So you want a nice stomach

bluebubbles175

I really need to loose weight but it is hard for me

HeySwoleSister

bluebubbles175 wrote: »

I really need to loose weight but it is hard for me

Why? Do you have a medical condition?

19SarahJayne85

usmcmp wrote: »

You want to lose belly fat and have a nice flat toned mid section? We see that a lot on this site. Hell, that was my goal for my birthday last year. We all want to be able to take our shirt off at the pool or beach and look great, but how do we do it?

1. Slight calorie deficit. Eating 800 calories and killing yourself in the gym is not going to get you there any faster. You need to fuel your body appropriately. I suggest the TDEE-20% method. www.1percentedge.com/ifcalc (If you have questions please feel free to ask them here). Make sure to weigh everything you eat! Guessing could put you well over your calories.

2. Strength training. If you want that toned mid section look you have to put some muscle there. If you just want a nice flat stomach muscle will still help it look tight. You can begin with Strong Lifts, a hypertrophy routine or a strength program from bodybuilding.com (free!). One that includes compound lifts like deadlift, squat, bench press and pull ups will help. Work on increasing the amount of weight you use. When the weight gets heavier you engage your core more and it builds the muscle.

3. Muscle insurance. There are a variety of studies done on the amount of protein the body needs. I like to think of higher protein as muscle insurance. My suggestion is about 1gram of protein per pound of lean mass. Make sure to get fat in your diet to help joints and metabolic processes. Make sure to get carbs in your diet to fuel workouts.

4. Cardio. I like cardio once or twice a week for 30 minutes. It's good for the heart and lungs. It doesn't add much to the calorie burn for the week, but it helps even things out in case you haven't been completely accurate weighing food.

5. Patience! It is not going to happen overnight. If you stick with it you could lose around 1% body fat a month. We aren't going to be perfect all the time. Enjoy birthdays and holidays. It is life and things will happen. Don't stress, learn to love the process.

FINALLY: Losing fat is like trying to dry out a sponge. You can't dry a corner while the rest of it is still wet. You won't magically lose belly fat or thigh fat or any other fat. It will come off where it wants to. Keep working at it! It is possible!

19SarahJayne85

19SarahJayne85 wrote: »

usmcmp wrote: »

You want to lose belly fat and have a nice flat toned mid section? We see that a lot on this site. Hell, that was my goal for my birthday last year. We all want to be able to take our shirt off at the pool or beach and look great, but how do we do it?

1. Slight calorie deficit. Eating 800 calories and killing yourself in the gym is not going to get you there any faster. You need to fuel your body appropriately. I suggest the TDEE-20% method. www.1percentedge.com/ifcalc (If you have questions please feel free to ask them here). Make sure to weigh everything you eat! Guessing could put you well over your calories.

2. Strength training. If you want that toned mid section look you have to put some muscle there. If you just want a nice flat stomach muscle will still help it look tight. You can begin with Strong Lifts, a hypertrophy routine or a strength program from bodybuilding.com (free!). One that includes compound lifts like deadlift, squat, bench press and pull ups will help. Work on increasing the amount of weight you use. When the weight gets heavier you engage your core more and it builds the muscle.

3. Muscle insurance. There are a variety of studies done on the amount of protein the body needs. I like to think of higher protein as muscle insurance. My suggestion is about 1gram of protein per pound of lean mass. Make sure to get fat in your diet to help joints and metabolic processes. Make sure to get carbs in your diet to fuel workouts.

4. Cardio. I like cardio once or twice a week for 30 minutes. It's good for the heart and lungs. It doesn't add much to the calorie burn for the week, but it helps even things out in case you haven't been completely accurate weighing food.

5. Patience! It is not going to happen overnight. If you stick with it you could lose around 1% body fat a month. We aren't going to be perfect all the time. Enjoy birthdays and holidays. It is life and things will happen. Don't stress, learn to love the process.

FINALLY: Losing fat is like trying to dry out a sponge. You can't dry a corner while the rest of it is still wet. You won't magically lose belly fat or thigh fat or any other fat. It will come off where it wants to. Keep working at it! It is possible!

Hey!! Just seen this

lulucitron

I like the phrase "abs are made in the kitchen" and it's true.

lulucitron

I like the phrase "abs are made in the kitchen." Very true.

usmcmp

lulucitron wrote: »

I like the phrase "abs are made in the kitchen." Very true.

