Not everyone can get a flat stomach - True or False?

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  • Bounce4
    Bounce4 Posts: 288 Member
    For women:

    Transverse abdominal muscles and pelvic floor muscles take a hit with pregnancy. You can Google to get info on how to strengthen each. I'm not an expert so not going to share specifics for fear of giving out wrong info. There are small exercises and ways to hit it with other gym work too.

    I've done what feels like a billion kegels for pelvic floor and I'm not sure I will ever get back to pre-pregnancy. The first delivery was rough and I'm assuming the damage was to much. This is why mama does not use the trampoline, lol. I've just started focusing on transverse abdominals now that I'm losing weight. I've had three full term pregnancies - 3rd was great big twins - sometimes there is just no going back, lol.

    That transverse abdominal muscle is an inner core muscle and what keeps your belly flat. Extra skin etc. is a different story and I don't know how a c-section affects it. Even if you have never been pregnant, or are male, if you are generally fit and at correct body fat but still have belly - work on transverse abdominal muscles.
  • JenniCali1000
    JenniCali1000 Posts: 646 Member
    It kinda depends on how flat you mean by "flat". You can definitely get rid of most of the fat around your belly--it might not be easy or fast though. I'm trying to get my waist back after 2 children, and it's MURDER!!...trust me. But all you can do is be the best YOU you can be. Everyone is shaped differently, and no 2 bodies are going to react the same. Abs/flat stomach are created mostly by diet and cardio--ridding your midsection of fat. Abdominal exercises will give you more definition once the fat comes off. Keep at it, and don't be too hard on yourself. Nobody's perfect.

    She said it: murder!! So true. It's hard enough getting rid of excess fat and building up the abs, but it seems extra difficult after your entire body has been stretched out by two kids!
  • FitterinaBallerina
    FitterinaBallerina Posts: 18 Member
    I'm a ballet dancer, very active, and eat clean. I've always carried a little lower ab fat. Recently I've started drinking Kombucha and using coconut oil to cook with. I've read that kombucha helps with digestion and cocnut oil has been known to help reduce belly fat. I've noticed a difference without changing any of my other routines. (Coconut oil has a lot of calories, so I only use it in the morning with cooking eggs or put a teaspoon in my coffee). Works for me!
  • kdeaux1959
    kdeaux1959 Posts: 2,675 Member
    Clean eating has little to do with it. Calorie deficit has everything to do with it. Abdominal exercises strengthen and tone the underlying muscles and can help increase metabolism to aid in the deficit.
  • colortheworld
    colortheworld Posts: 374 Member
    I try to eat pretty healthily (high protein, lots of veggies, etc) most of the time, but even when I don't I still have a flat stomach. It's a lot to do with genetics. When I gain weight it shows up in my hips and thighs, not in my stomach.
  • dcnemesis
    dcnemesis Posts: 31
    Clean eating does have something to do with it as bad foods cause bloating, digestion issues and more.

    I am one of these people! I have been everything from Very overweight to clinically underweight...and I don't lose my lower abdomen fat until I am pretty much skinny as hell everywhere else. Its some BS actually. Plus I was a ballet dancer for years so it is NOT a posture issue.

    I am an apple shaped girl and that's just how it goes for me. But my legs/hips/thighs are always small. I think with women its all about different shapes and body fat distribution patterns!
  • runningagainstmyself
    runningagainstmyself Posts: 616 Member
    I am not entirely sure, TBH. Even at my fittest/thinnest, when abs were starting to show, I still had a "pouch" from years of moderate obesity, and I'm pretty sure that it was mostly loose skin -- that said, I cannot discount that there was likely fat there too.

    Let me know when you find out! I need hope to hang on to! :D
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,420 MFP Moderator
    Clean eating does have something to do with it as bad foods cause bloating, digestion issues and more.

    I am one of these people! I have been everything from Very overweight to clinically underweight...and I don't lose my lower abdomen fat until I am pretty much skinny as hell everywhere else. Its some BS actually. Plus I was a ballet dancer for years so it is NOT a posture issue.

    I am an apple shaped girl and that's just how it goes for me. But my legs/hips/thighs are always small. I think with women its all about different shapes and body fat distribution patterns!

