I love the summer… but I have to admit, I don’t always love getting into my bathing suit. Even though I’ve found a swimsuit that I feel great in (it only took trying on 100+), it’s still a bit stressful to walk around the beach feeling a tad… exposed.
The very last thing I want to deal with when enjoying the summer surf is bloating!
That heavy-feeling, gassy, and VERY VISIBLE bloating. Ugggh. Bloating is annoying any day, but it’s easier to cover up in clothes. I think we all have a few “bloat-friendly” outfits, ones that hide those extra few inches while still feeling fabulous.
It’s not easy to hide in a swimsuit. Fortunately, there are a few things we can do to minimize our bloating so we can totally rock our fabulous swimsuits.
1. Keep sugar to a minimum
Sugar, refined grains, and most types of alcohol (wine and beer are the worst offenders) are a double-whammy for bloating.
First, they can feed your not-so-nice bacteria in your gut. When these bacteria enjoy their favorite sugary meal, they digest the sugars and “burp” up some gas. With each bacteria “burp” our small intestines fill up with more and more air.
They can cause us to retain extra water. This is can add an extra 2 to 10 lbs onto the scale and can make our fabulous swimsuit feel a bit tight. Simply cut down on these refined sugars and grains for a day or two before your beach adventure.
2. Amp up your protein intake
Have you ever tried a high protein diet or cleanse and watched the pounds fall off in the first few days? While it’s a nice feeling, I’m sorry to say that those weren’t pounds of extra weight. What you lost was some extra water.
Instead, we can use this as a superpower! Any time you’d like to feel a few pounds slimmer, amp up your protein for a few days and watch that water weight melt away.
3. Add a probiotic helper
We can reduce our tendency of blowing up our small intestine like a balloon by rebalancing our gut bacteria. When our inner ecosystem is in a nice balance, the bad gas-producing bacteria are in smaller numbers and won’t get the chance to cause visible bloating. Balancing our gut bacteria is the long-term solution to bloating; it will take away your bloating worries for good!
A great probiotic to balance our small intestinal bacteria is Flora’s Super 8 Probiotic. It has a beautiful balance of eight human- and plant-sourced strains of bacteria, that can repopulate this important ecosystem.
Just take 1-3 per day with food every day.
With the help of these three tips, you can feel confident and fabulous at the beach this summer!
