I’m sure we’ve all had one of those moments on the beach – or just in a very tight top – where a certain person caused a sudden and somewhat violent sucking in of the stomach region. C’mon – I know I’m not the only one who has done this when an object of desire has walked by!

Wouldn’t it be great if you didn’t have to force your lunch back up your food-pipe every time you wanted to impress someone with your flat belly?

Just like an obedient pet, your lower abdominal muscles can be ‘trained’ to do what you want them to - and to look their best at all times. Not only this, but training your abs to function on autopilot will ensure that they are working all day long, not just when you’re at the gym. Talk about maximising success!

Here Are 4 Steps to Automated Flat Abs:

1. Conscious Activation

You can’t automate your abs if you don’t know how to consciously switch them on in the first place! This is a bit like riding a bike – simple once you know how, but can take a bit of patience at the beginning. Read more about how to turn those sexy muscles on – and start turning heads!

2. Hourly reminders

If your abs have been out of the habit for a while, then learning how to use them won’t be enough to keep them working for you. You need to stay on top of things.

I recommend my clients set an alarm on their cell phone or computer as an hourly (yes, hourly!) reminder to ‘switch on’ their core – regardless of what they’re doing at the time. It sounds silly, but it works. All the better if you’re doing different things each time, as one of the best ways to automate your abs is to activate them in different positions or movements. Keep going with the hourly reminders for at least two weeks, but up to four. You’ll know you’re ready to move to Step Three when you notice yourself switching on your abs from time to time without consciously thinking about it.

3. Daily reminders

Now you’re only one step away! Hopefully by this point you are automating your ab function throughout much of the day. But just to make sure, I’m going to get you to keep going with that alarm just once each day. If nothing else, use it as an opportunity to practise some basic activation lying on your back (as in Step One).

4. Unconscious Activation

You’ve made it! Your abs have reverted to that of a young child! Sounds silly, but what I mean is that they’re back working as they should be. Namely, all the time, and in all movements.

This doesn’t mean you can switch off on the ab workouts, as your stomach muscles still need strength and endurance training. But you can rest assured that next time someone you want to impress passes you by, you’ll have a toned ‘n’ tight belly to envy!

But weekends come around pretty often. So do social events or work lunches or days when you’re too busy to stick to your Flat Stomach plan.

If you find it all too easy to sway from the path you’ve set yourself, or if you feel like you’re constantly ‘re-committing’ to eating well, working out and thinking positively, then you might want to consider this great technique I came across recently.

This technique is so powerful, not only will it help you succeed with your Better Abs plan, it can enhance your work productivity, your organization at home and even your learning ability!

Of course you still have to put some work in.

So what am I talking about?

Well, it’s all about creating a chain that is strong enough to keep you moving forward without losing focus. It’s called the Jerry Seinfeld productivity chain, and it’s really quite simple. All you need is a big calendar and a red marker.

The idea harks from the premise that it’s not the big ‘one-off’ efforts that bring about success – not unless they are backed up with some solid and consistent action. Using your calendar and red marker, you can start (today) to build a chain that you won’t want to break. Every day you look after your health, whether it’s through correct nutrition, appropriate activity, or just taking time out for rest and recovery, make a big red ‘X” on your calendar.

As you see the ‘X’ chain grow, you’ll become motivated to keep marking out that next day.

No matter how busy you are, don’t break the chain - you must do something every day. This is a great tool because it helps you to realise it’s not about doing everything every day – but as long as you do something, no matter how small, you’re ensuring that you don’t have to keep going back to square one.

You can read the full instructions from the man himself here, and if you want to create your own online version, click here to download a free Jerry Seinfeld productivity calendar.

Start your chain today!

I could totally relate.

About five years ago I complained to one of my mentor’s, Paul Chek, that my abs weren’t as lean as they should be. I was pretty indignant – I’d been eating according to my Metabolic Type for nine whole months. As well as addressing exercise, stress, and other lifestyle factors.

