Flat stomach without abs
AmyJade_mfp
Posts: 55 Member
I know this topic has been mentioned a lot and I've read through them and I simply don't get it. I am very new to all of this so think like you are explaining it to a beginner!
Basically, I want a flat stomach without visible abs, currently I do a powerwalk 4/5 days a week for an hour to an hour and a half and 50 sit ups a day. I'm not expecting results straight away, but I know you have to lower out body fat and what not but how do you do this? I have no idea and would kindly appreciate someone explaining everything so I can understand it! You can message me if you want!
Thank you!
PS. I'm not expecting miracles as I have a bit to go (19, 5ft7, 158 pounds) guess I'm a slight chubber but I know how to look slimmer in clothes and what not! I would love to notice a difference in 2 months, if not then by christmas to look completely different! But help would be appreciated!
Basically, I want a flat stomach without visible abs, currently I do a powerwalk 4/5 days a week for an hour to an hour and a half and 50 sit ups a day. I'm not expecting results straight away, but I know you have to lower out body fat and what not but how do you do this? I have no idea and would kindly appreciate someone explaining everything so I can understand it! You can message me if you want!
Thank you!
PS. I'm not expecting miracles as I have a bit to go (19, 5ft7, 158 pounds) guess I'm a slight chubber but I know how to look slimmer in clothes and what not! I would love to notice a difference in 2 months, if not then by christmas to look completely different! But help would be appreciated!
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Replies
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Eat a deficit and do lots of cardio. How much of a difference it makes in the amount of time you've specified depends on you.0
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Basically, I want a flat stomach without visible abs,
Did you mean you want a flat stomach WITH visible abs?0 -
Basically, I want a flat stomach without visible abs,
Did you mean you want a flat stomach WITH visible abs?
I would LOVE to have a flat stomach with NO visible abs!! Going to bump this.0 -
bump0
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Basically, I want a flat stomach without visible abs,
Did you mean you want a flat stomach WITH visible abs?
I think she means she wants a flat stomach without the muscle definition. Think more Victoria's Secret swimsuit model than a fitness model. I would quit the sit ups OP as I think they're mainly a waste of time. I'd focus on short bursts of high intensity cardio- when you're doing your power walking maybe throw in some one minute sprints in every few minutes. The biggest difference is eating at a calorie deficit. Make vegetables a big part of your meals and snacks.0 -
Basically, I want a flat stomach without visible abs,
Did you mean you want a flat stomach WITH visible abs?
I think she means she wants a flat stomach without the muscle definition. Think more Victoria's Secret swimsuit model than a fitness model. I would quit the sit ups OP as I think they're mainly a waste of time. I'd focus on short bursts of high intensity cardio- when you're doing your power walking maybe throw in some one minute sprints in every few minutes. The biggest difference is eating at a calorie deficit. Make vegetables a big part of your meals and snacks.
Exactly this! Is there anything else I can do exercise wise?0 -
Genetics will play a role in this. You'll just have to try to play around with it. There's no real definitive answer.
A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition0 -
Continue to eat less... you won't start to see a flat tummy until the fat on top of your abs is gone.... and do tons of heart-pumping cardio. For someone your size, power walking is not likely to cut it. Higher intensity training is the way to go... Zumba, step aerobics or couchto5k are great ways to start breaking a sweat. If your heart rate isn't up and you're not breaking a sweat, it is likely that you are overestimating your calorie burn. If you want it, you've got to push for it...Don't dial it in. I also LOVE Barre3 for toning. You lose tons of inches... I seriously feel like someone has kicked me in the abs for two days after class. The whole class engages the abs. You pay attention to keeping your ribcage in and pushing your belly button toward your spine while toning the rest of your body. My muscles are so shaky midway through the class. Sit ups won't create flat abs... they just make the muscle stronger underneath the fat. I'm working toward the same goal. Working on lowering body fat to get there....Like I said it's mainly about burning the fat on top of the muscle. Good luck to you!0
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Getting a flat stomach without visible abs is a lot easier than getting visible abs.
What you have to do is stop losing body fat when you're happy with how you look.
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Who doesnt want visible abs???
Im truly confused by this.0 -
Continue to eat at a small deficit. Stop the crunches. You can't spot reduce.0
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Women have to work their behinds off to get abs, it's part of how our bodies work, you won't accidentally have visible abs, don't worry.0
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Who doesnt want visible abs???
