Flat Stomach

Berry Flax Smoothie One glass of this delicious smoothie provides almost half of your daily fiber requirement plus two servings of fruit to keep your appetite under control. It also satisfies even the biggest sweet tooth without derailing your weight loss.

Recipe In blender, combine 2 c fresh or unsweetened frozen raspberries, 4 Tbsp calcium-fortified orange juice, 6 oz fat-free vanilla yogurt, 1 Tbsp flax meal or flaxseed, and 1 Tbsp wheat germ. Blend until smooth. Makes 2 8.75 oz servings Per serving: 166 cal, 7 g pro, 28 g carb, 3 g fat, 0.5 g sat fat, 0 mg chol, 12 g fiber, 58 mg sodium

Exercise Rx 45 minutes of moderate to vigorous cardio at least 5 days a week and an extra strength-training workout each week

The increased cardio will help make up for the decline in calorie burn that accompanies menopause. Menstruation requires about 300 to 500 calories monthly, so when you stop menstruating you have a surplus. In addition, you're losing muscle--your body's calorie-burning engine--at a faster rate. Doing three strength-training workouts a week instead of just two can help you regain more muscle and rev up your metabolism.

Diet Rx Eat 7 to 10 servings of vegetables and fruits dailyAn easy way to cut calories--without feeling hungry--is to load up on veggies and fruits. Their high fiber and water content fills you up faster, so you feel satisfied on fewer calories. To hit your daily quota, eat 2 produce servings with each meal and add 2 more as between-meal snacks.

Up your fiber intake Aim for 25 to 30 g a day. A recent Danish study found that women who ate more fiber gained less weight with age, particularly around their middle, than women on low-fiber diets. Besides fruits and vegetables, beans and whole grains are good sources of fiber.

Meditate more Stress and aging interfere with the functioning of your adrenal glands, which normally produce hormones that keep abdominal fat in check. Meditation and exercise have been shown to bolster these hormone levels.

Day 1: 45 minutes cardio, 10 minutes strength-training
Day 2: 45 minutes cardio, 10 minutes Core Moves
Day 3: 45 minutes cardio, 10 minutes strength-training
Day 4: 45 minutes cardio, 10 minutes Core Moves
Day 5: 45 minutes cardio, 10 minutes strength-training

Cardio Each tummy type has a customized prescription that spells out how long and how often to work out. You get to choose the type of activity (walking, jogging, cycling, swimming, Spinning, or step aerobics). The goal: burning fat to reveal your firmer abs.

Total-Body Strength-TrainingEveryone does at least two sessions per week for head-to-toe toning and boosting metabolism. In a Korean study, women who combined cardio and strength-training lost almost three times as much belly fat as those who did only cardio. For a sample workout, go to www.prevention.com/tummytype.

Core Moves All types do the belly-firming Core Moves twice a week. For faster toning, add an extra session.

Peri- or postmenopausal

The signs You:

Most people get fatter as they get older. It doesnt have to be this way.

The reasons for gaining weight with age are reduced physical activity levels and lower metabolic rate caused by a loss of lean body mass (muscle).

You can reverse this process with simple exercises. When we get older our metobolism slows and our body burns less calories during normal activity. Exercising makes you burn more calories.

The loss of muscle is also reversable by exercising as little as 30 minutes a day three times a week.

Source: Flatstomach.com