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The flat abs diet: use our six eating strategies to get a sleeker belly

Just can't get rid of your flabby belly, even though you do sit-ups and crunches until you're ready to drop? Maybe you're so mortified by the condition of your abs that you've relegated your bikini and lowrise jeans to the dark recesses of your closet.

Before you dump on (or just plain dump) your workout for not giving you killer abs, you should know the real culprit may be your diet -- or even your high-stress lifestyle.

If you want to go from fat to fab abs, new research shows that what you eat is just as important as how -- or even how much -- you work out. And lifestyle counts, too, because stress doesn't just mess with your head, it also can induce a pooch.

Following are six strategies from the country's leading weight-loss, nutrition and stress experts, all designed to get you flat abs in just four weeks (see our "4-Week Fiber-Up Guide"), plus three delicious, lowfat recipes that will fill you up without making you look or feel bloated.