SQUEEZE. All day. Everyday.

So, here is a fabulous hint. You don't need to throw yourself on the ground and kill your spine to get a flatter tummy. You don't even need to put on your work-out gear to shape your abs. All you need is a friendly reminder throughout the day to do the simple squeeze.

When it comes down to it, a crunch or sit-up is really just the repetitive contraction of the stomach muscles to create tension and work the muscle group. A much easier variation of the sit-up is to just remember to crunch your muscles several times a day for a set-period of time - no matter where you are. Walking. Sitting. Lying down. Whatever your position may be, just remind yourself to sit and squeeze your stomach muscle over and over until you feel the burn. For the best result, take a deep breath with a loose stomach, then squeeze on the exhale breath and hold it until you breath in again.

So you're at work all day. Write a post-it note on your computer screen that says SQUEEZE, and each time you see the note, clench your stomach muscles repeatedly until you feel the burn. POOF! You just did about 25-50 crunches while multi-tasking at work. Remember to hold each squeeze for a few seconds to really work the action. As long as you don't show an ugly grunt on your face, no one will even know! (Remember to sit-up straight!)

Other great SQUEEZE opportunities:
1. While you walk the dog. Tell yourself to squeeze every other step. You'll have 100 crunches in no time.
2. While you brush your teeth. You do this twice a day (hopefully) for about two minutes. Why not squeeze while you stand there and get another 100 in for the day? Added bonus...stand on one leg while you do it and work that quad with a slightly bent knee.
3. Cooking dinner. Burn off those calories before you eat the meal and work up an appetite!

There are lots of times throughout the day when you can mix in a few crunches...all you have to do is SQUEEZE!

*Thanks for the reminder, Mel!