Healthy Hollywood: Eat Your Way Slim

Beach season is in full swing. But, is your body bikini ready? While many of us will never get Kim Kardashian’s gorgeous curves or Blake Lively’s lean legs, it’s not too late to shrink your tummy (without a single crunch). The secret? Monounsaturated fatty acids, or MUFAs. “MUFAs will not only make weight loss easier, but also target belly fat specifically” declares Liz Vaccariello, author of Prevention magazine’s “Flat Belly Diet.”

So, how do you get these belly-shrinking fats into your diet ASAP. The good news is they’re in common foods like walnuts, natural peanut butter, olive oil, and avocado. “The goal is to eat a belly-busting MUFA at every meal, stick to 400 calories, and never go 4 hours without eating. From cooking with olive oil to adding some almonds into a salad, or dark chocolate for dessert, there are hundreds of ways to enjoy these belly-flattening foods,” reveals Vaccariello.

Meet The Five Magical MUFAs:

1. Oils:

Stir-fry with sesame, peanut, or canola oil; pan-fry in walnut or olive oil; spread pesto on a sandwich or toss it with pasta; add sesame, or olive oil to marinades; use flaxseeds as a salad dressing.

A serving equals: 1 tablespoon

2. Nuts and Seeds:

Almonds, Brazil nuts, sunflower seeds, walnuts, pine nuts, and roasted pumpkin seeds are all good choices. Eat them as a snack, sprinkle on a salad, or crush and use as a crunchy topping for fish or chicken.

A serving equals: 2 tablespoons

3. Avocados:

Slice and serve with a salad, mash with lime juice, salt and pepper and serve with chips, or drizzle with olive oil and enjoy by itself.

A serving equals: 1/4 cup

4. Olives:

Black, green, or olive tapenades – it’s up to you. Serve them as a snack, sprinkle sliced olives on pizza, salads, or pasta; or spread tapenade on a sandwich.

A serving equals: 10 large olives or 2 tablespoons of tapenade

5. Dark Chocolate:

Indulge anyway you crave!

A serving equals: 1/4 cup.

Find out more tips to saying bye-bye to belly fat by checking out www.flatbellydiet.com.