7 Secrets to a Flat Stomach

Follow these tips to get toned, enviable abs

It may not be a secret that the best way to a six-pack is regular exercise and a healthy diet (even if it's no diet at all), but there's a right way and wrong way to a flat stomach. Read on for the ultimate guide to getting flat abs.
1. Know the Formula Getting flat abs isn't about starving yourself or living at the gym. Reducing belly fat involves a mix of smart eating and effective exercise. Make sure you eat enough food to keep your body from experiencing hormone imbalances; eating too little (fewer than 1200 calories a day) reduces the amount of the fat-burning hormone leptin in your body, which will slow down weight loss. And if you're just exercising without changing your diet, you'll spend a lot of time at the gym with little result. Read more about the dieting and exercising formula for reducing belly fat here.
2. Posture Makes Perfect Doing regular posture-building exercises pack a double punch when it comes to busting that belly. Having good posture helps you look slimmer instantly, while sticking to a posture-building routine every day will strengthen your ab muscles, and help get you well on your way to a six-pack. Here are some posture-building moves to help you look like you've dropped five pounds.
3. Fight the Fat Abs exercises will help define those muscles, but don't forget cardio for overall weight loss; otherwise all those sit-ups will go to waste. If you want results fast, try high intensity interval training, which has been proven to be one of the best ways to fight belly fat.
4. De-Stress Having too much stress can lead to higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol in your body, which can increase the amount of fat you store around your belly. Can't seem to de-stress? Take a few minutes each day to relax with these tips on how to decrease levels of cortisol in your body.
5. Start with Oatmeal The secret to getting flat abs includes a diet that helps shrink that midsection. The best things to eat include foods high in fiber and other foods that help you beat the bloat. Swap your normal breakfast for a bowl of oatmeal with blueberries, for example; the fiber in the oatmeal will aid in digestion, and the antioxidants in blueberries may help you shed ab fat. Find out more on which foods you should be eating to bust that belly here.
6. Drink to Detox It's not in the foods you eat—what you drink can help debloat and flatten your tummy as well, so bottoms up! Drinking a glass of water every morning, for example, will help you alkalize your body—which helps you burn fat and detox your system. Besides lemon water, here are more drinks to add to your routine so you can regularly detox every day.
7. Stay Away From These There are those foods that help slim your middle, and those that make you feel like a bloated balloon. As you continue your ab-flattening workout plan, be sure to avoid foods that cause bloating, like broccoli and cabbage, when things start getting serious. Find more foods that can cause belly bloat here.

The Number 1 Way to Tell if You're in a Healthy Relationship

New research uncovers the true secret of happy couples.

There are so many reasons why certain relationships just work—mutual admiration and trust, great sex, a shared obsession with Game of Thrones...But new research has found that one element in particular makes it more likely that you’ll stay with your S.O.: being friends.
Two new studies published in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships found that couples who place a high value on friendship with their partner are more committed, more in love, and more sexually satisfied than those who aren’t friends with their BF or GF.

For the first study, researchers at Purdue University had 190 students who had been in a relationship for an average of 18 months fill out surveys to gauge how dedicated they were in their relationship, how much they had invested in it, and where they hoped it would go.
"Couples who placed a high value on friendship with their partner are more committed, more in love, and more sexually satisfied than those who aren’t friends with their BF or GF."
Researchers followed up in four months and found that a whopping 27 percent were no longer with that same person (#college). When scientists dove into the survey results, they found that those who were still together were more likely to score high in the friendship, romantic commitment, love, and sexual satisfaction elements.
For the second study, researchers asked 184 students who had been in a relationship for at least 16 months to rate how much they value companionship, sex, security, self-improvement, and experiencing new things with their partner. Those who said friendship was crucial in a relationship also scored higher for romantic commitment and sexual fulfillment.
The bottom line? Attraction is important in a relationship, but if you really want to be with your partner for the long haul, it’s a good idea to date someone who'd also make a great BFF.

Office Plants Can Boost Productivity and Morale

Getting your office into a vegetative state, it turns out, can actually be good for business.
A study out of the University of Queensland in Australia has concluded that an office ornamented with plantlife can actually increase employee productivity by 15 percent.“A green office communicates to employees that their employer cares about them and their welfare,” said the study’s co-author, Alex Haslam, a psychology professor. “Office landscaping helps the workplace become a more enjoyable, comfortable and profitable place to be.”The study -- purportedly the first-ever to assess the long-term effects of green surroundings on productivity -- focused on three workspaces in the UK and the Netherlands. Minimalist offices were spruced up with greenery, as perceptions of air quality, concentration and workplace satisfaction were monitored over the course of two months.“The findings suggest that investing in landscaping an office will pay off through an increase in office workers’ quality of life and productivity.”Halsam also noted that the motivating upshot of vegetation would seem to contradict the long-held belief that “lean” -- or minimally-appointed -- office spaces were more conducive to productivity.“Modern offices and desks have been stripped back to create sparse spaces -- our findings question this widespread theory that less is more,” he said. “Sometimes less is just less.”