Our ‘rule’ for how often you can cheat is usually 80/20 (that means eat well 80 percent of the time, not the other way around!) but I was more like 98/2 during those nine months.

So why wasn’t I a lean, flat-ab’d goddess?

Here’s what Paul said…

(Actually, this is the edited version. He was much more direct!)

“You’re 24 years old. That’s around 279 months of ‘unhealthy’ living, vs 9 months of correct health and nutrition…

ARE YOU SERIOUSLY TELLING ME YOU EXPECT TO HAVE ACHIEVED THE PERFECT BODY ALREADY?!!”

I suppose he had a point. I meekly retreated, determined to change that ratio further toward good health in the coming years.

It’s natural to be impatient when you’re doing all the right things.

You’re determined, you’ve done your homework and preparation and your better abs plan is underway. As much as we know deep down that slow’n’steady is the way to go with weight loss, we still all want results NOW.

Here are some reasons you may be losing weight more slowly than you could - or should - be.

1. Reduce stress – It can make you fat!

Ongoing stress causes a chain-reaction in your hormonal system. It starts with repeated stress signals causing your body to continually release cortisone and adrenaline.

What happens next is nothing short of devastating to your flat abs plan.

These hormones will cause your body to store fat regardless of how good your exercise or nutrition program is. And it’s stored especially around the belly and thighs! Make a list of everything that is causing you stress – physically, emotionally, mentally, chemically, nutritionally.

• What can you change today?
• What do you need to plan to change?
• And in which areas do you need support?

Get your stress less plan underway immediately and be on your way to better abs.2. Sneaky beverages

Guess what? Many liquids have calories! And sugar! Lots of the stuff.

Now, I know you know this, but this is definitely an area where a reminder doesn’t hurt. It’s a lot easier to convince yourself that it isn’t too naughty when it’s in liquid form. Am I right? If you regularly consume soft drinks, sweetened water, protein supplements with sugar or even fruit juice, then take a good hard look at the label and think about what you’re really doing to your body with those innocent sips.

If you can’t convince yourself to cut back totally, then at least try alternating with a glass of water every other drink.

3. You’re all go with no slow

Did you know that pushing yourself to the (frantic) max all day every day is a sure-fire way to remain overweight? This point is closely linked to what I spoke about on stress.

Being ‘on the go’ frequently will stimulate your Sympathetic Nervous System and put you in a survival pattern that leads to fat storage. This is because your body doesn’t know you’re in 2008 and assumes being on the go means you must be looking for food or running for your life. Therefore: you must need fat reserves!

You can combat this by taking time out regularly. Set aside time for relaxation exercise (yoga, body balance, meditation) or for a massage, a walk in the park, thinking and reflection time or just a nice hot bath.

Doing one of these (or your preferred) relaxation activities each day – even for 10 minutes – can help to stimulate your Parasympathetic Nervous System, allowing you to achieve hormonal and mental balance – and weight loss to boot!

4. Too much cardio exercise

I guess I’m just starting to repeat myself because this one ties directly into what you just read in point number three. Cardio exercise can be great for fitness, but it’s not all it’s cracked up to be when it comes to weight loss.

In fact, excess cardio exercise is just another form of stress, and can cause your body to hold onto existing fat and even to gain more fat! Try the exercises in this post as a powerful fat-burning alternative. Exercises for great bums’n’tums

5. Stuck on snacking when you don’t need it.

Are you snacking just because food is there or because a certain mid-morning coffee break signals a ‘need’ for a muffin?

It’s easy to convince yourself you need food between meals, but how often is it really true? I’m not saying never, but I do think that snacking is a bit of an overrated habit.

Experience tells me that when you include a natural balance of carbohydrate, protein and fat at your main meals, you’ll find yourself satisfied on less food, for longer. Don’t be a coffee break Pavlov’s dog any longer – try cutting back on any of your naughty mid-meal habits, or replace them with a healthy alternative. But only if you are truly hungry.

