Options to Get a Flat Stomach with the Help of Diet, Exercise and Plastic Surgery
If the tummy is a problem area for you when trying to lose weight, you are not the only one. This is especially true when you’ve already lost a few kgs, but you still feel far from a flat stomach. Find out everything about the physical exercises you should do, what the diet should contain and what are the most common myths about how to get a flat tummy. Moreover, in some cases the diet and physical exercises cannot deliver the desired results. In these cases, the only effective solution comes from plastic surgery. Procedures such as liposuction and tummy tuck– abdominoplasty can be performed to help patients achieve the desired abdominal contour.
Dr Michael Kernohan is a specialist plastic surgeon with a lot of experience performing body contouring procedures for patients in Sydney.
Take the Quiz
Physical Exercises to Get a Flat Tummy
Many people admire a flat, perfectly sculpted abdomen, but fail to see the work behind a six-pack. Regular training is mandatory to keep in shape and get a flat tummy. Below you can see which exercises can help you get a flat abdomen in the privacy of your home or at the gym.
In general, personal trainers discourage focusing solely on the abdominal area and recommend short and intense HIIT workouts, as well as dumbbell or ball exercises, to help strengthen the abdominal muscles. Here are some physical exercises to try:
1. Crunches
In its classic version, the exercise involves lying on your back on the mat, and with the help of your hands on the back of your neck, you use your abdominal muscles to raise your trunk about 15 cm from the ground. The position is maintained for three breaths, an inhalation and an exhalation. Modified versions of this exercise involve using weights.
2. Mountain Climber
Mountain Climber is a complex HIIT type exercise, which helps you lose weight and contributes to defining the abdominal muscles. Sit on the mat in the plank position, with your palms pressed to the floor and directly under your shoulders, with your legs outstretched. Gently and alternately bring the legs closer to the chest. Return to the initial position and repeat the exercise faster and faster, for 1-3 minutes.
3. Plank
The plank aims to strengthen the core muscles. To perform the exercise correctly, you must lie facing the floor, resting on your forearms, elbows and the tips of your toes. The position must be maintained between 30 seconds and one minute. If you have never done the exercise before, you can start with five seconds, then gradually increase the duration. As you get used to it, you can also try lying on your side, to work the oblique muscles of the abdomen.
3 Myths You Should Forget If You Want to Get a Flat Tummy
For every useful tip about shaping the abdomen there is at least one myth. If you want to get a flat stomach, it’s good to know what information you can rely on and what will never work. Here are the most popular myths about what you can do to get a sculpted stomach:
- Hundreds of sit-ups every day will get you the six pack
Just because you do a lot of sit-ups every day does not mean that the layer of fat will magically disappear. It’s good to exercise, but it’s not just the quantity that matters, but also the quality. Fortunately, not only the sit-ups work the abdominal muscles, but also squats, pull-ups, push-ups or the famous plank we just mentioned. Intense HIIT exercises, practiced 3-4 times a week, are preferable to hundreds of sit-ups every day
- You can eat anything as long as you exercise
There is a saying – “Abs are made in the kitchen” and it’s true! If the abdominal muscles are covered by a layer of fat, there are very few chances of muscle definition. Even if you resort to ways to speed up the metabolism, this does not replace a healthy and balanced diet. Moreover, some foods can contribute to muscle definition and even help you lose weight more easily
- Cardio is the way to go if you want abs
Cardio is great, but much more useful are interval exercises and sprints, which help speed up the metabolism. Weight training is added to these to help define the abdominal muscles.
Diet for a Flat Stomach
Everyone knows how hard it is to get rid of the layer of fat on the abdomen. A strict diet or a diet to lose weight very quickly are not necessarily the best solutions you can resort to when you want to get rid of extra kilograms. Also, there are some things that can cause a bulging belly, so make sure you avoid them. Here are some tips for a diet for a flat tummy:
Avoid salty foods and too much salt
By giving up or reducing the amount of salt you consume, you reduce the chances of being bloated. According to nutrition experts, if you reduce the daily amount of salt consumed by just 3 grams, this will determine the body to release the water it retains to help dissolve excess salt.
Portion control is important
The best way to have a flat stomach is to control the amount of food you consume, and not to miss whole foods and monounsaturated fats from the menu. In other words, make sure you don’t overeat and you choose healthy food rich in nutrients for each meal.
