Abs are made in the kitchen? Please explain!

Mindmovesbody

Hello! Three kids later I need a little work. I joined MFP in Feb. Lost 7.2 lbs so far and exercising every day. I am not looking for a perfect six pack, just a flat tummy that does not reflect 3 children (2 in the last 2.5 years!). I am happy with the way things are going and know that I need to keep at it and be patient, also I know spot reduction does not exist. I know cardio, calorie deficit and a lot of hard work make abs, well make them appear. I keep reading 'abs are made in the kitchen' but no one has actually said how/why. The statement is made, posts ends. So, can anyone tell me what foods are helpful with this and which are the worst for this?

frankiesats

High protein low carb/fat diets are where you will find your abs.

Many people with the beautiful defined stomachs you see will follow 'clean diets' so they won't eat anything processed - fresh meats/fish and vegetables/salad/fruit. no dressings etc. i believe wholegrain rice is fine but i'd read up on that!

Maybe try clean eating 2/3 days a week to get you started.

frankiesats

Feel free to add/message me if you've got any questions xx

dls06

Eat healthy whole foods in the right PORTION. The rest will happen naturally.

aj_31

Going clean seems to be so much work. And yes I realize the payoff is worth it but for those that started to eat clean how did you do it? How did you make the change over?

For instance - eating a salad I love to put ranch on it but I put light ranch and I measure it out. Or sometimes I use light honey mustard. I don't think i could eat a salad with nothing on it. What about bread. Do you eat bread but only eat wheat or what low carb bread only?

And do any of you who eat clean have a family who doesn't want to go 100% clean? How do you balance that?

JamCubeChi

Bump to read later when more replies are posted. I'd like to know as well.

sportsciencegirl

Going clean seems to be so much work. And yes I realize the payoff is worth it but for those that started to eat clean how did you do it? How did you make the change over?

For instance - eating a salad I love to put ranch on it but I put light ranch and I measure it out. Or sometimes I use light honey mustard. I don't think i could eat a salad with nothing on it. What about bread. Do you eat bread but only eat wheat or what low carb bread only?

And do any of you who eat clean have a family who doesn't want to go 100% clean? How do you balance that?

I'm also interested in knowing this?!

Cindym82

Going clean seems to be so much work. And yes I realize the payoff is worth it but for those that started to eat clean how did you do it? How did you make the change over?

For instance - eating a salad I love to put ranch on it but I put light ranch and I measure it out. Or sometimes I use light honey mustard. I don't think i could eat a salad with nothing on it. What about bread. Do you eat bread but only eat wheat or what low carb bread only?

And do any of you who eat clean have a family who doesn't want to go 100% clean? How do you balance that?

as far as dressing, use vinager instead. Like a red wine vinager

ajones1171

For me, eating clean/healthy was something I just had to commit to, every day. I used to put Ranch and a lot of it on my salads and I'd dip my fries and pizza crust in it. Now I used Low or Non fat Italian on my salads, measured, don't eat fries but maybe once a month and eat my pizza crust plain. There was and is still some resistance to my healthier life style, but it's been pretty easy getting things switched over, though I don't have kids. I found that just swapping stuff little by little made it fairly easy. Mix in whole grain pasta with your regular pasta until you've slowly replaced all the white, processed stuff with whole grain. Fresh veggies and fruit instead of canned.

Bread shouldn't just be wheat, but whole grain. You should be able to see the grains or nuts in it.

BaileyKat52

I would like to read some of the advice as well

mikeschratz

Another interested person! BUmp!

suziecue66

Abs are made in the kitchen just means that diet will help to lose the fat to reveal your abs. All the ab exercises in the world won't help if abs are covered by a layer of fat.

BLy82

Hello! Three kids later I need a little work. I joined MFP in Feb. Lost 7.2 lbs so far and exercising every day. I am not looking for a perfect six pack, just a flat tummy that does not reflect 3 children (2 in the last 2.5 years!). I am happy with the way things are going and know that I need to keep at it and be patient, also I know spot reduction does not exist. I know cardio, calorie deficit and a lot of hard work make abs, well make them appear. I keep reading 'abs are made in the kitchen' but no one has actually said how/why. The statement is made, posts ends. So, can anyone tell me what foods are helpful with this and which are the worst for this?

Exercise is what creates size and definition in your abdominal muscles, but you'll never be able to see the muscles if you don't remove the layer of fat that covers them. The vast majority of fat loss is achieved by watching what you eat (particularly reducing calories). Basically, it means that the vast majority of getting really great looking abs comes down to what you eat, not how you work out.

It's intended as a counter to the fact that most people who are looking to get a 6 pack will decide that this is best achieved by doing 1000 crunches a day (literally).

