Is it possible I will never have a flat stomach

you just need to keep lowering your bodyfat until its to a level where you have a flat stomach... you can do it, its just really hard work, especially if genetics are against you!

Everybody can get a flat stomach, anyone who says otherwise just lacks knowledge how. It depends on your situation what the reason is you have a hard time getting rid of your stomach fat. It is about hormones, so keep that in mind when you read articles about losing fat because male and female body's are different. For you I would recommend proteine in the morning, go to bed at around 22h every night and keep 4 hours between meals, take 3 meals a day. The more meals a day theory has no research whatsoever to back up any advantages. Also omega-3 fats and coconut extra virgine oil is good for losing stomach fat. Instead of jogging or stuff like that do HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training). Since you're a woman make sure you have a proper sports bra when doing HIIT. These are the big lines that should help you, if you got questions let me know. Hope it helps.

Eating more meals a day won't improve things (NIH study below), neither will getting protein at a specific interval or going to bed at a specific time. For all you know the OP gets up at 9am or later. The fact is, she does need a good night sleep but not a specific bedtime. The fact is, the OP can get a flat stomach by continuing to lose weight. But if she gets to a low body fat, and still no abs or definition, it means she doesn't have enough lean body mass and it would require a bulk. Most women don't realize that (and some men too). Many associate weight loss with tighter bodies. But if you lose too much muscle, it makes it very difficult to get that look. This is very common with those who are at the bottom of a weight range.

OP, here is the keys: time and weight training (to preserve muscle)

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19943985

I wasn't talking about a interval for proteine. For women having proteine on the morning IS beneficial. This has to do with hormones. Same thing as fasting works better for men than women. Different hormones. So proteine in the morning will help and the times you sleep also matter. Most important is the amount of hours, but times actually do affect actual rest (mainly mental rest, which is good to relieve stress).

Adding to my first post: diet is most important in losing body fat. Eat healthy, not more than 2 pieces of fruit. No candy cake or cookies, ice cream, junkfood etc. Just get used to eating fruit and nuts as candy. If you really cant resist keep it to a minimum. Nutrition dense foods and whole foods are always supposed to be in your diet.

As far as exercises go for flat stomach. Lot of leg exercises. Weight training and getting bigger legs will definitely help losing body fat. And do planks and variations for tight abs.

You do not need to give up any candy, ice cream or "junk food". Below is a perfect example of a women who literally eats ice cream every day. Fat loss is all about calorie reduction. Muscle retention is about resistance training and protein intake. You can fit candy, ice cream and other junk in your diary and still get the results you want. Protein in the morning is a satiety thing. I have seen plenty of women that are successful using IF and get the results.




http://www.myfitnesspal.com/Sarauk2sf

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/903628-one-year-of-barbells-and-ice-cream-my-story-so-far-pics

You don't have to give it up to get a flat stomach, but you do to get optimal health. It is indeed about calories. Protein for muscle gain is overrated and needs way less focus than it is given now.

Protein in the context I meant is not a satiety thing, it has way other purposes, it helps making certain hormones (English is not my first language I don't know how to say it better than "making", sorry for that). That's why it is only beneficial to women to specifically eat protein in the morning (preferably before 10.00). And IF could definitely benefit women, all I mean is the effects are different and it would be better to take a different route. Keep in mind I don't just focus on getting a certain body shape, but also the health that has more to do with how the body looks from the inside.

I can see you relaying on research and experience, and you are conscience of the things you say, but I also feel like you relay a little too much on anecdotes and don't concentrate on the complete picture of food and exercise. I don't mean this in a down talking way please dont get me wrong.

Interesting read perhaps, I couldn't find my other sources but this is pretty informative:
http://www.paleoforwomen.com/shattering-the-myth-of-fasting-for-women-a-review-of-female-specific-responses-to-fasting-in-the-literature/

At the end of the day food and exercise affect your hormones and thats whats its all about, for male and female. And I don't just stop at what works, I always look for things that work even better, for results as far as looks go, but also health or complete body and mind. I think it would be interesting to exchange some knowledge in a less superficial way some time. We could probably learn alot from each other.

You say that psulemon wants to rely on anecdote, yet no-where have you shown anything to support your comment about protein.

Also, the jury is out on the effects of IF for women. There is a potential hormonal impact and some women do not do too well on IF, but this is very individual, as is actually pointed out in the article you linked.


Your commentary is completely out of context - you say you need to eat protein before 10am. What if someone gets up at noon?

By far the most important thing re meal/macro timing is how well it helps someone adhere to their diet and to allow them to train with the best intensity.

Regarding your comment re protein being over-rated for muscle gain - you give no context. Protein is very important.

And you can eat some 'junk' food and be healthy and get a flat stomach. Overall diet needs to be looked at.

you just need to keep lowering your bodyfat until its to a level where you have a flat stomach... you can do it, its just really hard work, especially if genetics are against you!

These posts get too long I'm not gonna go on too long. True I didn't give a full list of references, I don't feel that necessary, if you want to know why I think the way I think you can ask me about it instead of pointing out I don't provide sources. You give no sources also about the "jury" who judges about the effects of IF. Nor about being healthy while still eating ice cream everyday. So if you wanna point it out by me, why do the same. Just cause a person feels healthy does not mean they are. The protein issue is not a small issue, it is an important nutritien, just not in the amount today's sporters eat them. About context, I'm not trying to blog here or put complete articles to explain stuff or put my posts full with links. As I said to you and the other guy, I'm always open for questions and I regret that you and the other guy take such a somewhat hostile approach instead of openly and nicely talking.