It’s official summer is here and you are ready to bear it all. You’ve worked your butt off to get yourself to a healthy weight. You feel great in your skin and you look awesome! Now it’s time to hit up as many pool parties as possible to flaunt your success.
Please go ahead, live it and have fun. Just beware that eating the wrong foods hours, even days, before you hit the pools and beaches can lead to an ultimate fail; bloating. Avoid these foods to beat the bikini bloat.
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Ditch the sweets
Sweets are so good! But very naughty. Candy and sweets are coated with delicious, sparkly crystals that make your tongue dance. As pretty and delicious as sugar is, foods that have lots of it should be avoided if you want to rock that bikini. Our bodies don’t properly digest these artificial chemicals and cause us to bloat, gain weight and can incur other chronic diseases down the line.
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Eat seeds
Snack on fennel seeds. Fennel seeds compose of health benefiting volatile essential oil compounds such as anethole, limonene, anisic aldehyde, pinene, myrcene, fenchone, chavicol, and cineole. These active principles in the fennel are known to have antioxidant, digestive, carminative, and anti-flatulent properties.
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No diet soda
Diet soda, well soda period will cause you to bloat. Both are filled with artificial flavorings and dyes, but it’s also carbonated. Drink water instead. You can even spice up your water by adding fruit. Have you ever tried lemon, orange and lime slices in your water? Very refreshing.
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Don’t pass the salt
Instead of seasoning your meals with high cholesterol causing salts swap it out for herbs like oregano and rosemary. Mrs. Dash has tons of flavorful herb shakers that don’t have salt.
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Limit carbohydrates
Any other time carbs for sure is the way to go. Especially those complex carbs like oats and whole grains that are filled with loads of fiber to keep you full longer for your busy days. But when you “carb load” on the breads, beans and peas it will make you full, but your body will produce gases including carbon dioxide, hydrogen and potentially methane. All combos for bloat and gas.
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Don’t eat your veggies
Yes you read correctly. Don’t eat your vegetables, well only a select few. Some veggies will cause you to bloat more than others. If you’re hitting the beach then avoid these:
- Baked Beans (obviously)
- Broccoli
- Brussels sprouts
- Cabbage
- Cauliflower
- Lentils
- Lima beans
- Onions and peppers
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Slow down on the fast food
In a pinch fast food may seem like the go to for a quick meal. You should slow down on the fast food. It is processed genetically modified food, best known as GMO. GMOs are filled with chemicals and sugars the body isn’t used to digesting. Why do you think you’re often running off to the bathroom after a fast food run? Fast food is one of the reasons 25.8 million people have diabetes.
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Forget fried foods
Fried calamari, chicken and even shrimp is a no, no for you. Even if you’re going to a barbecue and it’s being served, opt out. It takes your body a little longer to digest the saturated fats in these foods. Plus they tend to leave you feeling lethargic and can cause your skin to break out. Who needs bloating and acne? No thanks!
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Drink up
Oddly enough when you don’t drink enough water your body retains water. To avoid this drink at least eight glasses of water a day. Besides water is great for your skin too, so you’ll have a flat tummy and glowing skin.
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Skip the dairy
If you are lactose intolerant than you probably don’t even touch dairy products. If you are and don’t know it or are unsure this might be a reason you are gassy and bloated. Your body isn’t able to break down the sugar lactose. In case this is your suspected belly bloat issue, then avoid dairy the days leading up to your bikini debut.
It’s not fair to leave you with a list of foods to avoid, the last thing we want is for you to starve yourself while you’re out. That’s no fun and not healthy. When you are out having fun by the pool, even leading up to the days, these foods are okay to eat and will not cause you to have gas or bloating:
- Drink Water
- Celery
- Eat Kale, green beans
- Mushrooms and squash
- Lean skinless turkey meat
- Boneless skinless chicken breast
- Sunflower seeds (just avoid expired ones)
- Cranberries and Raises
Sources:
Health 24 LiveStrong.com Prevention Nutrition-and-you.com
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