Finally, remember this…

Although the points we’ve just discussed may seem secondary to good exercise and nutrition, they are incredibly powerful. And without addressing each and every aspect of a flat abs plan, you’ll be left agonising over a body that still isn’t doing quite what you expect it to.

For many people these areas are the body’s natural fat storage centres. It’s hard to rearrange your biological hardware for a permanently slim bum and tum but there are exercises you can do to make your system run more smoothly and efficiently.

Whilst “bums and tums” classes have become enormously popular they tend to consist of exercises which focus on working one particular body part with small constricted movements such as crunches. The notion that you can “spot reduce” fat from a particular area of your body is a false one. Your body will shed the fat as it sees fit when you burn more calories than you consume.

My five exercises are “big bang” exercises which burn lots of calories in a relatively short period of time e.g. your lunch period. And they can be performed in the gym as well as the comfort of your own home.

1. Supine Lateral Ball Roll

Keep your hips up throughout the exercise. Move to the right so that your head and left shoulder are balancing on the stability ball. Hold for three seconds. Come back to the middle and then repeat on the left side. Remember to suck your belly button in. Your hips and thighs should be parallel to the floor. Only your head and shoulders should be balancing on the ball.

2. Wood Chop

Stand with a wide stance, bend your knees slightly and grip a dumbbell in both hands in front of you. Transfer 70% of your weight onto one leg and at the same time lower the dumbbell down past the outside of your knee. Then as you transfer your weight back onto your other leg raise the dumbbell up and across your chest and past your shoulder. Keep your arms straight to work your abs. Switch and do the same starting with the other leg.

3. Stability Ball Balance

Climb onto the stability ball on all fours and try to balance on it for as long as you can. Remember to suck your belly button in to activate your core. It’s best to do this in an open space, preferably on some gym mats. If this is easy for you, then alternate lifting each limb off the ball at right angles.

4. Forward Lunge

Keep a good posture as you lunge forward. Take a good stride forward. Your core gets a good workout as it tries to keep your body stable and so do you your legs and backside.

5. Squat

Stand with a good strong stance. Suck in your belly button and keep a small arch in your lower back as you squat down. Perform these squats slowly and feel the burn in your backside and thighs!

These exercises are a little more taxing than those you would find in a pilates class. If you’d like to make these exercises more aerobic you might like to create a mini circuit and perform 15 reps on each exercise without a break. Either way the calories will start to burn off!

Beginning your day with a bowl of muesli plus a cup of coffee, followed by a bagel for lunch, only to come home intensely hungry and gorge yourself will make a great set of abs hard to achieve.

Can you remember what you ate and how much you ate for breakfast this morning? Perhaps you skipped breakfast altogether. What we eat and when we eat it is likely to be dictated by our lifestyles.

The simple fact of the matter is not only are you what you eat but you are also when you eat.

So what does a great meal strategy for a flat stomach comprise of?

The saying “Breakfast like a King, Lunch like a Prince and Dine like a Pauper” is very apt for this meal strategy.

Breakfast 

After having fasted all night the cells in your body are anxious for you to eat. By making your breakfast the largest meal in the day (to be eaten by 9am) your metabolic rate will be restored or raised which will help you on your flat abs journey.

In my experience eating a large breakfast will provide me with both staying power and energy. I’m also likely to be active during the day.

Lunch 

Lunch should also be a good sized meal and one that should preferably be eaten away from your work station. Eating your meal in an environment where you can relax will improve your digestion which, in turn, will improve the shape of your stomach.

By incorporating healthy snacks in between meals you constantly reassure your body that energy and nutrition are readily available, which often results in elevated metabolism.

Dinner 

Reduce the size of your evening meal by half and eat it three hours before you go to bed. This may seem a little odd as for many - the evening meal is often the biggest. But in my experience this meal strategy has proven very effective to reduce the size of the mid section.

To add to this, all your meals and snacks should be eaten according to your metabolic type, which is one foundation pillar on which to build your health and lose weight. Incorporate this meal strategy as part of your flat abs plan and reap the benefits!