A photo shared by Tiffany Brien went viral after the fitness blogger wanted to raise awareness among followers on how to prevent a bloating belly.
The side-by-side photos featured her with a bloated and with a flat stomach and were taken only 12 hours apart – before bedtime and in the morning, respectively. She wrote under the post ‘We are not all what we seem on social media.’
‘I thought I would share a bad day with you to show you nobody is ‘perfect’ and it is ok to have an off day where your body just decides to not play ball. Don’t worry girls, it happens to the best of us.’
She said that she had been struggling for years with a bloated belly and attributed it to ‘a lack of sleep, stress, hormones and food intolerances.’
She did a lot of research on the matter finding that bloating was often caused by eating certain foods and stress.
But, on this particular occasion, she wasn’t quite sure of what made her stomach bloated.
She said: ‘I have gone over everything I ate and I was relatively clean so it could be something I think is ‘healthy’ that my body now thinks ‘naaa no likey’.
‘Sometimes your body becomes intolerant to something you’ve always eaten, you just have to work it out. Fun game though? No. Not really.’
Aside from hormones and sleep deficiency, Tiffany also largely blames stress for her condition.
In her words, ‘Stress. The killer. I have a busy and stressful job which pushes me every day. I love my job and wouldn’t change it for the world but I have to factor in de-stress time to help me unwind and allow my insides to untwist after a tough day in the office.
Yoga, walks with the dog or just putting my feet up and watching Netflix normally do the trick.’
Tiffany uses her photos as a start to a fitness journey and says: ‘I am in no way perfect. In fact I am miles away from being a role model when it comes to looking after myself fully in this sense. We all have our areas of weakness.
I know what I am doing wrong and I know how to fix it but it is actually implementing it into your lifestyle that’s the tough bit. I am trying extremely hard to sleep more, relax more and eat right (not less, just right) and I am definitely seeing improvement and will share tips and photos as I go.’
Here’s why you might be suffering with a bloated stomach
Bloating is a common issue affecting a large number of people. But, if you know the triggers, you can easily do away with it.
There are a number of contributors for a bloating stomach, and the most common include:
- irritable bowel syndrome and coeliac disease,
- stress – continual exposure to stressful situation can seriously worsen the condition,
- food intolerance, such as dairy and gluten intolerance, could be an issue.
Bloating that’s short-lasting is normally attributed to excess wind, constipation or swallowing air when talking or eating.
According to Tiffany, the best methods to treat bloating include:
- writing a food dairy to keep record of where and when you bloat,
- taking gut health supplements such as multivitamins and probiotics, and
- drinking peppermint tea to soothe your stomach.
