I want abs!!

Cardio workouts. Get Crackin'!

You do tons of cardio. Do you also lift heavy weights? Several times/week?

i've heard that doing the plank everyday, cutting out bread, pasta and alcohol work.....dunno how sustainable that would be for u tho!

Cardio= running, elliptical, swimming(fast). BTW Kaitlinj you should do before afters for all to see you're looking great!

Aww. Thanks!

To the OP, I think a bit more details might be helpful to give more specific tips. Seeing abs is a matter of the same principles used in general to lose body fat while retaining muscle. You also want to keep the bloating/water retention down. But info like how many calories you are eating, how much protein, what types? How much cardio are you doing? Maybe making your diary public would help.

The reason I mention weights (and not just ab exercises) is that it is important to lift weights so you gain retain the muscle you have while you are losing the last bits of fat. Otherwise, some of the weight you lose could end up being your lean tissue, which might mean that your body fat percentage still remains close to the same. The result is that you are lighter, but your abs are no more apparent.

I am, of course, not at all an expert in this matter. I'm still working on finding mine.

You do tons of cardio. Do you also lift heavy weights? Several times/week?

"kaitlinj" - Here is someone who has done the work required. You can not target a specific area for fat reduction you must do your cardio work. Don't ask what cardio, just do it and keep doing it, you will see results when you are far enough along to know that you need to do more.

You do tons of cardio. Do you also lift heavy weights? Several times/week?

"kaitlinj" - Here is someone who has done the work required. You can not target a specific area for fat reduction you must do your cardio work. Don't ask what cardio, just do it and keep doing it, you will see results when you are far enough along to know that you need to do more.

Thanks. I didn't quite phrase my comment right. I wasn't so much advocating endless hours of cardio as much as saying to the OP "You say you do tons of cardio but how about strength training too?"

I actually think I probably do a lot less cardio than many other people I see. Mostly because I just don't usually like to do a whole ton of it (it just isn't my favorite form of exercise). I have had good luck with doing about 30-45 minutes of pretty intense cardio 5x/week and doing heavy weight training for about 30 minutes 3x/week. I try to eat clean at least (80% of the time) with very little processed food, good quality protein, low sugar, lots of vegetables, beans and whole grains. My macronutrient ratios are about 40/30/30. This is what has been working pretty well for me.

I also recommend the e-book Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle by Tom Venuto. He has a great blog too full of good info: http://www.burnthefatblog.com

As for strength training, almost none. I do 50 crunches every night. But i do cardio every day. As for the abs ive noticed im definitely more toned than usual but i still cant find my abs just yet.

In my opinion (just based off of personal experience and what I've heard from others whose six packs I envy), I think you could benefit from adding a good dose of strength training to your routine. Not just abdominal exercise, but moves to target your large muscle groups. You want to make sure that the weight you are losing is fat and not muscle. Challenging all of your muscles will help in that regard.

I don't know what sorts of equipment or facilities you have access too. I use a set of dumbbells with adjustable weight at home and I have been following the Body for Life weight workouts (http://bodyforlife.com/library/exercise/weight-training). I have also done a significant amount of bodyweight exercise as well (pushups, pullups, single-leg squats, etc.). Bodyweight exercises can be made really challenging, if you don't have access to heavy weights at the moment.

The other thing is diet. You don't say how much you are eating or what types of food. Staying within your calories recommendations is one thing, but (except for the rare, genetically-gifted exception), I don't think a lot of people with six pack abs are eating pizza, burgers, and Coke on a regular basis (I'm not saying this is what you're doing, but your diary is hidden, so I don't know). You should try to get your calories from high quality, nutrient-dense foods like lean meat (chicken breast, salmon, tuna, lean steak, egg whites, etc.), whole grains (oats, brown rice, etc.), beans and vegetables and some good fats (nuts, avocados, olive oil, flax....).

Like I said, I'm no expert, I'm just repeating the information that I have garnered from researching how fitness models and bodybuilders get their muscle definition. I figure, if you want a body like a fitness model, you need to do what a fitness model does and that is basically: intense cardio, weight training and clean eating.

Yes you need to loose the fat covering you'r abs, but it sounds like you also need to build them up a bit. The bigger the muscle is the easier it is to get that defined look you want.

Crunches tone the top of your ab muscles, which is probably why you can see some definition on your top 2. You'll benefit form a more rounded ab routine along with some additional weight training. Leg lifts, scissors, bicycles, and a lot more. There's 11-12 exercises that are a part of P90X, and you do 340 total reps. 50 crunches seems a bit low. Also you probably don't want to do them every day. Just like building any other muscle you need to rest it. Every other day or so is fine.

BTW...belly fat is just fat. you can't target it. it's where YOUR body likes to store.