Foods that will keep your tummy trim

The most common question most fitness trainers/ dieticians get asked apart from "How soon can I lose weight?" is usually "How do I make my abs flatter/get rid of the paunch?". You can work out for endless hours at the gym and do a thousand crunches but unless you get your diet pattern right, you can bid your dreams of a washboard stomach goodbye.

So to help you get those abs in shape, here are some simple guidelines you need to follow!

Most people assume that they are controlling their calories by skipping meals on and off, especially if they skip breakfast.

When we wake up in the morning our body is still using up some of the fuel from the previous night's dinner. Inspite of the 8-10 hour break, most of us are not too hungry on waking up and can survive without a meal for a few more hours. However, this is not a wise way to start the day. Skipping breakfast slows down your metabolism and harms your digestive system (since the gap is too long it can cause acidity and indigestion).

If you have not eaten breakfast, by lunch time your sugar levels will have really dropped as a result of which

a) you will choose high-calorie foods to bring the blood sugar up again

b) you will gobble your food quickly so you do not end up chewing it properly

c) large volumes of food when wolfed down will get digested only after a while and the excess calories from any food source are stored as fat and usually on the belly!

Diet Tip: Just eating fruits for breakfast is not a great idea. An ideal breakfast is a cereal and milk combination like oatmeal porridge or an egg white omelet with a slice of bread or even a simple snack like poha accompanied by cold coffee.

Research has proved that if you increase your daily vegetable and fruit intake to 19 servings it can show a dramatic difference in your waistline. However, an average individual only eats about 4-5 servings of vegetables a day and most people end up eating just one fruit a day (sometimes none at all!).

A higher vegetable and fruit intake means more fibre in your eating plan, more nutrients and less hunger pangs -- which  means you reach out for those little "treats" less, the effect of which will eventually show on your abs.

Diet Tip: To increase your fruit and vegetable servings make soups a part of your daily diet. Add vegetables to chapattis (ie palak rotis) or poha or even to pulao. Make fruit smoothies or simply snack on fruits when you're hungry and see the change in your energy levels, complexion and, of course, your waistline!

If you want to reduce the fat on your belly, the most obvious conclusion that people come to is to go off fat completely. However, that couldn't be further from the truth.

Some fat in your diet is a must! If you totally go off fat, the satiety value of your food goes down as a result of which you eat more servings. Remember, excess calories in any form are stored as fat in the body.

Diet Tip: If you want to lose fat, 20-25 grams of fat per day (equals 4-5 tsp) is essential for any individual.