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5 Ways to Banish Postholiday Bloating

Self — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 04:04:38 PST

We are pumped to share one of our favorite stories from Self here on FitSugar!

Feeling sluggish after the busy holiday season? You're not alone. According to a recent study in The New England Journal of Medicine, the average American gains a pound between November and January.

But rather than wallow in the aftermath of too many cocktails and Christmas cookies, we turned to fitness expert Angela Parker, who offered these easy tips to banish postholiday bloating fast:

Sweat your ass off! Give yourself a daily 60-minute sweat session three days in a row. No walking - go running or spinning.
If you want to shrink fast, stick to egg whites, fish, chicken, and veggies.

Read on for more ways to banish postholiday bloating.

Quick Fixes For When You Have Overindulged

Heather Dale — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 10:20:40 PST

While we'd all love to be more conscious of portion sizes to help reduce holiday weight gain, all it takes is a cheese ball here, and a pigs in a blanket there, and those innocent bite-sized holiday treats can produce an explosion of heartburn and bloating in your belly. If you went a little overboard at the hors d'oeuvres table (or the main course), and are now feeling the negative side effects, here are some quick remedies to help ease the pain.

Walk it off: No need for a brisk, speed-walking session, but around 20 minutes after your meal, a leisurely walk can assist in dispelling gas from your abdomen. What walking does is help to relieve overall intestinal pressure and therefore will reduce that uncomfortable bloating feeling. Walking also helps to get the blood flowing, which aids in the overall digestion process. Fresh air in itself can make you feel better too!

Keep reading for more tips.

4 Ways to Fight PMS

Leta Shy — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 02:01:26 PDT

Most women experience some form of PMS every month, ranging from a slight irritability to full-blown moodiness. And while we can't prevent all symptoms from occurring, there are some important lifestyle changes we can make to make the most of that time of the month. Here are four ways to combat PMS.

Change your diet: Many times, experiencing harsh PMS symptoms can be attributed to what you've been eating. Eating salty foods, for example, can cause bloating from fluid retention, which can lead to sore breasts. It's not just about limiting your diet, however. Adding certain foods can help reduce PMS symptoms. Check out our list of five foods that fight PMS here.

Don't stop exercising: Feeling fatigued, moody, bloated, and sore? Chances are your daily gym trip is the last thing on your mind. But instead of dragging yourself from bed to work to couch, try to stick to your normal routine, just make your workouts lighter in intensity. Regular exercise can help fight PMS fatigue, and if you stick to it now, you'll be more apt to continue exercising when your period starts - which can help relieve menstrual cramp pain. Here are low-impact exercises perfect for workouts during that time of the month.

Find two more proven ways to fight those dreaded PMS symptoms after the break.

Dietitians Dish: Bloating Foods

Guest Writer — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 11:00:49 PDT

The following post was written by the registered dietitians of C & J Nutrition, Stephanie Clarke and Willow Jarosh. We turned to them for their expert advice to answer a FitSugar reader's question.

Hi,
I am dealing with some serious bloating issues and it isn't pretty - especially since it's Summer and I plan to hang out in a bikini as much as possible. Can you tell me what foods cause bloating that I should be avoiding? Also, are there any foods out there that alleviate bloating? Thanks!
- Puffy Tummy

When dealing with bloating you need to approach the problems from a couple of different angles to find the source of the problems and figure out what is causing the bloating. A common cause we see with our clients is eating too much, too fast. The remedy for this is to slow down and be more conscious both before and during eating. Don't let yourself get famished between meals - because then you'll want to eat a ton of the first thing you see, quickly. Have a snack in between meals so that you're hungry but still able to make wise portion decisions and slow down at meals. In other words, try eating smaller amounts more often.

If your bloating is PMS-related, skip sodas/carbonated water/etc., as the same bubbles that give carbonated drinks their fizz can enter our digestive tract and cause bloating. Also go easy on salty foods/snacks - too much salt causes our bodies to hold onto water, leading to that puffy feeling of fluid retention. Finally, don't skimp on protein and your meals and snacks. Protein can actually help pull excess water out of your body (especially handy during water-retention prone PMS time).

Keep reading for a few more tips and foods to avoid.

How to Prevent Bridal Bloat

Michele Foley — Tue, 03 May 2011 14:49:49 PDT

The last thing anyone wants to deal with on the day of a big event - like your wedding! - is being uncomfortably bloated. While the best way to a flat belly is through cardio and ab work, feeling bloated is a whole other beast. Here are some tips to banish the bloat on your big day.

Eat the right kinds of foods. Certain foods like whole grains and pineapple actually help ease bloating because they keep the digestive system on track. It's also important to stay hydrated. When dehydrated, your body retains fluids, which is a surefire way to get a little belly bump.
Stay away from certain foods. While pineapple might banish that balloon belly, there are a host of foods that do just the opposite. Before the big day, try to limit your intake of foods that cause bloating. These are foods that cause the body to feel too full and/or gassy like beans, broccoli, pears, and cabbage. Salty and fatty foods are also big culprits, and so are carbonated beverages.
Eat slowly and chew your food. Often the reason we feel bloated is that we're swallowing air while we eat. A surefire sign that you're eating too fast is if you get the hiccups. Slow down and take time to really chew your food. You'll feel fuller sooner, swallow less air, and make things easier on your digestive system.

