So you want a nice stomach

usmcmp wrote: »

You 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!

odusgolp wrote: »

usmcmp wrote: »

KayBallin wrote: »

I credit this thread for aiding me in losing the ~20lbs i've lost over the past year. Thank you! @usmcmp

One question though, I can see definition of my abs when I flex (mainly in the morning) but I still have quite a bit of belly fat. I would say I'm at about 25% BF. I would like to get in the 17%-19% range. I've kind of plateaued for the past month or three.

I've been cycling calories: ~1900 on lifting days and ~1500 on non-lifting/cardio days (I do Muay Thai 2x week). Should I go back to eating -15% TDEE? Only thing I'm afraid of is losing strength.

Last time I cut that much, my lifting suffered tremendously. I'm doing Stronglifts, if that matters. I have no idea if it was because my macronutrients were off or if I just cut more than I think I did?

Thanks again!

@KayBallin I'm glad this thread helped you! I'd say the first step is to look at the accuracy of your logging. If you are sure that you are accurate then slowly cut back on calories a bit to see if it gets things moving again. Another option (if you aren't already doing this) is to add in hypertrophy work as your accessory work with Stronglifts. There's Boring But Big that was made to go with 5/3/1, but it could work with Stronglifts if you are willing to make adjustments.

Unfortunately your strength will probably take a hit at some point. That's just the way it is for most of us when dieting to the lower levels of body fat. Once you get to the point where you begin to up calories and maintain you'll get it back pretty quickly.

usmcmp wrote: »

Katerina9408 wrote: »

I don't understand the macro calculator Pls someone assistance.Thank u !

@katerina9408 Try this one: iifym.com/iifym-calculator/