Sort of. Abs are revealed through diet. Abs still require exercise. You can't go from obese to abs without exercise. Saying abs are made in the kitchen over simplifies the solution.

lulucitron

True. Depends on the person...their body type, situation etc. For me, I'm a meso and I've never been overweight and build muscle easily so my abs pop quickly if my diet is on point. I don't actually target my abs at the gym. I work them doing yoga with all the planks involved, inversions, arm balances and one legged balance moves plus heavy squats etc.

usmcmp

lulucitron wrote: »

True. Depends on the person...their body type, situation etc. For me, I'm a meso and I've never been overweight and build muscle easily so my abs pop quickly if my diet is on point. I don't actually target my abs at the gym. I work them doing yoga with all the planks involved, inversions, arm balances and one legged balance moves plus heavy squats etc.

Somatotypes do not exist. They were an idea invented by a psychologist that judged how people looked and how he felt about them. There is zero science to it.

If you have never been overweight it's because your appetite/calorie intake naturally matches your activity level. People who say they build muscle easily generally just see definition quicker due to lower body fat levels.

LolBroScience

builds muscle easily....

lulucitron

I think there's definitely merit to body type. Playing competitive and varsity volleyball all my life I played with many tall skinny ectomorphs with very little body fat who had trouble building muscle where it came easily for me. We trained hard in the gym as part of our training and they just didn't get lots of muscles. I'm sure someone with a science degree could explain (testosterone levels, thyroid activity, etc.) but I've seen it first hand with the same training program with vastly different results.

stevencloser

lulucitron wrote: »

I think there's definitely merit to body type. Playing competitive and varsity volleyball all my life I played with many tall skinny ectomorphs with very little body fat who had trouble building muscle where it came easily for me. We trained hard in the gym as part of our training and they just didn't get lots of muscles. I'm sure someone with a science degree could explain (testosterone levels, thyroid activity, etc.) but I've seen it first hand with the same training program with vastly different results.

They weren't eating enough.
Again, the body types were invented by someone who had nothing to do with nutrition or biology, by looking at photographs and writing down what he thought they looked like, for the purpose of linking body shape to personality traits. It's as scientific as phrenology was.

usmcmp

lulucitron wrote: »

I think there's definitely merit to body type. Playing competitive and varsity volleyball all my life I played with many tall skinny ectomorphs with very little body fat who had trouble building muscle where it came easily for me. We trained hard in the gym as part of our training and they just didn't get lots of muscles. I'm sure someone with a science degree could explain (testosterone levels, thyroid activity, etc.) but I've seen it first hand with the same training program with vastly different results.

There isn't merit to body types unless you are talking bone structure and fat storage.

Ectomorphs move more and eat less.
Mesomorphs eat appropriately for activity levels.
Endomorphs (which I thought I was) move less and eat more.

Those "ectomorphs" you knew simply did not eat enough for their activity level for them to add lean mass. We see it all the time on here, someone with perfect hormone levels who says they are a hard gainer, but simply can't stand eating enough (either always full or mentally cannot stand the idea of eating more food).

Mountainmelody

I saw several mentions regarding enjoying cardio, or the lack thereof. For some of those that dislike cardio, hopefully this will help. I've never been one to get on the elliptical, treadmill, stairclimber, any of the machines where I felt that I was "going nowhere fast". Just me personally, I tend to get bored staring at the same four walls. My brain needed stimulation as well, and it didn't help that I'm not really a tv or movie watcher, so had no desire to put on a movie while on the elliptical at home, etc. Additionally, I live 40 minutes away from the nearest gym, in a place where there is snow on the ground 6 months out of the year. Taking all of that into consideration, I had to step outside of what I thought I "should" be doing based on what others generally did, and find my own cardio work out that I enjoyed. I found out that I love the aerial gymnastic pole, playing competitive volleyball, and kickboxing. Yes, I had to make a lifestyle change to ensure time for these activities, but it's at least really enjoyable. I guess all I'm saying here is that cardio doesn't have to equal boring or painful. Look at your lifestyle, time, and what you like to do...start there. Anything is better than nothing. Hope this helps!!

usmcmp

moutainmelody wrote: »

For some of those that dislike cardio, hopefully this will help. I've never been one to get on the elliptical, treadmill, stairclimber, any of the machines where I felt that I was "going nowhere fast". Just me personally, I tend to get bored staring at the same four walls. My brain needed stimulation as well, and it didn't help that I'm not really a tv or movie watcher, so had no desire to put on a movie while on the elliptical at home, etc. Additionally, I live 40 minutes away from the nearest gym, in a place where there is snow on the ground 6 months out of the year. Taking all of that into consideration, I had to step outside of what I thought I "should" be doing based on what others generally did, and find my own cardio work out that I enjoyed. I found out that I love the aerial gymnastic pole, playing competitive volleyball, and kickboxing. Yes, I had to make a lifestyle change to ensure time for these activities, but it's at least really enjoyable. I guess all I'm saying here is that cardio doesn't have to equal boring or painful. Look at your lifestyle, time, and what you like to do...start there. Anything is better than nothing. Hope this helps!!

