When you’re trying to lose weight, suddenly feeling like your pants are two sizes too tight overnight is a pretty awful feeling.
It can easily be confused with weight gain, too, which can leave you feeling discouraged and down.
But before your spirits fall too far, try one of our 11 ways to debloat fast so you can keep going strong.
Water’s been called the elixir of life...it’s also the elixir of debloating. Our bodies store water to stay hydrated, and when we drink lots of it, our bodies naturally lose some of the leftovers, taking the gas and stomach bloating with it. (Bonus tip: Replace all your drinks with water for the day, and you’ll slim down even quicker.)
Fiber slows the rate sugar is absorbed into your bloodstream, which in turn keeps things in your colon and digestive tract flowing smoothly. The problem is that many of us eat too little or don’t eat enough of it. Finding the happy median (20-25 grams per day), will level things off and take away that puffed out tummy.
Carbs are a necessary energy source for your body, but when you eat too many, your body hangs onto more water than usual, which bloats you up. Take a day or two limiting your carb intake to stave off the bloating.
Just like carbs, salty foods are another culprit of bloating, as your body retains water the more of them you eat. Banish salty foods as much as possible from your diet, and you’ll banish the stomach bulge right along with them.
Baths are a great way to soak sore muscles, get in some me-time and relax, but add in some Epsom salt, and it can help pull excess water out of your skin, too.
It’s not just a way to get in a bit of exercise, a 20-minute walk after a meal can also take down the bloat and help your body digest your food more smoothly, too.
Certain foods (particularly the spicy ones) can cause inflammation, which can puff up the stomach and make you feel bigger than usual. Sipping on tea, especially tea with ginger, blocks enzymes that create the bloat-causing inflammation.
As if you needed an excuse to munch down on some delicious fruits — think papaya, coconut, pineapple, for example — the whole de-swelling your tummy is another. Tropical fruits contain enzymes like bromelain and papain ease digestion and break down proteins, taking down on bloating.
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, getting a good night’s sleep is critical to weight loss because it increases self-control, increases hormones that regulate hunger, among other reasons. It also releases a stress-causing hormone called cortisol, which can be the sneaky culprit behind bloating.
There’s no shortage of reasons yoga is worth a try, and one of the many is that certain positions can help stretch out the tummy muscles, which in turn can cut back on the feeling of being bloated (and that’s half the battle, right?) You can find a full, 20-minute Beginner Yoga video here.
Seems like a no-brainer, but when you overdo it at a meal, your stomach pays the price. Limiting portion sizes to the proper amount is a surefire cure to debloating.