So you want a nice stomach
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*bump0
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SoundYou want to lose belly fat and have a nice flat toned mid section? We see that a lot on this site. Hell, that was my goal for my birthday last year. We all want to be able to take our shirt off at the pool or beach and look great, but how do we do it?
1. Slight calorie deficit. Eating 800 calories and killing yourself in the gym is not going to get you there any faster. You need to fuel your body appropriately. I suggest the TDEE-20% method. www.1percentedge.com/ifcalc (If you have questions please feel free to ask them here). Make sure to weigh everything you eat! Guessing could put you well over your calories.
2. Strength training. If you want that toned mid section look you have to put some muscle there. If you just want a nice flat stomach muscle will still help it look tight. You can begin with Strong Lifts, a hypertrophy routine or a strength program from bodybuilding.com (free!). One that includes compound lifts like deadlift, squat, bench press and pull ups will help. Work on increasing the amount of weight you use. When the weight gets heavier you engage your core more and it builds the muscle.
3. Muscle insurance. There are a variety of studies done on the amount of protein the body needs. I like to think of higher protein as muscle insurance. My suggestion is about 1gram of protein per pound of lean mass. Make sure to get fat in your diet to help joints and metabolic processes. Make sure to get carbs in your diet to fuel workouts.
4. Cardio. I like cardio once or twice a week for 30 minutes. It's good for the heart and lungs. It doesn't add much to the calorie burn for the week, but it helps even things out in case you haven't been completely accurate weighing food.
5. Patience! It is not going to happen overnight. If you stick with it you could lose around 1% body fat a month. We aren't going to be perfect all the time. Enjoy birthdays and holidays. It is life and things will happen. Don't stress, learn to love the process.
FINALLY: Losing fat is like trying to dry out a sponge. You can't dry a corner while the rest of it is still wet. You won't magically lose belly fat or thigh fat or any other fat. It will come off where it wants to. Keep working at it! It is possible!
sounds like a really well balanced plan thanks for sharing0 -
Nice.0
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ThatLadyFromMN wrote: »
What does this mean? sorry I am new to MFP0 -
Fitgirlwannabe1 wrote: »ThatLadyFromMN wrote: »
What does this mean? sorry I am new to MFP
Bump used to put it in our recent threads list (a list that contained the 25 most recently active topics we had commented in). Now it just moves it to the top of the recent topics list for the entire site. The personal recent threads list was a great way to keep topics we liked for easier reference.0 -
It is so cool how many people applauds this post while at the same time doing completely the opposite that it says.0
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EatPaleoStyle wrote: »It is so cool how many people applauds this post while at the same time doing completely the opposite that it says.
I provide the info, it's up to them to follow it. Most of them know what they are doing wrong. They have to decide they really want it and they are ready to do what it takes. At least they've had the opportunity to read something other than "eat healthy and run lots" which is what I had heard for many years.1 -
Your info is great, the funny thing for me is that in most of the post that I read people eat tons of carbs, do insane amount of cardio, are scared of a bar and many other things.
I am glad that your post is at the top and hopefully will help people willing to have an open mind.0 -
I've been doing cardio like 5 days week...should is that bad?
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dkeener_81 wrote: »I've been doing cardio like 5 days week...should is that bad?
Cardio isn't bad, it's great for your heart and lungs as well as helping you maintain a calorie deficit (or allowing you to eat slightly more on days you do it). A more effective method to losing fat and keeping it off is to do strength training as well as some cardio.0 -
dkeener_81 wrote: »I've been doing cardio like 5 days week...should is that bad?
Cardio isn't bad, it's great for your heart and lungs as well as helping you maintain a calorie deficit (or allowing you to eat slightly more on days you do it). A more effective method to losing fat and keeping it off is to do strength training as well as some cardio.
I do the cardio in the morning and then a HIIT in the evening after work. Every other day I add weighted hula hooping for 10-20 min.0 -
dkeener_81 wrote: »dkeener_81 wrote: »I've been doing cardio like 5 days week...should is that bad?
Cardio isn't bad, it's great for your heart and lungs as well as helping you maintain a calorie deficit (or allowing you to eat slightly more on days you do it). A more effective method to losing fat and keeping it off is to do strength training as well as some cardio.
I do the cardio in the morning and then a HIIT in the evening after work. Every other day I add weighted hula hooping for 10-20 min.
HIIT is cardio. A weighted hula hoop isn't going to do much for full body resistance training. If you have a gym look into a two day a week full body program. If not then look into convict conditioning or You Are Your Own Gym.
Full body resistance training is important for preserving lean mass. That means you have less weight to lose in the long run because you lose more weight from fat instead of fat and lean mass. It also means better body composition when you get to your goal, so you look better. Plus, strength is always functional.0 -
dkeener_81 wrote: »dkeener_81 wrote: »I've been doing cardio like 5 days week...should is that bad?