Drink green tea
Some studies have shown a close connection between the consumption of green tea and effective weight loss. The theory is that Green tea stimulates the release of fats from the cells, provides you with extra energy and intensifies the fat burning process. The evidence for this is not convincing.
Plastic Surgery Procedures to Contour the Abdominal Area
Diet and physical exercises can help sculpt the body and even help you get rid of some belly fat. However, in some cases, plastic surgery might be recommended.
Plastic surgery procedures such as liposuction and tummy tuck – abdominoplasty are popular options for people wanting to recontour the abdominal area. These surgical procedures are not alternatives for a healthy diet or a proper exercise routine or weight loss methods. The surgery can only be helpful for patients who are suitable candidates.
Liposuction to Contour the Abdominal Area
Abdominal liposuction is probably the most commonly performed type of lipo. And for a very good reason. Liposuction allows the removal of fat cells from a certain area of the body. Unlike diet or exercises that affect the whole body, liposuction addresses just an area – in this case the tummy (and often the flanks).
Liposuction can be used to get rid of stubborn fat cells on the abdominal wall. With the help of liposuction, your plastic surgeon can sculpt the abdominal area and make the tummy flatter and the waist slimmer.
To be eligible to get a lipo, you should be in good health condition and have realistic expectations from the surgery. It is essential to have good skin elasticity to get optimal results after liposuction. Saggy skin can alter the results of the procedure and create the need for an additional skin excess removal surgery.
Tummy Tuck– Abdominoplasty for a Flat Tummy
Abdominoplasty is a major surgical intervention aimed at removing excess skin and fat from the lower abdomen. At the same time, the abdominal muscles can be reconstructed to the midline. Your plastic surgeon can also correct abdominal wall problems such as hernias or diastasis recti during an abdominoplasty.
In some cases, a patient with a normal weight can have a belly bulge that won’t go away. This can be caused by diastasis recti or separated abdominal muscles. This condition can occur after pregnancy and it can resolve on its own in some cases. Torn or separated abdominal muscles can be what is stopping you from having a firm and flat tummy. The condition can be corrected during a tummy tuck– abdominoplasty.
When an abdominoplasty is performed, Dr Kernohan makes an incision on the lower part of the abdomen. The skin and fat tissues are detached from the muscles to allow him to strengthen the muscles with sutures. Excess fat and skin tissue are eliminated and the incision is sutured.
For some patients, Dr Kernohan might recommend combining liposuction with abdominoplasty to get superior results.
Click to Download Dr Michael Kernohan’s Abdominoplasty Surgery Guide
FAQs about How to Get a Flat Tummy
Can I get a flat stomach without plastic surgery?
- Depending on your particular characteristics such as age, weight and condition of the abdominal area, diet and exercises can be enough to recontour the abdominal area. However, most patients notice that they fail to get the desired results with just diet and exercises, and this is when they resort to plastic surgery. Procedures such as liposuction or tummy tuck– abdominoplasty are performed to eliminate excess skin and fat from the tummy.
Can I get a flat tummy in a month?
- It takes time and dedication to improve the aspect of the body. The bulging belly won’t disappear in a matter of weeks, not unless you are committed to a daily or weekly routine of physical exercises, you keep a healthy diet or you resort to plastic surgery. Even the results of plastic surgery can take a while to be fully visible, so be patient and consistent in your efforts to get optimal results.
Is liposuction enough to get a flat tummy?
- Liposuction deals with subcutaneous fat. This is the fat that is under the skin, in the abdominal area. If you don’t have saggy skin or visceral fat, liposuction might be the optimal solution to get a flat tummy. However, if you have lost weight and are dealing with skin folds on the tummy, the recommended procedure might be a tummy tuck– abdominoplasty.
When will I see the results after an abdominoplasty?
- Just like it is the case with any other surgical intervention, it can take weeks or even months to see the final results of the procedure. When a tummy tuck– abdominoplasty is performed, the patient will experience swelling and bruising after the intervention. This means that the tummy might not look completely flat in the following weeks. However, after three months, the final results should become visible and you can enjoy your flat and firm tummy.
Further Reading about Tummy Contouring Procedures
- Read Dr Kernohan’s Tummy Tuck – Abdominoplasty Surgery Page
- Read Dr Kernohan’s Liposuction Surgery Page
- Read Dr Kernohan’s What is the Ideal Weight for Tummy Tuck– Abdominoplasty blog
- Read Dr Kernohan’s Blog about Combining Abdominoplasty with Hernia Repair Surgery
