Flatten stomach - More abs/cardio/or diet

adammo2121 · December 2013

Hi all,

I used to be a swimmer back in my high school and college days. Typically we'd work out about 20 hours a week. Fast forward 10 years later and there is no change I will ever get back to working about 20 hours a week. And unfortunately it shows in my stomach. Ideally i'd like to flatten or firm my stomach area for next summer and am trying to figure out what I need to do. I currently don't eat terribly bad but do enjoy the occasional snack at night, but have been trying to limit my portions considerably. I've also started doing more weights as I hear that is a good way to help keep the calories burning longer. But I haven't lost a huge amount of weight and don't feel like my stomach is getting in any better shape. Few questions:

1 - Should I be increasing my cardio? Currently I do about 30 minutes bike Tuesday/Thursday, 30 minutes insanity workout Wednesday and 10 minutes before my weight workouts Monday and Friday

2 - Are there some better foods I should be eating to help boost my metabolism or eat the fat away

? I have read that limiting sugar could help quite a bit.

3 - Would doing more ab exercises after my cardio help firm my stomach more?

Appreciate any help, thanks!

MostlyWater · December 2013

Abs are made in the kitchen. Eat clean!

livingleanlivingclean · December 2013

It could also be a matter of being bloated, reacting to foods you may be slightly intolerant too, raised stress/cortisol, lack of sleep..

You really need to get rid of the fat - thousands of sit-ups won't do that for you, that'll just work the muscles under the fat.

cmeiron · December 2013

Abs are made in the kitchen. Eat clean!

Ugh. No.

OP, if you want a flat stomach you need to reduce body fat. You do this by creating a caloric deficit (i.e. consuming fewer calories than your TDEE). Eating "healthy" is great, but if you're eating more than you burn in a day you won't lose weight or body fat.

Exercise can help increase the deficit and resistance training in particular can help you retain muscle/lean body mass which generally results in a more "firm" aesthetic once your target weight is met.

Unfortunately you can't pick and choose where the fat will come off, and no targeted ab workout will help reduce fat on your abdomen. No particular food will help either. And there's no need to "eat clean", whatever that means. Eat healthy food and foods you enjoy.

What you need to be doing is track and log ALL your food (this means using a food scale to measure portions), and adjust your intake as needed to create a modest deficit. You can use the MFP settings to do this (the "eat back your exercise calories" model) or you can set up custom goals using the TDEE method. Be patient.

adammo2121 · December 2013

Thanks for the advice. I was just reading about the tdee for the past little while. Going to give that a shot. What exactly is the mfp settings you refer to? I know that I've tried to do calorie deficits before but just found myself more hungry and stomach growing most if the day. I'm guessing I was doing too much cutting if that is the case right?

believer1988 · December 2013

bump

rileysowner · December 2013

First of all realize this takes time. Your profile shows you starting this month. You will not see major results in such a short time. The other advice about this being about a moderate deficit and using heavy weighted resistance training will also help.

SLLRunner · December 2013

Abs are made in the kitchen. Eat clean!

No, clean eating is a fad. Eating what you want at a calorie deficit to lose body fat helps you lose weight. Working out will help all-over body composition, including abs.

Phoenix_Warrior · December 2013

Thanks for the advice. I was just reading about the tdee for the past little while. Going to give that a shot. What exactly is the mfp settings you refer to? I know that I've tried to do calorie deficits before but just found myself more hungry and stomach growing most if the day. I'm guessing I was doing too much cutting if that is the case right?

If you want to do something a little different than mfp's way, you could go on scoobyworkshop.com or iifym.com and use their calculators to base your intake from. With the TDEE method, you will not eat back exercise, as it already calculates it fir you. I, personally, love this method better. 1200 was too little for me, I couldn't stand it. Plus, picking an intake with a smaller deficit will help to reduce the chance of muscle loss (the more muscle maintained the leaner you will look). Getting 1g per pound of Lean body mass is ideal as well to minimize this.

It's taken me quite awhile now to see some significant improvement in my stomach. Genetics play a big role in that. I do also agree to find some form of resistance training to help with body fat loss. I love weight lifting, I've seen such a huge difference since I've started, but I know that's not always everyone's cup of tea

Jkowals123 · December 2013

Pure Barre helped me with tummy!
Lots of core exercises ( plank for 90
Seconds daily). Etc.

lacurandera1 · December 2013

Abs are made in the kitchen. Eat clean!

No, clean eating is a fad. Eating what you want at a calorie deficit to lose body fat helps you lose weight. Working out will help all-over body composition, including abs.

The only advantage to eating clean is that 400 calories of veg and fruit makes me feel more full for longer than two poptarts.

Eat at a moderate deficit, keep with your cuRrent workout and be patient. Body comp changes take time.

moeisreal · December 2013

workout hard, that's how a firm physique is developed. Everyday for atleast an hour, alternate your cardio days and weight days or do them both, whatever your limits are, Push your limits! Rest day on Sunday. when you leave the gym your shirt should be wet with sweat from cardio & your muscles should be burning/aching from weightlifting. Staying consistent is the hard part.Then, go ahead and make sure your eating clean, maybe try Intermittent fasting which is an easy way to lose weight. Do this and results will come, very good results.

cmeiron · December 2013

Thanks for the advice. I was just reading about the tdee for the past little while. Going to give that a shot. What exactly is the mfp settings you refer to? I know that I've tried to do calorie deficits before but just found myself more hungry and stomach growing most if the day. I'm guessing I was doing too much cutting if that is the case right?

Yeah, if you were starving all the time it was likely because your deficit was too big. Also, as someone else mentioned, it could have been partly caused by eating TOO many calorie-dense foods (a piece of chocolate has less "bulk" than a whole apple, for example). So once you've used a calculator to determine your TDEE (some examples were shown above; I've used the one at fat2fitradio.com), take that number, subtract about 15%, and that number becomes your daily goal. Now, if you have a LOT to lose, then you could push that to 20%. If you're already pretty lean, then that number should be even smaller: 10% or less. To adjust MFP settings manually, you go to My Home, then Goals, then Change Goals, then select Custom Goals. Enter your new goal calorie intake. You can also manually adjust your macro settings here. MFP often gives pretty low protein goals, for example. You might want to fiddle with the numbers a bit until you get closer to something like 1g protein/lb lean body mass. Using this method, you don't add any exercise calories - no eating back exercise because it's built into your TDEE. Some of us still like to log our exercise, so we enter it but change the "calories burned" to "1". Good luck!
(Also, you don't need to work out every single day like that guy above me suggested. Rest and recovery is important. A caloric deficit is key.)