Cardio isn't bad, it's great for your heart and lungs as well as helping you maintain a calorie deficit (or allowing you to eat slightly more on days you do it). A more effective method to losing fat and keeping it off is to do strength training as well as some cardio.
I do the cardio in the morning and then a HIIT in the evening after work. Every other day I add weighted hula hooping for 10-20 min.
HIIT is cardio. A weighted hula hoop isn't going to do much for full body resistance training. If you have a gym look into a two day a week full body program. If not then look into convict conditioning or You Are Your Own Gym.
Full body resistance training is important for preserving lean mass. That means you have less weight to lose in the long run because you lose more weight from fat instead of fat and lean mass. It also means better body composition when you get to your goal, so you look better. Plus, strength is always functional.
I never eat as much as the calorie counter tells me. I'm either at the 1200 or less...I keep reading that it's important to "fuel your body" but I'm also afraid that I'm not able to appropriately calculate the calories I'm burning.0 -
dkeener_81 wrote: »dkeener_81 wrote: »dkeener_81 wrote: »I've been doing cardio like 5 days week...should is that bad?
Cardio isn't bad, it's great for your heart and lungs as well as helping you maintain a calorie deficit (or allowing you to eat slightly more on days you do it). A more effective method to losing fat and keeping it off is to do strength training as well as some cardio.
I do the cardio in the morning and then a HIIT in the evening after work. Every other day I add weighted hula hooping for 10-20 min.
HIIT is cardio. A weighted hula hoop isn't going to do much for full body resistance training. If you have a gym look into a two day a week full body program. If not then look into convict conditioning or You Are Your Own Gym.
Full body resistance training is important for preserving lean mass. That means you have less weight to lose in the long run because you lose more weight from fat instead of fat and lean mass. It also means better body composition when you get to your goal, so you look better. Plus, strength is always functional.
I never eat as much as the calorie counter tells me. I'm either at the 1200 or less...I keep reading that it's important to "fuel your body" but I'm also afraid that I'm not able to appropriately calculate the calories I'm burning.
I'd be happy to help you. If you go back and read the first post it has a calculator that tells you what your TDEE (the number of calories at which you maintain weight) is. If you would like personalized help send me a private message.0 -
so, usmcmp, are you a certified personal trainer, or are you just spouting stuff that you think people want to hear. I agree with some of your things, but not all.1
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so, usmcmp, are you a certified personal trainer, or are you just spouting stuff that you think people want to hear. I agree with some of your things, but not all.
Neither. That's fine if you don't agree, there are plenty of people that don't agree through the last 24 pages. I'm telling people what has worked for me and many others. There is more than one way to do it.
I'm guessing (based on your age) that you think people should do more cardio than my small suggestion. Feel free to read back through my multiple responses on that. Most of the people who protested the cardio point are women in their 40's, who have heard their entire lives that you have to do cardio to lose weight and that is completely incorrect because it's a calorie deficit that creates fat loss (which cardio can help people achieve). My suggestion for cardio and strength training falls within the recommendations by the American Heart Association for cardiovascular and strength activity. Also, I posted a study previously that showed strength training alone can improve cardiovascular function and VO2Max.
Anything else you would like to discuss? I don't have to be a trainer to be educated on fitness and fat loss. There are many certified personal trainers that do not understand fat loss and simply tell their clients to eat clean and do more cardio. I know a few trainers that have their clients on 500 calorie diets doing cardio twice a day. I'll take no b.s. proven and sustainable methods over certification any day.2 -
so, usmcmp, are you a certified personal trainer, or are you just spouting stuff that you think people want to hear. I agree with some of your things, but not all.
Neither. That's fine if you don't agree, there are plenty of people that don't agree through the last 24 pages. I'm telling people what has worked for me and many others. There is more than one way to do it.
I'm guessing (based on your age) that you think people should do more cardio than my small suggestion. Feel free to read back through my multiple responses on that. Most of the people who protested the cardio point are women in their 40's, who have heard their entire lives that you have to do cardio to lose weight and that is completely incorrect because it's a calorie deficit that creates fat loss (which cardio can help people achieve). My suggestion for cardio and strength training falls within the recommendations by the American Heart Association for cardiovascular and strength activity. Also, I posted a study previously that showed strength training alone can improve cardiovascular function and VO2Max.
Anything else you would like to discuss? I don't have to be a trainer to be educated on fitness and fat loss. There are many certified personal trainers that do not understand fat loss and simply tell their clients to eat clean and do more cardio. I know a few trainers that have their clients on 500 calorie diets doing cardio twice a day. I'll take no b.s. proven and sustainable methods over certification any day.
At muhfuggin ease souljah!
Haha...I agree 100% with what USMCMP just wrote.0 -
so, usmcmp, are you a certified personal trainer, or are you just spouting stuff that you think people want to hear. I agree with some of your things, but not all.
From your profile: "I have tried many times to get serious about losing weight in the past 10 years, but never succeeded in keeping it off"
JSF.0
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