RIO Fitness Chicago® Exercise & Nutrition Blog

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Summer 2011 is here! With that comes swimsuits, Summer dresses, and more revealing clothing that if you're feeling/looking bloated, can make you feel really self conscious. Here's FIVE ways to avoid the bloat & keep you confident while having fun in the sun!

1) Sodium retains water in the body, making you look & feel bloated. To combat that limit your sodium intake to 1200mg/day. Start reading the nutrition facts on what you eat/drink; because you'll be surprised how quickly 1200 adds up. Also, start eating high potassium foods (dried apricots, spinach, beans, prunes, carrots) which help lower sodium levels in the body. For a list of more high potassium foods:

http://www.vaughns-1-pagers.com/food/potassium-foods.htm

2) Avoid soda/diet soda. The carbon dioxide that supplies soda's fizz will continue to burble and expand in your stomach, priming you for serious bloat. That's the short-term effect. The long-term is even worse: The artificial sweeteners in diet sodas are not properly metabolized by the body, which means they're stored as fat.

3) Broccoli, like cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and cabbage, are very good for you, just not before the beach. Cruciferous vegetables like these contain a sugar called raffinose—the same sugar that gives beans their heavy-winded reputation. In your gut, raffinose is fermented by gas-producing bacteria, which can make you feel bloated and gassy.

4) Beware of "healthy" Summer drinks. For example, some smoothies pack as much sugar as 91 Nilla Wafers and more fat than a McDonald's Big Mac. If you drink something like this with any regularity, you might unknowingly be sabotaging your beach body all Summer long.

5) Skip the gum. All that chewing brings more air & gas into your stomach, making it expand and giving you balloon belly.