Eat Oatmeal for Breakfast

Have oatmeal for breakfast. Soluble fiber, found in oatmeal and apples, is an especially effective waist whittler.

For every 10-gram increase in daily consumption, belly fat drops nearly 4 percent in five years, suggests research from Wake Forest University in North Carolina.

For the most benefit, get 25 to 30 grams of fiber a day.

A packet of instant oatmeal has 3 grams; ½ cup of fresh berries packs up to 4 grams more.

Drink Green Tea

Sip green tea. Participants in one study who exercised and drank 2 or more cups of green tea per day lost about six times more belly fat than those who drank none.

Catechins, compounds found in green tea, might boost your ability to burn fat, researchers theorize

Take a Brisk Walk

A little exercise on top of your healthy diet is the key to gut-busting success.

But it's not enough to merely amble around the block; the real key to burning belly fat is to pick up your pace.

University of Virginia researchers found that women who did three 30-minute high-intensity walks plus two moderate recovery walks per week burned up to six times more abdominal fat than those who simply strolled five days a week.

Eat Plenty of Yogurt

Snack on yogurt.

Dairy products help you retain muscle and store less fat.

Take it from dieters in a University of Tennessee study who ate 6 ounces of fat-free yogurt with every meal and lost 81 percent more ab fat than those who cut calories alone.

Boosting calcium suppresses calcitriol, a hormone that promotes fat storage.

Curbing calcitriol also lowers cortisol, a hormone known to increase visceral fat (the kind deep in your belly, linked to heart disease and diabetes).

Take a Breather

Before dinner, set aside five minutes to let the stress of the day roll off put away your gadgets, do a few stretches.

Why? Eating triggers insulin; stress boosts cortisol.

When elevated, those hormones work together to store calories in the form of belly fat.

In one study, stressed eaters showed higher levels of insulin and cortisol and gained more weight than those who didn't eat when anxious.

Get Plenty of Sleep

Hit the sheets! Logging only five hours of sleep a night for even a few nights in a row can pack on the pounds, according to a study from the University of Colorado.

A weight gain of 2 pounds in study participants came mainly from carb-heavy snacking after hours.

The reverse is also true: In a 2012 study, increasing total sleep time and quality of sleep boosted fat loss in people enrolled in a weight-reduction program.

Aim for seven to eight hours of Z's per night, and try to go to bed and wake up at the same times every day to train your body clock which makes it easier to slip into sleep at night.