Sure, a flat stomach looks best in a bikini, but that’s not the only reason you should focus on chiseling out your midsection. Keeping a small size in the middle will also improve your health by reducing your risk of cancer, heart disease, and diabetes.

5 tips for not exercising:

Of course exercise is important because it helps tone your abdominal muscles, but there’s a growing body of research that says exercise alone isn’t enough. In fact, about 80% of your ability to reduce your waist circumference lies in your dietary choices. Here are five good no exercise recommendations that will help you achieve your beach body.

• Calm down with alcohol. Alcohol drinkers, especially beer drinkers, have higher hip-to-waist ratios than wine drinkers or abstainers.
• Add coconut oil. Brazilian researchers found that obese women who included unrefined virgin coconut oil in their diets lost more weight around the waist than study counterparts who did not.
• Eat berries. The University of Michigan studied blueberries, in particular, and found that they not only reduce belly fat, but also lower cholesterol and improve blood sugar.
• Reduce stress. Excessive stress increases cortisol, a hormone that contributes to the storage of abdominal fat.
• Get enough sleep. Getting a good night’s sleep is a good way to promote weight loss in general, but abdominal fat is especially affected by sleep or lack thereof. For best results, make sure you get at least 7 hours of sleep each night.

5 exercise tips:

Along with diet, exercise is an important component to losing belly fat and building beach-body abs. This is not spot reduction. Instead, abdominal exercises work in conjunction with other types of exercises to tone and build the muscles of your midsection.

• AVE dog. Kneel down on all fours and raise your left arm as you extend your right leg. Wait for a few seconds. Repeat with the right arm and left leg.
• boat poses. Sit on the floor and lean back slightly. Raise your thighs until they form a 45-degree angle with the floor. If you are a beginner, you can hold the back of your thighs to make the exercise easier. If you’re a bit more advanced, keep your arms straight.
• Leg drop. Lie down on the floor and raise both legs towards the ceiling. With your hands at your sides, lower your legs until they’re about 6 inches off the ground. Raise your legs to the starting position and repeat.
• Hip lift. Lie down on the floor and raise both legs towards the ceiling. Place your hands under your hips. Brace your core and lift your hips straight off the floor.
• Twist of the torso. Sit on the floor with your legs crossed. Slowly twist your torso to the right. I return to the center. Then turn left. Repeat.

There are many reasons to shrink your waist and go for that beachy bodice look. For one thing, muffin tops and beer bellies are out.

But beyond aesthetics, there are many other reasons to work abdominal fat. The higher your waist-hip ratio, the greater your risk of heart disease, diabetes, and certain types of cancer. So follow these 10 tips to reduce your risk and get in shape from now on.