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    How to lose stomach/tone tum?

    Posts: 5
    edited February 12 in Goal: Maintaining Weight
    Hi guys I'm a few pounds away from my goal weight nearly 4stone off, I'm still unhappy with my stomach I was wondering if anyone had any tips/diet info or exercise on how to help?thanks jo.

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    • Posts: 13 Member
      I had a similar problem I have tried every ab workout routine there is to try and tone up the loose stomach skin and it never really worked so I gave up on that and started lifting weights to tone up my arms and after a month I noticed the stomach was toning up and I wasn't even targeting that Area, weird!
    • Posts: 5
      Thanks for the reply I've heard people say lifting I never go to the gym always just classes I guess I'm going to have to give this a go lol.
    • Posts: 18 Member
      Pilates really helps to tone Abs. Grab a dvd, A couple times a week and you should definitely start to see some results.
    • Posts: 1 Member
      do some cardio to shred the fat and make sure to suck that tummy in when you're doing ab work outs! or else you'll get very ugly abs
    • Posts: 5
      I do cardio 3/4 times a week and it's not making a difference :/
    • Posts: 3 Member
      look up figure eight crunches. they work every part of your ab muscles and actually work to show results.
    • Posts: 58 Member
      Keep in mind that you may be toned under any excess weight you may carry around your middle. Everybody carries their excess in different ways. It seems that stomach muscles don't appear until your body fat gets to a certain level. Just keep doing those crunches and core exercises, it WILL payoff!! You can build up certain muscles, but you can't "spot" reduce.
    • Posts: 865 Member
      Sounds like you still have some fat to lose. If it's loose skin as well as fat it will tighten up but you will have to lose the fat before you begin to see any abs. All the ab exercises in the world are not going to do anything for you unless your BF% is low enough to actually see the muscle underneath. Just keep losing fat and you will see them eventually.

      Good luck...
    • Posts: 4,021 Member
      Ab exercises do not "tone" your abs. They just strengthen them (which is also important).

      Eat at a moderate caloric deficit, including plenty of protein, and follow a full-body, progressive strength training program based on compound lifts (look up Starting Strength, StrongLifts, and New Rules of Lifting for Women). Be patient, and be consistent.
    • Posts: 5
      In not looking to have a washboard stomach that's never gonna happen lol just would like to be more toned and a little flatter I will give all these suggestions a try thanks for the advice folks!
    • Posts: 386 Member
      I do an average of 100 crunches a day with the same goal as you. It seems to be working. I'm at my ideal weight (190) and want to tone what fat is left to muscle.
    • Posts: 26 Member
      The plank is a great exercise to strengthen your abs, anything that keeps your muscles tense throughout the whole set is great but you won't really see any benefit until you lose excess fat from that area, only your diet can help with that. I've always been pretty slim but have a pudge of fat around my belly button, the only thing that got rid of it for me was cutting down on sugar and wheat. Don't cut it out completely (trust me on that one, doing that sent me really crazy for a while) and do make sure you replace some of the wheat with healthier carbs like brown rice and sweet potatoes but really look at how much sugar you're having, including fruit. I used to have two sugars in my coffee twice a day, what I thought was healthy granola which actually had tons of sugar in it, 4 pieces of fruit a day and that's not including the occasional chocolate bar, fizzy drink and alcohol. I also used to have wheat in most of my meals too - cereal breakfast, sandwich lunch and pasta or pastry for dinner. I now only have one or two pieces of fruit a day and use one in my porridge instead of sugar or honey, I cut down my fizzy drinks, I have only one coffee with one sugar a day and try not to have more than one portion of wheat a day but I often go days without any because I also found out it bloats me a lot. I check lables now, there's sugar in everything, especially low fat products! I didn't really reduce my calorie intake either, cutting down on sugar will always reduce your calories slightly but I didn't need to lose weight so I made sure I replaced sugar calories with protein, I eat so much cheese! Since doing all that my tummy fat has nearly disappeared. I can finally see the abs I've been working on for years! I hope this helps :)
    • Posts: 770 Member
      My nutritionist told me there isn't much you can do about loose skin. Once you get past a certain point, the only option really is surgery. You can tone your abs, but they will be toned behind the loose skin. I have this problem myself!
    • Posts: 519 Member
      Eat around your TDEE and lift more weights, you are looking for body recomp.
    • Posts: 294 Member
      cut out carbs, lower sugar, too much fruit can be bad and increase protein. My combat instructor says it's all about what you eat to get rid of tummy fat and tone it not exercise, exercise will help that but inevitably it's the food we eat
    • Posts: 519 Member
      cut out carbs, lower sugar, too much fruit can be bad and increase protein. My combat instructor says it's all about what you eat to get rid of tummy fat and tone it not exercise, exercise will help that but inevitably it's the food we eat

      why cut out carbs and sugar? If I do that, I would have no energy at all to workout. A bit more protein is always good.
    • Posts: 35,719 Member
      I do cardio 3/4 times a week and it's not making a difference :/

      add some strength/resistance training
    • Posts: 38 Member
      Hi everyone, I have the same goal, I want to tone up my stomach, I have some loose skin also from where I have lost so much weight, I am doing Insanity currently and am seeing the benefit but don't think I will ever tighten up the skin to have viewable abs.