    Clean eating has nothing to do with a flat stomach and no it doesn't cause bloating on everyone. If you want defined abs though, you need adequate body composition. This means, you need a good amount of lean body mass and low body fat %. The question is, when you lost a lot of weight, were you weight training on a regular basis with a minimal calorie deficit? If you had a large deficit and only did cardio, i would be surprised.
  • 47Jacqueline
    47Jacqueline Posts: 6,993 Member
    I used to have a really flat stomach, then I developed a burst appendix and when they operated I needed a long cut along my lower abdomen. All my mucles were cut. It's been over 20 years and the scar is pretty much healed, but my muscles never reconnected well and no matter how thin I've been I still have a belly. However, I almost died, do I'm not too upset about the ending.
  • FitnessInstructorKhalil
    FitnessInstructorKhalil Posts: 43 Member
    LADIES, ANYONE CAN GET A FLAT TUMMY. Don't let these myth end your chase of looking better, you just need to fix your diet, many if you may think you've got a good diet but i guarantee you ill find many reasons why its stopping you from having a flat belly. Ill give you two tips, make sure you follow it. 1- eat more fibre, it will help flush out your digestive system and get you in the toilet (number2) mire often leading to flatter tummies. 2- eat protein for breakfast, after 7hours of sleeping, your body is starving therefore the first thing you eat will be stored as fat. (carbs are stored as fat, protein are not stored at all) so if you eat protein for breakfast, your body will not store it and you'll have enough energy for about 2hours (30g of protein per meal). Try this, specially the breakfast issue and you'll see the difference ????
  • NichelleHall
    NichelleHall Posts: 12 Member
    You have to achieve a low body fat percentage along with a high muscle mass to achieve a flatter stomach. Just like people who suffer with loose skin issues, that's an issue with a high body fat percentage. If loose skin feels weighted or heavy, and isn't paper thin similar to how your grandparents skin feels, then it isn't JUST loose skin. When you adjust the body fat to muscle mass ratio, you'll see better results. My mother lost 120 pounds 10 years ago, and had to get EXTREMELY lean to completely rid herself of her pouch from me. And yes she had a C-Section lol.
  • Iron_Feline
    Iron_Feline Posts: 10,750 Member
    LADIES, ANYONE CAN GET A FLAT TUMMY. Don't let these myth end your chase of looking better, you just need to fix your diet, many if you may think you've got a good diet but i guarantee you ill find many reasons why its stopping you from having a flat belly. Ill give you two tips, make sure you follow it. 1- eat more fibre, it will help flush out your digestive system and get you in the toilet (number2) mire often leading to flatter tummies. 2- eat protein for breakfast, after 7hours of sleeping, your body is starving therefore the first thing you eat will be stored as fat. (carbs are stored as fat, protein are not stored at all) so if you eat protein for breakfast, your body will not store it and you'll have enough energy for about 2hours (30g of protein per meal). Try this, specially the breakfast issue and you'll see the difference ????

    Utter nonsense - the only thing stored as fat is excess calories form anything. too much protein will be stored as fat - just like carbs :noway:

    PS what are you trying to sell?
  • Meerataila
    Meerataila Posts: 1,885 Member
    Even before pregnancy I never had a defined flat stomach. Not even as a very active, very skinny 13 year-old. It was a nice little curve, though, not lumpy. Now I might be able to get it that flat again, at least in clothes, but I'd have to lose so much weight my entire family would be dialing eating disorders clinics. I know from past experience it's the last fat on me to go. And I'd look gaunt everywhere else.
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,725 Member
    LADIES, ANYONE CAN GET A FLAT TUMMY. Don't let these myth end your chase of looking better, you just need to fix your diet, many if you may think you've got a good diet but i guarantee you ill find many reasons why its stopping you from having a flat belly. Ill give you two tips, make sure you follow it. 1- eat more fibre, it will help flush out your digestive system and get you in the toilet (number2) mire often leading to flatter tummies. 2- eat protein for breakfast, after 7hours of sleeping, your body is starving therefore the first thing you eat will be stored as fat. (carbs are stored as fat, protein are not stored at all) so if you eat protein for breakfast, your body will not store it and you'll have enough energy for about 2hours (30g of protein per meal). Try this, specially the breakfast issue and you'll see the difference ????

    Utter nonsense - the only thing stored as fat is excess calories form anything. too much protein will be stored as fat - just like carbs :noway:

    PS what are you trying to sell?

    Said this on another forum and was told it was like saying water would get turned into Gold. *sigh*.
  • Iron_Feline
    Iron_Feline Posts: 10,750 Member
    LADIES, ANYONE CAN GET A FLAT TUMMY. Don't let these myth end your chase of looking better, you just need to fix your diet, many if you may think you've got a good diet but i guarantee you ill find many reasons why its stopping you from having a flat belly. Ill give you two tips, make sure you follow it. 1- eat more fibre, it will help flush out your digestive system and get you in the toilet (number2) mire often leading to flatter tummies. 2- eat protein for breakfast, after 7hours of sleeping, your body is starving therefore the first thing you eat will be stored as fat. (carbs are stored as fat, protein are not stored at all) so if you eat protein for breakfast, your body will not store it and you'll have enough energy for about 2hours (30g of protein per meal). Try this, specially the breakfast issue and you'll see the difference ????

