Getting a Flat Stomach: How?

This is one of the questions our patients ask most frequently: how can you get a flat stomach? Spoiler alert: there’s no miracle solution. But fortunately, several options do exist — ranging from lifestyle changes to targeted cosmetic surgery procedures.

Why Don’t You Have a Flat Stomach?

All equal? Not quite. Having a flat stomach is a highly sought-after goal, but it can be rather difficult to achieve. First of all, because no, we’re not all naturally equal when it comes to this aesthetic goal. Several factors come into play: body shape, a past pregnancy, diet, lifestyle, or even age and major hormonal changes such as puberty, or later on, menopause or andropause.

Fat may have built up under the skin or around the organs in the abdominal area over the years due to lack of physical activity or poor dietary control. Or maybe your abdominal muscles have separated due to significant weight gain or a pregnancy. Or your skin may have become loose after weight loss or after giving birth.

How to Get a Flatter Stomach Naturally?

Before thinking about any surgical procedure, it’s important to first assess your lifestyle for potential areas of improvement. Keep these four key words in mind: nutrition, exercise, hydration, and sleep.

1. Make sure you maintain a balanced diet, including enough fiber and protein in your meals, while avoiding refined sugars and saturated fats. Of course, keep up essential habits like drinking water, avoiding alcohol and soft drinks, and resisting the urge to snack between meals.

2. Exercise regularly. In this age of sedentary lifestyles and remote work, staying active is crucial. Choosing to walk or cycle instead of driving, or taking the stairs instead of the elevator, are great habits that help form the foundation of physical activity. But as you may suspect, this is usually not enough to have a significant impact on your stomach. Working out several times a week is essential — combining cardio exercises with core and abdominal muscle strengthening.

3. Stay hydrated and get good sleep. Proper hydration and healthy sleep habits help reduce inflammation in the body and support a well-functioning metabolism. All of this brings you closer to your goal!

4. Prepare your abdominal muscles — straight and obliques ones — through postural exercises, in physiotherapy or with the new technology of plyometric exercises — PureImpact — that we offer for our patients.

If you’ve already planned or undergone a procedure, these tips will help you prepare for the operation or maintain your results in the long term.

Cosmetic Surgery for the Abdomen: But Which Procedure?

There isn’t just one option when it comes to cosmetic surgery for a flat stomach. There are several types of procedures that can be used either together or separately, depending on the needs and the chosen strategy.

First, there is liposuction. Particularly effective when performed with the VASER High Definition method — also known as “gentle liposuction” — it allows to remove efficiently the superficial fat deposit. Then there is abdominoplasty, which is part of most strategies, and aims to remove excess skin and to tighten the remaining skin for an optimal aesthetic result.

At Concept Clinic, we most often perform a combination of the two — called lipoabdominoplasty: HD liposuction to remove excess fat, and abdominoplasty to adapt the abdominal skin.

This is exactly what is also recommended in cases of rectus diastasis, meaning a significant separation of the “six-pack” muscles. To reconstruct the abdominal wall — the diastasis repair — we will perform a specific technique without any foreign bodies (without meshs) and we finish the body contouring surgery with the lipoabdominoplasty.

It may also happen that you present an umbilical hernia — a sort of bulge within or around the navel. In this case, a hernia repair is also performed, which consists in repositioning the hernia content in addition to bringing the abdominal muscles back together.

Obviously, you will assess which procedures are necessary with the help of your surgeon. During the consultation, before any surgery, Dr Schlaudraff will make sure to evaluate your expectations, make a detailed diagnosis, explains which technique is suited to your needs, check for possible contraindications, inform you about the required preparation, and give you information about the postoperative phase.

Your Stomach, Your Project.

Getting a flat stomach is a very common goal, but every case is unique. Whatever methods you’re considering in order to achieve it, be sure to consult your trusted surgeon so you can make informed and safe decisions.