There are lots of things that can be considered cardio. Even lifting can improve our aerobic capacity (VO2 max). Not everything is created equal, in that if you are doing a form of cardio that doesn't get your heart rate to a certain point then you need to do more of it.

whiskaz

Solid advice. Regarding cardio, I've been there/done that. I've used cardio to "make room" for more food and was able to lose weight. It never stuck though. While I can't say for sure if my current "plan" will remain intact for the duration, it's a lot more sustainable than my previous efforts.

I started following an intermittent fasting protocol for eating - essentially skipping breakfast and eating between the hours of 12PM-8PM (personal preference). I find it a lot easier than eating a bunch of small meals and/or doing a bunch of cardio to make room in my calorie budget for more food. I'm currently eating at around an 800-1000 calorie deficit... which, in the past, has meant me starving most of the day, cheating often and eventually falling back into old habits. IF and the smaller feeding window means my calories aren't spread so thin and at the end of the day I have room for a pretty sizable, satisfying meal.

So yea, I don't really do cardio at all at the moment. I lift 3 days a week (doing Strong Lifts-like program) and about 2.5 months into it, I'm down around 15lbs (from 200 to 185) and making progress on my lifts still.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with cardio but man, I used to kill myself trying to drop weight and it worked but wasn't sustainable. It's honestly never been this easy or enjoyable eating at a deficit (and a pretty large one to boot).

usmcmp

whiskaz wrote: »

Solid advice. Regarding cardio, I've been there/done that. I've used cardio to "make room" for more food and was able to lose weight. It never stuck though. While I can't say for sure if my current "plan" will remain intact for the duration, it's a lot more sustainable than my previous efforts.

I started following an intermittent fasting protocol for eating - essentially skipping breakfast and eating between the hours of 12PM-8PM (personal preference). I find it a lot easier than eating a bunch of small meals and/or doing a bunch of cardio to make room in my calorie budget for more food. I'm currently eating at around an 800-1000 calorie deficit... which, in the past, has meant me starving most of the day, cheating often and eventually falling back into old habits. IF and the smaller feeding window means my calories aren't spread so thin and at the end of the day I have room for a pretty sizable, satisfying meal.

So yea, I don't really do cardio at all at the moment. I lift 3 days a week (doing Strong Lifts-like program) and about 2.5 months into it, I'm down around 15lbs (from 200 to 185) and making progress on my lifts still.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with cardio but man, I used to kill myself trying to drop weight and it worked but wasn't sustainable. It's honestly never been this easy or enjoyable eating at a deficit (and a pretty large one to boot).

You know, even if you weren't doing IF you would have found a smaller deficit more sustainable. That's why I suggest people base their deficit off a percentage of their maintenance number instead of some randomly selected deficit. For now you may not think 800-1000 calories is as large of a deficit as your previous one, but don't be afraid to change that a bit as you get closer to your goal.

whiskaz

Certainly, a smaller deficit would be more sustainable while losing weight at a slower pace. A little further and I intend to reduce that deficit to something that's more "reasonable", even though, as I said, it feels a lot more reasonable than past efforts where in order to keep that sort of deficit and not feel like I was starving, I HAD to do cardio. Now instead of eating early in the day and losing a chunk of calories... I just bank them for later and I'm able to eat a bigger meal (or snack, etc). The bottom line for me personally is - it beats hitting the bike for 20-30 min everyday to make room for 300 additional cals I almost feel kind of lazy (but for the 3 days I lift)- except I'm getting stronger and losing body fat.

micheledemetroff

Thank you for this post usmcmp. I have read it for the first time and enjoying all the other advice you have given everyone. Very informative and helping me continue on my journey!

micheledemetroff

krithsai wrote: »

usmcmp wrote: »

FINALLY: Losing fat is like trying to dry out a sponge. You can't dry a corner while the rest of it is still wet. You won't magically lose belly fat or thigh fat or any other fat. It will come off where it wants to. Keep working at it! It is possible!

I love you. I don't know what i'll do to the next person who suggests I work off my postpartum belly by doing "crunches". No no...my whole body needs to get smaller!

Right? I had a friend that said that's how she lost all her pregnancy weight, by doing crunches! I believed her then when I was less knowledgeable on the subject. Now I laugh about it!