can I get a flat stomach through just a diet?

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  • jardimgirl
    jardimgirl Posts: 522 Member
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    bump for feed :)
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,220 Member
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    bump for feed :)

    The advice will be the same that you've gotten over and over again in the other threads you have started and the ones you have bumped to follow. As always, stick with a slight deficit long term and have patience.
  • Harriet91Beaumont
    Harriet91Beaumont Posts: 10 Member
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    I have managed to get a flat stomach through dieting alone, and it sounds like you are almost there! I am 5'1 and about 110lbs. My stomach doesn't look defined at all, it is soft and i can pinch a very small amount of fat but it's flat, and when I lay down I get that infamous "bikini bridge" XD I can't exercise much due to disability but I walk quite a bit, selling my car was such a good idea!! It also depends on WHAT you eat because of course some foods will make your stomach stick out. Eat small regular meals, for me I avoid potatoes but don't know if that is the case for everyone, and don't eat anything you are intolerant too either :-)

    And also having stomach muscles will mean you can hold your stomach in, therefore get a flat stomach even after a large meal. You won't be able to do that without defining your stomach muscles, but I don't really care about that.
  • jardimgirl
    jardimgirl Posts: 522 Member
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    bump for feed :)

    The advice will be the same that you've gotten over and over again in the other threads you have started and the ones you have bumped to follow. As always, stick with a slight deficit long term and have patience.

    i know hun. i like having all these threads to look through so i dont keep asking :)
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    Depends on your genetics.
  • natashabefit
    natashabefit Posts: 76
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    Depends on your genetics.

    so does that mean if my family stores fat primarily on their stomach, i can never have a flatter stomach?
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,220 Member
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    Depends on your genetics.

    Why's that?
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,220 Member
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    Depends on your genetics.

    so does that mean if my family stores fat primarily on their stomach, i can never have a flatter stomach?

    My family stores fat in their stomach primarily. Even I did. You just have to have low enough body fat to get there. Depending on your personal build you may need to add some muscle to keep from having to lose lots of weight.

    PhotoGrid_1380639685183_zps218147ba.jpg
  • albayin
    albayin Posts: 2,524 Member
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    wow, this is so amazing. you even lost weigh on your head. :love:
  • earth_echo
    earth_echo Posts: 133 Member
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    Fat-free stomach and flat stomach are 2 entirely different things, imo. Achieving a fat-free stomach is possible for anyone without exercise. Whether a fat-free stomach is flat will depend on exercise and other things like curvature of the spine and internal organ position. In women, the uterus rarely sits perfectly vertical, for example. Sometimes it tilts forward and sometimes it tilts back. Once you get the fat off, you'll have a better idea of what all you need to do (if anything) to achieve a flat stomach. In my case, exercise would be necessary for me to have a flat stomach.
  • Iwishyouwell
    Iwishyouwell Posts: 1,888 Member
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    Diet alone won't result in a flat stomach from my experience. I'm very close to being underweight. Technically, I'm not but I'm as thin as I dare be. I don't exercise except when my life calls for it (shoveling, yard work, etc.). My stomach is not flat.

    stomach.jpg

    How is that not a flat stomach? Because you have a natural curve that has nothing to do with excess fat? Many women naturally have that curve.

    Trust me, many people would KILL to have a stomach as flat as yours definitely is.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
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    Well technically I think diet alone can get you a "flat" stomach but when most people say flat stomach what they have pictured in their head is the stomach of someone who is athletic and muscular and has a six pack or at least a flat stomach flanked by some oblique muscles. That look...that "flat stomach" look, that comes from weight lifting not from diet alone. You need to diet to lose the fat to expose the underlying muscle but if you don't weight lift you aren't going to get that firm flat look.

    Another thing I believe about that is that if you weight lift and eat to support that and build muscle then it takes less fat loss to expose that firm look which means you can operate at a higher percent bodyfat while still looking like that. Higher bodyfat on that end of the scale can actually give you more strength and energy. If you starve yourself down to 12% bodyfat (as a woman) you might have so little fat that your stomach appears flat but perhaps not in the way you would consider attractive and at the cost of your strength.
  • earth_echo
    earth_echo Posts: 133 Member
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    How is that not a flat stomach? Because you have a natural curve that has nothing to do with excess fat? Many women naturally have that curve.

    Trust me, many people would KILL to have a stomach as flat as yours definitely is.

    Yes, it's that curve I'm talking about and is what I wanted to show. Not having a truly flat stomach is fine, imo. Having a rounded stomach doesn't mean "fatness". I see lots of ab/flat stomach pics on this site. Whoa. Yeah, for me that would be soooooo hard/not worth it.
  • Meerataila
    Meerataila Posts: 1,885 Member
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    Depends on your genetics.

    so does that mean if my family stores fat primarily on their stomach, i can never have a flatter stomach?

    My family stores fat in their stomach primarily. Even I did. You just have to have low enough body fat to get there. Depending on your personal build you may need to add some muscle to keep from having to lose lots of weight.

    PhotoGrid_1380639685183_zps218147ba.jpg

    I'm so encouraged by this!
  • goldfinger88
    goldfinger88 Posts: 686 Member
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    You do not get a flat stomach at all with exercise. You only get it by lowering your body fat and I mean low. Abs are made in the kitchen not the gym.
  • Iwishyouwell
    Iwishyouwell Posts: 1,888 Member
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    How is that not a flat stomach? Because you have a natural curve that has nothing to do with excess fat? Many women naturally have that curve.

    Trust me, many people would KILL to have a stomach as flat as yours definitely is.

    Yes, it's that curve I'm talking about and is what I wanted to show. Not having a truly flat stomach is fine, imo. Having a rounded stomach doesn't mean "fatness". I see lots of ab/flat stomach pics on this site. Whoa. Yeah, for me that would be soooooo hard/not worth it.

    Your stomach is what I personally would classify as "flat", definitely. It just looks like a flat stomach with that natural outward curve many women have.
  • natashabefit
    natashabefit Posts: 76
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    what does weight lifting have to do with a flat stomach if i may ask? arent their lifters that are heavy and have big stomachs?
  • natashabefit
    natashabefit Posts: 76
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    and is lifting the only way to have a tight belly? can i do planks instead?
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,220 Member
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    what does weight lifting have to do with a flat stomach if i may ask? arent their lifters that are heavy and have big stomachs?

    I covered that previously. As you lose weight (especially when your body fat gets lower) your body will use some of your lean mass. Strength training helps preserve the lean mass along with adequate protein intake. That means you will have to lose less weight in the long run because you will be losing a greater percentage of fat than just diet or diet and cardio. It also improves body composition.

    There are powerlifters and some bodybuilders who have large stomachs. They're also eating large amounts of food, often taking steroids and lifting extremely heavy for many years. They also have significantly higher testosterone than you. Your stomach will not accidentally look like that. I am a woman who has been lifting for a few years and actually trying to gain huge muscles, it is a very long slow process to add significant muscle.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1161603-so-you-want-a-nice-stomach

    http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/8-reasons-women-should-lift-weights.html
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,220 Member
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    and is lifting the only way to have a tight belly? can i do planks instead?

    Planks can help strengthen your core, but lifting helps preserve lean mass over your entire body.

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