      It is frustrating because I know you can't target a specific area and that cardio and healthy eating are the things I need but I am seeing great results in other areas - in fact there are some where I think I really dont need to lose anymore weight there but stomach and triceps are my two areas I really want to improve. I am going to keep at it , that is interesting about weight lifting. I don't know much about lifting but do want something to go onto after Insanity to maintan what I achieve.
    • Posts: 810
      show previous quotes

      why cut out carbs and sugar? If I do that, I would have no energy at all to workout. A bit more protein is always good.

      Not all carbs. But starchy carbs cause lower GI inflammation which will make any tummy or lower ab bulge more apparent. Eating carbs from verggies and then eating a small to moderate amount of complex carbs right before or right after exercise will give plenty of glycogen restoration and fuel. The SAD had about 4-5 times what you actually need and then youre body spend a lot of time and energy converting and storing what it doesn't use.
    • Posts: 480 Member
      I try to do cardio at least 4-5 times a week, and have now been throwing strength/lifting more in now.. I am starting to see results, toned and strong is my goal.... planks I have a love/hate relationship with... they are great for the abs though!!!! Keep working and you will see the results! Great work so far!
    • Posts: 865 Member
      I do an average of 100 crunches a day with the same goal as you. It seems to be working. I'm at my ideal weight (190) and want to tone what fat is left to muscle.

      Fat doesn't turn into muscle. You will have to lose the fat and gain some muscle. Having said that, all those crunches are just going to build the muscle under the fat, you will still have to lose the fat, via a calorie deficit, for the muscle underneath to be visible.
    • Posts: 73 Member
      Planks! I have lost 3 inches off my waist doing planks! I hate them but they work!
    • Posts: 1,252 Member
      Is it 'fat' or just loose skin? Two very different things. Weights and patience.
    • Posts: 365 Member
      Sounds like you still have some fat to lose. If it's loose skin as well as fat it will tighten up but you will have to lose the fat before you begin to see any abs. All the ab exercises in the world are not going to do anything for you unless your BF% is low enough to actually see the muscle underneath. Just keep losing fat and you will see them eventually.

      Good luck...

      What he said!
    • Posts: 1 Member
      The plank is a great exercise to strengthen your abs, anything that keeps your muscles tense throughout the whole set is great but you won't really see any benefit until you lose excess fat from that area, only your diet can help with that. I've always been pretty slim but have a pudge of fat around my belly button, the only thing that got rid of it for me was cutting down on sugar and wheat. Don't cut it out completely (trust me on that one, doing that sent me really crazy for a while) and do make sure you replace some of the wheat with healthier carbs like brown rice and sweet potatoes but really look at how much sugar you're having, including fruit. I used to have two sugars in my coffee twice a day, what I thought was healthy granola which actually had tons of sugar in it, 4 pieces of fruit a day and that's not including the occasional chocolate bar, fizzy drink and alcohol. I also used to have wheat in most of my meals too - cereal breakfast, sandwich lunch and pasta or pastry for dinner. I now only have one or two pieces of fruit a day and use one in my porridge instead of sugar or honey, I cut down my fizzy drinks, I have only one coffee with one sugar a day and try not to have more than one portion of wheat a day but I often go days without any because I also found out it bloats me a lot. I check lables now, there's sugar in everything, especially low fat products! I didn't really reduce my calorie intake either, cutting down on sugar will always reduce your calories slightly but I didn't need to lose weight so I made sure I replaced sugar calories with protein, I eat so much cheese! Since doing all that my tummy fat has nearly disappeared. I can finally see the abs I've been working on for years! I hope this helps :)

      Sounds like you're doing really well! Great advice - sugar is loaded into everything!
    • Posts: 20 Member
      Hi guys I'm a few pounds away from my goal weight nearly 4stone off, I'm still unhappy with my stomach I was wondering if anyone had any tips/diet info or exercise on how to help?thanks jo.

      crunches, planking... not that complicated but, personally, i find these two movements effective to get rid of the belly flab.
    • Posts: 289 Member
      Planks! I have lost 3 inches off my waist doing planks! I hate them but they work!

      How long has it taken you to lose the 3 inches and how long do you "hold" the plank for? I keep trying to "get into the habit" of doing planks, do them for a couple of days or so then forget again! :ohwell:
    • Posts: 490 Member
      do some cardio to shred the fat and make sure to suck that tummy in when you're doing ab work outs! or else you'll get very ugly abs

      just died a bit here
    • Posts: 865 Member
      show previous quotes

      just died a bit here

      :huh: Ugly abs???
    • Posts: 194 Member
      I read this post today: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1161603-so-you-want-a-nice-stomach and I think it's just what you're after :)
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