Ask the Personal Trainer Joni Hyde is a Certified Personal Trainer and owner of WorkoutsForWomen.com Weight Loss Around Stomach Q. What is the most effective way to lose weight around the stomach area? That is to lose about 4 inches in about 4 weeks. - Latoya A. As cruel as the truth may be, the fact remains that as women, we are designed to store fat in the abdomen. It’s not easy to achieve a perfectly flat abdomen, and in some cases, it’s impossible. But you can greatly improve your abdominal area and can end up with a sexy midsection that suits your body type just fine. First, you should re-assess your goal. Four inches in four weeks is not an attainable goal. A more realistic goal would be four inches in 12 weeks. Now, if you are carrying around some extra weight, your abs are probably the area where a few of them can most certainly be found. Perform a variety of abdominal exercises at least every other day. Include cardiovascular exercise into your routine. This can help to burn some of the extra fat, exposing the muscles that you’re building with abdominal exercises. Eating habits are just as critical to leaning up your midsection. Replace sodium, sugar and preservative laden foods with fresh whole unprocessed foods. Drink as much water as you can all day long to flush away bloating. Drink ice chilled water and you’ll burn a few extra calories as your body works to warm it up. Other recently asked questions: • After losing 25 lbs, I reached a plateau. Any suggestions to rev up my weight loss? • Do I gain the same benefits from woman’s push-up as I would if I did men’s straight leg push-ups? • I travel a lot for business, what exercises can I do in my hotel room? • My last delivery was by c-section. I just can’t seem to regain my lower stomach muscles, are there any exercises to target this area? WorkoutsForWomen.com provides home exercise programs for today's busy women, under the guidance of a certified personal trainer.