Flat tummy?

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SydneysMom0724
SydneysMom0724 Posts: 4
in Fitness and Exercise
What are the best exercises to flatten the tummy area? Any advice is greatly appreciated!

The reason I ask is because of this. One of the reasons I am losing weight is because I am ready to have another baby. But, I want people to look at me and know I'm pregnant...not just fat. So, in preparation of pregnancy...my goal is to lose about 50 more pounds and get as toned as possible. I still have the "pregnancy flap" of a belly (you mothers know what I'm talking about). My daughter is five now. I want the belly gone and I want to be in tip top shape before I decide to start trying for another baby. Gimme advice on this tummy issue please!!

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  • bradwwood
    bradwwood Posts: 371 Member
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    currently being discussed here:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/797924-do-you-agree-or-disagree

    you can only increase the strength of your belly muscles. There are no exercises to make the fat go away. You have to make the fat go away with diet
  • wellbert
    wellbert Posts: 3,924 Member
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    fork put downs
    mouth don't-opens
    calorie don't-eats.
    plate push-aways
    dessert-refusals
  • bradwwood
    bradwwood Posts: 371 Member
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    fork put downs
    mouth don't-opens
    calorie don't-eats.
    plate push-aways
    dessert-refusals

    oh yeah, I forgot about those exercises. :D
  • SydneysMom0724
    SydneysMom0724 Posts: 4
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    yes I am dieting, of course! But , again, what are some exercises that target tummy well?? Not just old fashioned crunches.
  • wellbert
    wellbert Posts: 3,924 Member
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    yes I am dieting, of course! But , again, what are some exercises that target tummy well?? Not just old fashioned crunches.

    I always suggest using an ab wheel for strengthening your abdominal/obliques/lower back. It's good for beginners as well as very strong people, and costs ten bucks or less.

    But it won't make you lose stomach fat.
  • Jovan0609
    Jovan0609 Posts: 233 Member
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    I think what they're telling you is that a flat tummy comes from nutrition, not exercise.

    You've got to watch your saturated fats, salt intake, and sugar intake. You need to avoide foods high in saturated fats like white rice, white breads and choose the wheat options. Try and eliminate sugars like diet sodas and candy and if you add sugar, use the natural raw sugar like stevia. You'll also want to up your fiber intake and drink lots and lots of water.

    All of this will help to reduce the fat on the tummy because you can't spot exercise. All of the crunches in the world are only going to strengthen the muscles under the belly fat. Changing your nutrition is what gets rid of belly fat so everyone can see the muscles underneath.


    Hope this helps. :smile:
  • bradwwood
    bradwwood Posts: 371 Member
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    There are a lot of things you can do.

    use Google, or Youtube, and search "core strength exercises" There are so many things, and much of it for free. There will be folks here that will recommend a variety of other programs, and I'm sure they are great. I'm cheap though and you should be able to put together a good routine from the free sources.

    Check out this channel on Youtube - http://www.youtube.com/xhit
    This gal puts together very reasonable routines.

    If you want some inspiration and something to strive for, check out Zuzana's channel on youtube
    http://www.youtube.com/user/ZuzkaLight
    She is extreme, so this really is only for the hard core out there
  • gddrdld
    gddrdld Posts: 464 Member
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    I think what they're telling you is that a flat tummy comes from nutrition, not exercise.

    You've got to watch your saturated fats, salt intake, and sugar intake. You need to avoide foods high in saturated fats like white rice, white breads and choose the wheat options. Try and eliminate sugars like diet sodas and candy and if you add sugar, use the natural raw sugar like stevia. You'll also want to up your fiber intake and drink lots and lots of water.

    All of this will help to reduce the fat on the tummy because you can't spot exercise. All of the crunches in the world are only going to strengthen the muscles under the belly fat. Changing your nutrition is what gets rid of belly fat so everyone can see the muscles underneath.


    Hope this helps. :smile:

    What? Since when are white rice and white bread high in saturated fats??
  • wellbert
    wellbert Posts: 3,924 Member
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    I think what they're telling you is that a flat tummy comes from nutrition, not exercise.

    You've got to watch your saturated fats, salt intake, and sugar intake. You need to avoide foods high in saturated fats like white rice, white breads and choose the wheat options. Try and eliminate sugars like diet sodas and candy and if you add sugar, use the natural raw sugar like stevia. You'll also want to up your fiber intake and drink lots and lots of water.

    All of this will help to reduce the fat on the tummy because you can't spot exercise. All of the crunches in the world are only going to strengthen the muscles under the belly fat. Changing your nutrition is what gets rid of belly fat so everyone can see the muscles underneath.


    Hope this helps. :smile:

    What? Since when are white rice and white bread high in saturated fats??

    since when are natural sources of saturated fat bad?
  • ncthomas09
    ncthomas09 Posts: 322 Member
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    Since people have already covered the diet area I will throw my two cents in....

    While I was taking yoga in college we actually did crunches every class period to tone muscles. I know I know you said "not plain old crunches" but what we did made it so much easier! Again you can probably find out exactly how to do each kind of crunches on youtube. But we did probably about 15 different kinds of crunches. So we would do 20 of type A, 30 of type B, 10 of type C....you get the point! Each kind targeted a different group of ab muscles. Some were better for obliques, or upper abs or whatever. And by alternating them like that we didn't tire out as easily and it was nothing for us to have completed 75-125 crunches per day.

    Obviously starting out our abs were sore but like all exercise you get used to it after a while. So if you want to tone up the abs this is what I would do because it is fairly simple, you don't need to buy anything, and you can control your own routine. I tell you what though I had some killer abs by the end of the first semester!
  • blhmek
    blhmek Posts: 1 Member
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    Im doing hip hop abs by shaun- t 3 days a week. The cardio blast one is good. I got all six dvds on ebay for 20 bucks. hope this helps. Im also counting calories. My diet isnt that great on a consistant basis but hey ... taking baby steps

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