If you've done all of the above but are still feeling out of sorts, you can always take a cue from Eric Damon - the costume designer for Gossip Girl. Whenever the girls on set are feeling bloated, he puts them in Spanx. Keep in mind that when your wedding day arrives - Spanx or no Spanx - you'll be the most beautiful woman in the room.

Quick Tips: 5 Belly-Shrinking, De-Bloating Foods

Self — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 04:00:15 PST

We are pumped to share one of our fave stories from Self here on FitSugar!

We're not going to lie: transforming your body from head to toe isn't always the fastest process, because it takes time to burn fat and build muscle. However, there is an exception: With the right diet and workout, you can see a difference in your belly (and maybe even reveal an ab or two!) in just a couple of days. The secret? Beat bloat.

Generally, the best way to avoid bloat is to stay away from soda, alcohol and greasy, salty, fatty meals, which slow the stomach and the intestines from emptying, according to Timothy S. Harlan (a.k.a. Dr. Gourmet), M.D., medical director of Tulane University's School of Medicine.

Here are 5 of our favorite bloat-busting foods, and a few moves to add to your belly-shrinking workout routine.

Papaya: There's some research that says the enzyme in papaya may aid digestion. Try mixing diced papaya into plain organic yogurt for breakfast.
Oatmeal: According to Harlan, in a recent meta-analysis of a number of studies related to digestion, researchers found that oat bran can be particularly beneficial. Harlan recommends having oatmeal for breakfast. Warning: Avoid McDonald's new oatmeal, which has more sugar than a Snickers bar, according to this recent New York Times article. Yikes!

More foods to decrease the bloat, so keep reading.

Banish Belly Bloat

FitSugar — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 10:26:26 PDT

We all know that the best way to a flat belly is by burning calories and fat through cardio, especially interval training. Bloating, on the other hand, is its own beast, and nothing kills a day at the beach than feeling super bloated.

Luckily, there are easy ways to reduce bloating so that you can show off that tummy you've been working so hard to get. Check out these easy ways reduce bloating for bikini season:

Stay away from salt. Too much sodium is not only bad for your heart, it will cause you to retain water and feel bloated.
Drink water. Being dehydrated is a sure way to cause you to retain water, so be sure you drink enough water to keep your body hydrated.
Limit gassy foods. Some foods (such as lentils, artichokes, wheat bran, carbonated drinks, and more) create more gases in your body than others, so you may want to limit them if you're about to suit up.

There are three more, so

The Price of Gas? Foods That Make You Pay

FitSugar — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 07:53:11 PST

I'm not sure what's worse: gas or the bloating that accompanies it. Sure, gas is a fact of life, but there are certain foods that are known to cause that uncomfortable bloat that doesn't go well with body-conscious clothing. Unfortunately, some of my favorite fruits and vegetables are gas culprits! Are any of your favorites in this group? Take the quiz!

Source

Take the Quiz

Try Pineapple For Bloating

FitSugar — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 13:00:00 PST

Dreaming of wearing a little black dress to a holiday party this season? No doubt you will want to avoid abdominal bloating, which can force an unwanted wardrobe change on the best of us. But don't worry, you can avoid the dreaded bloat with pineapple.

This tropical fruit is high in the enzyme bromelain. It helps break down protein and eases digestion, helping to banish the bloat. Skip dessert and nosh on some pineapple instead. If you have any leftovers, make a tropical fruit exfoliating mask. Your skin will glow and your tummy will be flat. Party on!

DrSugar Answers: Abdominal Bloating and Food

DrSugar — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 04:30:00 PDT

DrSugar is in the house and answering your questions.

Dear DrSugar,
I could use some health/dietary advice, if you have a minute. Lately I've been feeling incredibly bloated, and I know we all have a bloat-y day once in a while, but this is turning into a bloat-y fortnight. I'm starting to wonder what's going on. I'm a healthy 20-something, leading an active lifestyle, but obviously I'm doing something wrong, I suspect, food-wise. What foods should I avoid if you want to eliminate the "I just swallowed a balloon" feeling? Are there any foods known to cause bloating?
–Balloon Gal

To see what DrSugar has to say on this matter,

read more. Abdominal bloating is a very common symptom with a wide variety of causes, from something as simple as gas to something as serious as cancer. The list of common causes is long and includes overeating, gas, constipation, lactose intolerance, irritable bowel syndrome, pregnancy, and premenstrual stress syndrome. There are as many as 413 possible causes for bloating! Most causes are simple and can be treated with dietary or other lifestyle changes like avoiding gas causing foods, eating smaller meals, or recognizing lactose intolerance. Gas causing foods include beans, dairy, spinach, potatoes, fatty or rich foods, carbonated beverages and many more. For a more complete list, check out the Gas Prevention Diet, which also provides strategies for avoiding the gas inducing culprits. One of the most importantly under recognized conditions in adults is lactose intolerance, which can cause bloating, gas, and/or diarrhea. Serious causes of bloating are by far less common, but should not be forgotten, especially in cases of long standing bloating that is not improved with simple changes in diet or lifestyle. Serious causes of bloating can include a variety of tumors, parasitic infections, celiac disease (gluten intolerance), and inflammatory bowel disease. Long standing bloating or bloating with other symptoms such as weight loss, weight gain, pain, nausea, or vomiting should certainly raise concern. If you are worried that your bloating could be the result of something more serious then you should see your doctor as soon as possible. If you have a question for DrSugar, send me a private message here and I will forward it to the good doctor. DrSugar's posts are for informational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment recommendations. Click here for more details.