My flat-stomach secret: a banana a day. I eat it in the morning with cereal, as a postworkout snack, or in a smoothie, and I'm convinced it's cured me of those puffy, fat-feeling days. You know, the ones when your pants are a bit tight, your belly looks rounder and you feel a little swollen? One banana delivers 422 milligrams of potassium, which helps limit the amount of gut-bloating sodium in your body. (Even if you avoid the saltshaker, you may not be square with sodium if you eat lots of packaged foods. Up to three quarters of your sodium intake can come from processed goods.)

Try this refreshing recipe to work potassium-rich bananas into your diet:

CHAI FRAPPÉ

(makes two 115-calorie servings)

Storing a tray of iced chai tea in the freezer is the trick to having a cool, refreshing (and healthy!) drink in half the time you'd spend in the barista's line. Slice a banana into 1/2-inch pieces and drop into a blender. Add 8 iced chai tea cubes (regular or decaf). Pour in 1/2 cup lowfat vanilla soymilk, 1 tbsp honey and 1/8 tsp cinnamon. Blend until ice is crushed to a smoothie consistency.

Check out more tricks for looking and feeling leaner at Self.com, or get healthy recipe ideas delivered to you weekly.

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