    Utter nonsense - the only thing stored as fat is excess calories from anything. Too much protein will be stored as fat - just like carbs :noway:

    PS what are you trying to sell?

    Said this on another forum and was told it was like saying water would get turned into Gold. *sigh*.

    Derp, derp everywhere. :noway: :laugh:
  • leggup
    leggup Posts: 2,942 Member
    Zombie Thread!

    Also, user deactivated, probably more than a year ago.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,420 MFP Moderator
    LADIES, ANYONE CAN GET A FLAT TUMMY. Don't let these myth end your chase of looking better, you just need to fix your diet, many if you may think you've got a good diet but i guarantee you ill find many reasons why its stopping you from having a flat belly. Ill give you two tips, make sure you follow it. 1- eat more fibre, it will help flush out your digestive system and get you in the toilet (number2) mire often leading to flatter tummies. 2- eat protein for breakfast, after 7hours of sleeping, your body is starving therefore the first thing you eat will be stored as fat. (carbs are stored as fat, protein are not stored at all) so if you eat protein for breakfast, your body will not store it and you'll have enough energy for about 2hours (30g of protein per meal). Try this, specially the breakfast issue and you'll see the difference ????

    You might want to do some more research. There is NO need to eat breakfast outside of personal preference and diet adherence. You can get a flat stomach regardless of when you eat your first meal. Also, the amount of protein per meal is another huge fitness myth.
  • Midori_i
    Midori_i Posts: 91 Member
    I would say true. I have weighed 112 lbs, 14% BF rowing 2 hours a day, 5 days a week, and weight lifting twice a week and didn't manage to have a flat stomach, even though I did have 4 of a 6 pack. I still had a bulge at the bottom, I have very narrow hips, and I am fairly sure that's just where my internal organs have to go.

    This. I've never been at 14% BF, but I have managed to lose most of the fat from every other part of my body. I have lean arms and legs and I can see 4 out of the 6 pack too - and also still have the bottom bulge. I'm pretty sure by now that I'll never get rid of that. Not unless I starve myself to be so skinny that I'm Gollum everywhere else.
  • kgeyser
    kgeyser Posts: 22,505 Member
    LADIES, ANYONE CAN GET A FLAT TUMMY. Don't let these myth end your chase of looking better, you just need to fix your diet, many if you may think you've got a good diet but i guarantee you ill find many reasons why its stopping you from having a flat belly. Ill give you two tips, make sure you follow it. 1- eat more fibre, it will help flush out your digestive system and get you in the toilet (number2) mire often leading to flatter tummies. 2- eat protein for breakfast, after 7hours of sleeping, your body is starving therefore the first thing you eat will be stored as fat. (carbs are stored as fat, protein are not stored at all) so if you eat protein for breakfast, your body will not store it and you'll have enough energy for about 2hours (30g of protein per meal). Try this, specially the breakfast issue and you'll see the difference ????

    :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
  • Ely82010
    Ely82010 Posts: 1,998 Member
    LADIES, ANYONE CAN GET A FLAT TUMMY. Don't let these myth end your chase of looking better, you just need to fix your diet, many if you may think you've got a good diet but i guarantee you ill find many reasons why its stopping you from having a flat belly. Ill give you two tips, make sure you follow it. 1- eat more fibre, it will help flush out your digestive system and get you in the toilet (number2) mire often leading to flatter tummies. 2- eat protein for breakfast, after 7hours of sleeping, your body is starving therefore the first thing you eat will be stored as fat. (carbs are stored as fat, protein are not stored at all) so if you eat protein for breakfast, your body will not store it and you'll have enough energy for about 2hours (30g of protein per meal). Try this, specially the breakfast issue and you'll see the difference ????

    Of course this is a comment posted by a 20 years old male.:explode:

    Please came back to us after you had a couple of pregnancies and deliveries (natural or by cesarean) or if you had a hysterectomy or any other abdominal surgery.

    And by the way, I am religious breakfast eater because I can't function well without it and because I do believe in the power of breakfast. But that is my personal choice and opinion. But the only thing that will make my stomach flat is the skilful work of a nice plastic surgeon.

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