crunch, or dip them in anything from ranch to hummus. Cucumbers can also add a light crunch to tuna salad and chicken if you choose to eat them that way.
4. Chili Peppers
Not only are regular bell peppers great for burning that belly fat, but so are the hotter types, like chili peppers. The heat from chili peppers comes from the capsaicin that is in them, which is going to boost your metabolism and helps you burn more calories. This is also what is going to help you burn more fat in your midsection if this is where you carry a lot of your excess weight.
Plus, chili peppers are a superfood and excellent for adding more flavor to dishes without using seasonings like salt that contain too much sodium.
Chili peppers do give your food a bit of a kick, so add them to your favorite dishes gradually. Start with just ¼ of a chili pepper per dish, then gradually increase it when you find out how much heat that gives it.
Experiment by adding to different types of foods like enchiladas, taco meat, and soups or chilis.
5. Onions
One of the benefits that you will notice with all of these flat-belly vegetables is that many of them are probably already in the dishes you cook with. If they aren’t, then now you have an even bigger reason to start introducing them into the rotation. Onions are another vegetable that you can easily add to your dishes and are going to help with that belly fat.
However, in this case, they don’t actually burn the belly fat, but because they are so low in fat and calories, are easy to cook with and do not add anything extra to your meals that you shouldn’t be eating.
Onions are used primarily to flavor dishes, again without having to use a lot of salt and various other seasonings or herbs. Onions are inexpensive and when you purchase a big onion from the store, it goes a long way. You can add flavor to your guacamole or other dips, make soup or stew with chunks of onion, or add it to your low-carb tomato sauce for added flavor.
6. Broccoli
Broccoli is the ultimate healthy vegetable, being allowed in most dietary plans, and is of course low in fat and calories. Broccoli is in the green group of veggies for burning belly fat, which includes lots of nutrients like vitamins A and C. Broccoli also contains some fiber, so if you want to increase your fiber to help burn more fat, this is a great option!
For most people, broccoli is easy to digest and can help increase the speed of your metabolism. You can make a lot of your favorite dishes and just add broccoli to it, like your morning egg scramble, or when you are having a lighter version of macaroni and cheese for lunch.
It still tastes just like you and your family are used to, but you’re adding a healthy component.
7. Artichokes
If one of your favorite ‘indulgent’ treats is to have artichokes dipped in butter or mayonnaise, you’re in luck! Artichokes are ideal for burning more fat in your midsection thanks to the good bacteria they have.
Artichokes are known as prebiotics, which means they are helping to feed those probiotics in your belly, allowing them to do their job and boost your metabolism while helping with your waistline.