Flattening your stomach starts with your diet, then you finish it with your exercise. Are you putting food in your body that makes you feel bloated or bad after you eat? If so, it's no surprise why your stomach is not becoming flatter.

Try cutting back on some of these foods that make you feel too full after you eat them, or the foods that are high in calories and fat. If you're eating cheese, cakes, cookies, and ice cream every night, you'll likely grow rounder in the belly. For desserts, you may want to try fruits or berries instead of the higher calorie and fat desserts.

Although diet helps, you can't expect to flatten your stomach simply by eating less. Also realize it won't happen overnight; it takes some work, and a few stomach isolating exercises that will tighten up your abdominal muscles and help flatten your stomach. If you're a woman and have been pregnant, or if obesity runs in your family, you can even expect to diet and exercise harder to flatten your stomach.

There are plenty of stomach exercises, and it's important to establish a workout regimen or a daily routine to achieve a flatter belly. You can search the Internet and find plenty of resources that will provide you with tips and tricks, but you cannot flatten your stomach just by reading them. It's also important to understand the differences between exercises that strengthen your abdominal muscles and those that actually flatten your stomach, as these exercises are both very similar.

When you're working out, decide how you want to exercise your abs. Also realize that sometimes you don't even have to be exercising in order to flatten your stomach. You can do this while you're watching television, simply by sucking in your belly a little to tighten your abs. This isometric exercise ^[1] may do the trick, yet is not the end all be all for flattening your stomach. Establishing a Workout Regimen and focusing on your abs is what it takes to flatten your stomach. You can use an exercise ball to strengthen your core abdominal muscles and do crunches, leg lifts or knee lifts. All of these can be done with a ball and with weights to increase resistance.

It's important to realize that your abdomen is broken up into sections and to work on each section (ie. lower, middle, and upper abs). Some call it a six-pack, and you can learn more about How to Get Six-Pack Abs. Although flattening your stomach is similar, your goal is more focused the flattening than the defining. However, both of these work together, and when you start with basic exercises that flatten your stomach like crunches, then you can work up to getting the chiseled abs you desire.

Upper Abs Exercise:

Start with the basic crunch.

1. Lie on your back or sit on a ball looking up at the sky. Keep your hands near the side of your head, and your knees should be bent at 90 degrees if you're lying on the floor.

2. With only your stomach muscles, raise your shoulders off the ground. Be sure not to use your hands to lift your head for assistance. Lift your shoulders more, yet do not complete a full sit up.

3. Breathe and contract your abdominal muscles and slowly lower your body. Let your shoulders touch the floor, but do not rest. Repeat this 15-30 times in your first set and try to do 3-4 sets.

Lower Abs Exercise:

Now do a reverse crunch.

1. Lie on your back resting your hands behind your head, keeping your knees slightly bent. Now, lift your feet about six inches off the ground.

2. Gradually bring your knees to your chest, and lift your butt off the ground. Focus on your core to exercise your lower abs.

3. Lower your legs using your abs and keep your feet six inches off the ground.

4. Repeat this 15-30 times in your first set and try to do 3-4 sets.

Oblique Exercise:

Now that you've done your lower and upper abs, you can focus on your obliques with a cross crunch.

1. As you lay on your back, keep your left hand at the side of your head, and rest your right hand on the floor. Keep your knees bent and your left foot should be flat on the floor, as your right foot will rest across your left knee.

2. Lift your body up in a twisting motion bringing your left shoulder toward your right knee. Focus on your obliques and the contraction of your abdominal obliques.

3. Repeat 15-30 times in your first set and try to do 3-4 sets. Switch sides and repeat.