(This doesn't necessarily mean eating any very specific kind of diet. Anything that results in fat loss will conceivably do the job.)

lambertj

Eating clean didn't happen over night for me, it was about constantly tweaking my foods each day to get the most out of the calories I had. I love Ranch dressed but I had to cut it out, now I make a healthy version of Ranch with plain greek yogurt. I started by logging everything I eat into my diary and then finding healthier replacements for it. Love cheddar cheese on salads but it's not all that healthy, just found some fat-free cheddar, love mayo but use mustard. Salsa is great on eggs and chicken. Your taste buds actually get re calibrated to where food tastes better and better.

viclee1

I'm kind of transitioning into a clean diet right now. I'm going to be starting Jamie Eason's livefit program from bodybuilding.com, there's tonnes of nutritional info and recipes on eating clean there. My plan is to have 1 or 2 meal prep days, to make "special" food for myself to eat when I'm not making a clean meal for everyone, or just a couple of meals for the family. I'm lucky that DH is supportive and will eat pretty much anything, as for my two young daughters (ages 4 and almost 2) not so much. Everyone is right who says that eating clean is avoiding processed foods, eating whole natural foods. How much you want to do would be up to you, I hear lots of people say they eat 98% clean or whatever, but I know there's people who have occasional cheats too. It can be quite costly however, and finding some ingredients proves difficult.

earlyxer

What "abs are made in the kitchen" implies is that you can do as many crunches, buy an Ab Roller or an Ab Lounge or an Ab Chair (or whatever they call that stupid seat on a spring with the handlebars that I see in an infomercial) and you will create a beautifully toned set of abdominal muscles. However, they will be covered by a nice layer of fat and no one will see them if you don't eat right. In fact, if you eat right and get your bodyfat down to single digits (men) or mid-teens (women) you WILL have visible abs even if you don't do a single crunch.

Hence, "abs are made in the kitchen".

bizco

It simply means eating whole, natural foods and avoiding processed foods. Shop the perimeter of the grocery store: fresh fruit & vegetables, lean proteins, dairy, eggs.

Frozen fruit and vegetables are OK if the ingredient list shows nothing else is added. Most items in the grocery aisles, including the frozen foods sections, are processed foods. There are a few exceptions liked canned tomatoes, beans, etc. Read the ingredient lists. If you can't identify something, it's processed and contains all kinds of chemicals and fillers. Of course, avoid (or limit) all the obvious things like cake, cookies, pastries, candy, etc.

For salads, I usually use light Italian dressing. It's low-cal and contains only good fats (poly & mono). I also use balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

aj_31

Eating clean didn't happen over night for me, it was about constantly tweaking my foods each day to get the most out of the calories I had. I love Ranch dressed but I had to cut it out, now I make a healthy version of Ranch with plain greek yogurt. I started by logging everything I eat into my diary and then finding healthier replacements for it. Love cheddar cheese on salads but it's not all that healthy, just found some fat-free cheddar, love mayo but use mustard. Salsa is great on eggs and chicken. Your taste buds actually get re calibrated to where food tastes better and better.

I agree with you on the taste buds. Growing up we were never made to eat veggies so in the last few years I've taught myself to eat all sorts of veggies in different ways and I love them. My husband is shocked at how well I've done in that area. I just can't seem to give up some of the junk like - a snack size bag of chips with my turkey sandwich. Or a soda or energy drink here and there. I like mayo too so I'm trying to find an alternative for that. I hate mustard - can't stand the taste so that will not work. I'm still a work in progress I guess.

aj_31

I'm kind of transitioning into a clean diet right now. I'm going to be starting Jamie Eason's livefit program from bodybuilding.com, there's tonnes of nutritional info and recipes on eating clean there. My plan is to have 1 or 2 meal prep days, to make "special" food for myself to eat when I'm not making a clean meal for everyone, or just a couple of meals for the family. I'm lucky that DH is supportive and will eat pretty much anything, as for my two young daughters (ages 4 and almost 2) not so much. Everyone is right who says that eating clean is avoiding processed foods, eating whole natural foods. How much you want to do would be up to you, I hear lots of people say they eat 98% clean or whatever, but I know there's people who have occasional cheats too. It can be quite costly however, and finding some ingredients proves difficult.

I'm doing the Jamie Eason plan right now. I started Phase 2 on Monday. It also doesn't help that I don't have a whole foods or trader joe's close to me. Finding some of these natural whole foods is hard.

Lesa_Sass

Belly fat is hard to lose, so to see those abs we have been working hard for, we must also eat the right foods in conjunction with the exercise to help burn that hard to burn fat.

I have found that by eating foods that have a low glycemic index, I am burning the belly fat faster than by just exercising. Now there are going to be some people that come in and say I am wrong because you can not choose where you burn your fat, but I know this to be true for me.

Instead of rice and pasta, I switched to quinoa. I eat sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes and added more greens (kale mostly) to my diet. I am 43 years old and just took my profile pic last Friday. Now although I have reached my goal weight, I am still working on some belly fat that I hope to have off by the time I go to Mexico in the fall. This does not happen fast but it is worth the wait.

MassiveDelta

Easy explanation:

Abs hide under belly fat. You have a 6 pack right now, Its just hidden. 6 packs reveal themselves when a person reaches a certain % of body fat. In men this is generally 11%- 9% body fat. in women This is generally 15%-12% body fat. To reach that level of body fat it takes extremely careful diet. You cant cardio your way to 6 pack abs. Abs are built in the kitchen by being very careful with your diet.