Visible Abs??

ksy1969

I have been a "fat boy" my whole life. In January 2011 I decided I have had enough and I made a decision to make a change. Fast forward to present day and I am down 141 lbs and have been fluctuating up and down. That however is not why I am posting, I know that is just an issue of calories versus calories out. I am 43 years old, 5' 10" and currently weigh 200lbs. I have set my goal weight to 185. According to a trainer at my gym, who has been checking my bf periodically, if I do not lose any lean body mass, I should be right around 18% bf at 185 lbs. Sadly BMI will still have me overweight, but that is irrelevant. What I want to know, is there anyone on here that has been morbidly obese like I was that was able to get themselves to a point that they had visible abs. I want to know if there will ever be a point, if I am willing to work at it without surgery, that I would be proud to take my shirt off at the lake?

I can appreciate that without surgery there may still be some loose skin, but I can live with that if the abs are there as well.

Please show pics if you have them.

BarackMeLikeAHurricane

To get abs you'd have to get down to roughly 10% body fat. For you, that'd be about 168lbs if you don't lose any lean mass.

ilovedeadlifts

To get abs you'd have to get down to roughly 10% body fat. For you, that'd be about 168lbs if you don't lose any lean mass.

this. depending on how your body stores fat anywhere from 10-14% your abs will start to pop.

ksy1969

Thank you for your responses.

SonicDeathMonkey80

I started to see abs when I was around 10-12% BF (according to the inaccurate taping way). While I was never morbidly obese, I did have a gut/love handles and was at a BMI of 25-26 before I started to lose. Get your food situation straightened out, then bring in some strength/cardio to really see gains. Abs are difficult and take time, so make sure you have some short term goals in between.