Im truly confused by this.
It's like Abbylg said above, like the Victoria's Secret models, smooth, just enough subcutaneous fat for a flat belly but no muscle definition. Not everybody wants the 6-pack, or the zero-body-fat look, or the Jillian rippled stomach look. I agree with OP, that's what I would love to have, flat and smooth, no visible abs.0 -
you should do some weights, too. muscle burns more calories than fat.0
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Women have to work their behinds off to get abs, it's part of how our bodies work, you won't accidentally have visible abs, don't worry.
Not necessarily! Everyone and every body is different. Then again, what someone might think of as "visible abs" might be different from another's perspective.
OP, try to keep your diet fairly healthy and drink plenty of water daily. Any cardio is great, including elliptical, long walks, jogging, stair master, cycling, dancing, etc. Quit the sit-ups and crunches, and start doing planks (yoga incorporates a lot of these, so you could start doing yoga a couple times a week if you have access). Over time, with continued fat loss, you will get those flat abs you are looking for and will be left only with a *hint* of tone from the yoga/planks/etc. (think Victoria's Secret model). :flowerforyou:0 -
Who doesnt want visible abs???
Im truly confused by this.
yeah, I thought it was a troll lol. I'd be happy with the outline or the 6-pack. the outline is hard enough! 0 -
Don't do any situps or similar. You're not aiming to build bulk, but just strip fat. Do hard cardio - sprints and intervals, not steady-state like long runs. You can do long runs too, but the more you do steady-state, the less it does for you since your body gets more efficient at it. You need to strip fat, not follow a gazelle for 40 miles.
Do stability exercises - planks and all variants thereof. Build some strength for firmness without working on much building.
And keep eating at a deficit to lose fat.
The only thing that gets you a small waist is a low enough body fat to not hold any there - which is different amounts depending on where your body wants to hold its fat.
Full-body free weight exercises are good for building the shapely muscles that don't look like muscles, and also for raising your metabolism to burn more fat. Put them in with the hard cardio.
But basically, just lose enough fat until your stomach shows up.0 -
Getting a flat stomach without visible abs is a lot easier than getting visible abs.
What you have to do is stop losing body fat when you're happy with how you look.
This.
Keep eating at a deficit and you will eventually have flat stomach. If you somehow get carried away and your body fat % drops low enough, you might show some abs. But, don't worry, it's nothing that an extra cheeseburger a day for a week can't fix.
Getting to the point of visible abs can take months, years even. Abs aren't gonna sneak up on you0 -
Okay I'm getting it so far, but how do I lower my body percentage? What's best to eat and what isn't? I'm off this morning to do my workout! How do I make this more fun without it feeling like a mission when I do it?0
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I agree, you won't get abs by accident! You can have a look at my photos, my stomach is nearly flat, I have a small lower belly pooch from being seven months pregnant and losing my son but gets getting flatter for sure.
Situps are worthless at this point, so stop.
Take up something more strenuous than power walking. I'm doing the Zombie 5k training app, but you could do any couch to 5k app to help you get started running, it'll shed away fat.
Look into zumba or a spin class, you want CARDIO CARDIO CARDIO right now to lose the body fat. But that doesn't mean walking on a tredmil (or track) at the same pace for hours and hours, you gotta do interval training.
Look into the 30 day shred for quick fatloss
Whats your diet like right now?0 -
Okay I'm getting it so far, but how do I lower my body percentage? What's best to eat and what isn't? I'm off this morning to do my workout! How do I make this more fun without it feeling like a mission when I do it?
To lower bf% strength training is required to preserve muscle mass while you eat at a deficit. While strength training most of your weight loss will be fat so the ratio of lean body mass to fat increases, thereby lowering body fat percentage.
ETA in terms of food, get plenty of protein, aiming for around 1g per lb LBM per day. To make workouts more fun, find something that you love doing, then it is not such a chore.0 -
I agree, you won't get abs by accident! You can have a look at my photos, my stomach is nearly flat, I have a small lower belly pooch from being seven months pregnant and losing my son but gets getting flatter for sure.
Situps are worthless at this point, so stop.
Take up something more strenuous than power walking. I'm doing the Zombie 5k training app, but you could do any couch to 5k app to help you get started running, it'll shed away fat.
