Revealed! My 6 Secrets To A Flat Tummy

Here's what helped me say goodbye to my bulge.

Susan Marque

Published March 27, 2026

Wayne Maser/Trunk Archive

One of the best things I’ve found about getting older is that I actually like my body more. I was probably fitter or more flexible when I was in my twenties and thirties, but I’ve become very appreciative of how well my body responds to what I do with it and I’ve created habits that really work in my life. A friend of mine recently asked me what she could do to reduce the pooch she had around her middle. While the rest of her was tiny, she was tired of hiding her belly. My first suggestion was an herbal cleanse I did years ago. I told her the truth. I hated doing those cleanses, but they worked. Then I thought more about it and I realized that the reason they worked (and why I never did them again) was because of all of the other things I do on a daily basis. These are my flat belly secrets.

1. I Never Count Calories

I don’t count anything. I never check fat grams or macros or any of that. I eat a fiber-rich and widely varied diet. You could call it flexitarian if you want a label. I eat cooked whole grains at most meals, from millet in the morning to brown rice at dinner. I eat lots of different veggies and proteins. I also try to live by that ancient Japanese rule to eat until you are 80% full, not stuffed. My very western mom adopted this theory when she was young and it works. Then a food teacher told me to look for the “sigh.” As the stomach fills, it presses upward on the diaphragm, sometimes triggering a literal sigh or a moment of pause. That pause, she said, is a natural signal of satiety. When I notice it, I stop eating. It seems to work for me. Science also shows that we naturally eat fewer calories when we take out highly processed foods. I do enjoy potato chips or honey-sweetened cookies, but those are tiny little extras in a very unprocessed-heavy diet.

2. I Move My Body Daily

Most days I walk. I don’t stroll. I also don’t power walk. Think regular, need-to-get-somewhere kind of walking for probably 45 minutes or more every day. Studies show that regular, brisk walking is associated with reductions in waist circumference and abdominal fat.

I grew up in a family where my parents thought you wouldn’t sleep as well at night if you didn’t exercise during the day. Instead of asking, “Did you exercise today?” they asked what we did for exercise that day. It was totally okay to take a day or two off, but if you were well enough to be outside, you should get outside. My parents and sister played tennis. I swam. We all did a lot of walking.

3. I Embraced Yoga

My dad did yoga for as long as I can remember. I dabbled with it. I was not into the breathwork, no matter how much it was supposed to help me. I guess I liked my stress? Then I got hooked on a type of yoga that is heavy on breathing, but it had great music and I found it fun. The chanting changed my energy, and I didn’t even notice that I was slowing my breathing down while doing the various movements with the tracks. Apparently it trains your nervous system to be calmer and centered even when you are not doing it. Research suggests this kind of breath-focused yoga can lower stress hormones like cortisol. Chronically elevated cortisol has been linked to abdominal fat storage, so lowering stress may help support a flatter midsection over time.

4. I Sleep Well

I do the exact wrong thing to get to sleep. I play a game on the phone. I find one round of solitaire or some equally simple app game has me nodding off faster than a baby who just had some warm milk. Then I usually sleep about seven hours straight. According to studies, good sleep keeps the hunger hormones, like ghrelin and leptin, nice and balanced, which reduces fat accumulation around the belly. I also do not eat close to bedtime so that my body is not trying to digest food while I’m trying to get my snoozing in. If I am hungry later in the evening, I reach for fruit. Fruit digests pretty quickly when I haven’t eaten something super heavy earlier and it can help with elimination in the morning, which definitely keeps the belly flatter.

5. I Don’t Sit For Too Long

Instead of putting exercise at the ends of the day, I often walk in the middle of the day to do some errands and I get up every hour or so from my desk. I just don’t like sitting for too long. I get fidgety if I do. Studies show that my mix of sitting and getting up and walking around can reduce waist size. Prolonged sitting can actually create a bigger belly.

6. I Quit Cane Sugar

If you had told my younger self that I would stop eating sugar one day, I would have thought you were crazy. I loved my morning pastries, nightly desserts and bottled salad dressings. I loved a sugar-sweetened lemonade or a couple of cubes of the white stuff in my coffee. I also had lifelong health issues. So one day, just as an experiment, I did everything a nutritional counselor told me to do, which included cutting out any type of cane sugar. That’s when my belly got flat and I lost excess fat without changing much else. Studies back up what happened in my own body. The switch wasn’t easy for me. I basically cried every day that first week. The long-term benefits have far outweighed the loss.