eaiting "clean" but not feel starved

"eating clean' is not necessary to lose weight or get a flat stomach.
But aside from that - you are really low on your fat goal. A lot of people make the mistake when they start dieting that they cut fat. Fat is necessary for us, it regulates hormones and it makes us feel satiated. Fat does not make us fat. Include fat in your meals feel full. Plus, it will help fill those gaps between your calorie goal and calorie intake.

I also strongly recommend the links above. There is a lot to be said for reasonable calorie deficits. Being under you calorie goal once in a while isn't an issue, but it should be a goal to be at least close to it on a regular basis. It will benefit you in the long run in many ways.

Unfortunately we don't get to choose where we lose fat from. Sometimes the stomach is the last place to lean out (that would be me). Eating "clean" or only eating a few hundred calories isn't going to get you a flat stomach.

GO read the links posted. They have the information you need.

And also I agree with 3dogsrunning. Fat does not make you fat. Fat is crucial in your diet.

Thanks 46 for the links. I never really got around to hanging out on the message boards here.... or anywhere. But kudos to you!
lizc, I think we all want a flat tummy and unless you're a genetic pear, life sucks for us, lol. I know I'm a midwestern apple and while my T&A shrink extremely quickly, belly and muffin top are the toughest to get rid of. Keep at it, lift heavy, and eat at least 12,000 + what your burn

As the others have said, and you seem to understand yourself, it's not possible to spot reduce (* to any relevant level) and quite often for ladies the belly fat is the very last to go, so you won't get rid of it until you have a very low body fat percentage.

You can make it look better by gaining more muscle mass overall, which would mean going into a calorie surplus and doing heavy resistance work. That's a larger topic for discussion, so I shall leave it at that for now.

However, the most important thing is to not avoid fat in your diet, as others have said. Eating dietary fat actually helps your body to shed body fat! You should aim for 0.5g of dietary fat per pound of body weight a day. The advice used to be to only eat "good" fat (unsaturated fats - those that are liquid at room temperature) but that has changed in more recent times and the only real advice is to avoid trans fats. So, you can get your fat from avocado, nuts, olive oil, butter, red meat - whatever floats your boat. Full-fat Greek yoghurt is fabulous to have in the morning and keeps you satiated for far longer than a low- or zero-fat alternative. I found this out a few weeks ago when I ran out of my full-fat Greek and had one of my husband's low-fat muesli yoghurts. Comparing the nutrition data, they were similar; same calories, same protein, but whereas mine had fat, his had sugar. With mine, I'd stay full right up to lunchtime. With his, I was starving about ninety minutes later. That's what sugar does to you - makes you hungry and so you either feel like you're starving yourself or are more likely to go over on calories.

If you feel the desire to change your food habits, go for it!
But may I suggest to do it by steps, finding every time what is best for you... you shouldn't feel starved, you won't sustain a "diet" like that!
Include some of your favorite food, in moderation, add vegs, fruits. Experiment, don't demonize the poor grains, what did they do to you?

In this way, you may find that "dieting" is much better than you think...

And for the belly, well... you need time... it probably will be the last thing to go, sorry (same boat here )

When we are talking "fatty foods" what exactly do you mean by that?

Someone else has already suggested some but foods with 'good' fats are nuts/nut butters, avocado, eggs, fatty fish, coconut, olive oil, dark chocolate(I think)


I have a question of my own - what exactly is "eating clean"? It's a term I've seen banded about on the internet and on some recipe blogs etc but I have no idea what it means?!

It's a very debated term.

It has not a defined definition everyone means something different.

For one, it's "a lot of vegs and fruits and no junk food", for others means "no grains" for others it may mean "no sugar".

Ah ok, that explains why google produced no useful answers for me! Thanks. I was just wondering!