Look into zumba or a spin class, you want CARDIO CARDIO CARDIO right now to lose the body fat. But that doesn't mean walking on a tredmil (or track) at the same pace for hours and hours, you gotta do interval training.
Look into the 30 day shred for quick fatloss
Whats your diet like right now?
Wow! I jut helped out your progress a d you are doing amazingly well! You look amazing!
My diet can sometimes change, atm I'm eating more fruit and less chocolate (dark) simply because I don't feel like it, I'm trying to drink a lot more because I don't drink enough so I probably have a lot of water weight, but I find standard water is yukky!
I have cereal for breakfast, a sandwich and crisps for lunch (as of today no more crisps) and I have a meal my mom makes me which I have no say in, but it's usually fish and veg, meat and veg something a log those lines.0 -
Watching my carbs, NOT cutting them out but watching them has helped me lose the tummy/bloat - carbs hold onto water in your stomach (I've heard lol I'm not a doctor)0
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Don't do any situps or similar. You're not aiming to build bulk, but just strip fat. Do hard cardio - sprints and intervals, not steady-state like long runs. You can do long runs too, but the more you do steady-state, the less it does for you since your body gets more efficient at it. You need to strip fat, not follow a gazelle for 40 miles.
Do stability exercises - planks and all variants thereof. Build some strength for firmness without working on much building.
And keep eating at a deficit to lose fat.
The only thing that gets you a small waist is a low enough body fat to not hold any there - which is different amounts depending on where your body wants to hold its fat.
Full-body free weight exercises are good for building the shapely muscles that don't look like muscles, and also for raising your metabolism to burn more fat. Put them in with the hard cardio.
But basically, just lose enough fat until your stomach shows up.
QFT0 -
Genetics will play a role in this. You'll just have to try to play around with it. There's no real definitive answer.
A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
This plus the lower body fat percentage answer is where it will be at.
Although, depending on your genetics, your abdominal region may be one of the first or one of the last places to lose fat. If it's one of the last, things will probably work out how you want, if it's one of the first, you might have the abs you want, but still have too much fat for your liking in other areas, such as hips, thighs, arms etc...
That's not to say don't go for it, but sometimes you have to work with what your parents have given you, even if it's not exactly what you want.0 -
Don't think you need to avoid weight lifting to get the stomach you want. (I wouldn't do a lot of situps, but because they're not a very effective exercise, not because you'll build muscle.)
Here's a great example of how the flat stomach look vs. visible abs is just a matter of having a little more body fat.
Fitness model Tianna Ta in a competition.
With higher body fat during the "off" season.
My suggestion: Eat at as SMALL calorie deficit (10% below TDEE, or with MFP set to lose a half pound a week), get plenty of protein (around 100g a day would probably be good), strength train with some cardio if you enjoy it, and track your progress through photos instead of the scale.
Stop when you're happy with where you are. It's kind of like wanting to go to the beach, but not go swimming. Stop before you get in the ocean.
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'My suggestion: Eat at as SMALL calorie deficit'
HOW? I have got everything else! My workout this morning was so tiring! It felt GOOD!0 -
the abs are a muscle, if you don't train them with intense exercises they will be less visible, however that is also dependent on the amount of body fat you have. right now it sounds to me like HIIT cardio, cardio classes, etc will get you to a lower bf % which in turn will lead to flatter stomach (if that is where your body stores fat). Flat stomachs also dont come just from reducing body fat, you have to watch what you are eating and your digestive health. Drinking tons of water, a pro and pre biotic, clean healthy foods with good amounts of fiber, etc. I know many women who are "thin" who still dont have flat stomach because of bad diet/digestion issues. just some food for thought.0
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'My suggestion: Eat at as SMALL calorie deficit'
HOW? I have got everything else! My workout this morning was so tiring! It felt GOOD!
How? Eat enough. Calculate your TDEE. If it's, for example, 2200 calories, eat about 1900-2000 calories a day. Don't eat some crazy low amount like 1200 calories, because that's too large of a deficit.0 -
'My suggestion: Eat at as SMALL calorie deficit'
HOW? I have got everything else! My workout this morning was so tiring! It felt GOOD!
Use MFP's guidelines to set a "weight" goal and set it to lose weight at 1 lb a week...then always eat back exercise calories.0
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