Abs are made in the kitchen

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Daveygirl1
Daveygirl1 Posts: 31 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi,

I’ve been working out lifting weights, as an apprentice Pilates instructor and with cardio. My arms and legs look pretty good. My abs are under my small jelly belly. I weigh 126lbs at the moment. I would like to try to lean out, eat around macros vs calories and see what happens. I would love to connect with other for accountability as well as food ideas. Anyone interested in connecting?

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  • jessef593
    jessef593 Posts: 2,272 Member
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    So just basically connecting by doing what we are all already doing?

    Are you referring to just counting macros or calories, because in the end your macros are just calculated out of your total calories.

    Are you following a lifting program or anything of the such?
  • Daveygirl1
    Daveygirl1 Posts: 31 Member
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    Open diaries for ideas, support for when we are off track, etc

    As far as macros vs calories, I’m referring to counting macros (which yes, do add up to a specific calorie count). But I’m more interested in tweaking my eating around (what I believe) my macros should be and seeing how the change in the balance of my food effects my body.

    I lift 4 times a week, upper body twice, lower body twice, one of the 4 sessions is with my trainer - they usually take about an hour. I practice Pilates 6 days a week. 1 or 2 classes, 1 or 2 1:1s, and a couple times by myself (I’m working towards a performance test). There are days (like yesterday) that I end up on the heavy end of Pilates (a beginnner class at 9 - focused on form, an intermediate class at noon - with a classmate, a training session by another apprentice trainer in the afternoon). I do cardio 4-5 times a week. Somewhere between 30-40 minutes depending on the day.

    Is there a specific lifting program you like? Have you had macro focused eating, and if you have, has it made a difference in the way your body looks?
  • jessef593
    jessef593 Posts: 2,272 Member
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    I’ve tried several programs:

    SS 5x5
    Wendler 5/3/1
    A dumbed down lowered volume of PHAT currently.

    I still don’t quite see what you mean. Are you referring to just changing your macros and then eating as much as you’d like?

    My composition depends on my caloric intake. I am currently at a 250 calorie deficit. Looking to reach about 10% body fat at around 172-175lbs. If I eat less I become more vascular and defined. If I eat more I lose definition but look fuller and gain more strength.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,200 Member
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    If you haven't already seen it, you might enjoy this thread:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat

    . . . or this one:

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you

    Good stuff! :)

  • Daveygirl1
    Daveygirl1 Posts: 31 Member
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    @jessef593 I’ve been a calorie counter this entire time, not caring about macros. This is the first time I am going to add in looking at macros instead of just pure calories.

    @AnnPT77 Super helpful! Thank you. That is exactly what I am looking for
  • peaceout_aly
    peaceout_aly Posts: 2,018 Member
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    Do you incorporate weighted core work? I have abs now eating the same calories and specific macros that I've been eating for years. It wasn't until I started incorporating specific core-circuits on upper body days that I saw a difference. Movements like a heavy cable crunch, weighted double crunch, oblique cable twists, knee raises, straight leg raises, oblique planks, plate planks, v-ups, etc. I always thought I had "5 more lbs. to go" LOL
  • Daveygirl1
    Daveygirl1 Posts: 31 Member
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    @peaceout_aly That’s a terrific question! I do a ton of abs in Pilates, on and off the reformer. But it is really repetitive because I am always practicing for a test. I wonder if weighted abs would make a difference. If you look just at my face, back and limbs I really don’t have much fat to loose... but my belly is another story.
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,344 Member
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    Daveygirl1 wrote: »
    @peaceout_aly That’s a terrific question! I do a ton of abs in Pilates, on and off the reformer. But it is really repetitive because I am always practicing for a test. I wonder if weighted abs would make a difference. If you look just at my face, back and limbs I really don’t have much fat to loose... but my belly is another story.
    For many people, the stomach/midsection is the most stubborn fat and the last to go. Depending on genetics, some people have to get extraordinarily lean to get rid of all the belly fat - even sometimes to the point where they look disproportionately lean everywhere else.

    Abdominal/core exercises are a great way to strengthen those muscles and it's a good thing to have a strong core, but they do nothing for fat loss in that area/spot reducing. Fat is inert and cannot be exercised, and exercising the muscles beneath the fat does nothing to get rid of the fat covering them: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21804427
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,393 MFP Moderator
    edited December 2017
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    How tall are you? Because there may be a point where you need to gain weight (muscle) to get abs. It not only comes down to leanness but also muscle base.
  • Daveygirl1
    Daveygirl1 Posts: 31 Member
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    @Anvil_Head That’s tremendously frustrating. :-)

    @psuLemon I’m open to that. When you say this, is it all over muscle?
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,393 MFP Moderator
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    Daveygirl1 wrote: »
    @Anvil_Head That’s tremendously frustrating. :-)

    @psuLemon I’m open to that. When you say this, is it all over muscle?

    Yes. But you could do a bit of focused training (i.e., glutes).
  • Daveygirl1
    Daveygirl1 Posts: 31 Member
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    Weighted abs sound appealing. I will start looking up options today. Any suggestions?
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,393 MFP Moderator
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    Daveygirl1 wrote: »
    Weighted abs sound appealing. I will start looking up options today. Any suggestions?

    Your foundation should be a structured lifting routine, like: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1

    And then find a good ab routine.. personally i like the routines by AthleanX on YouTube. Jeff Cavelier has a pretty methodical routine and they are fairly short.
  • Daveygirl1
    Daveygirl1 Posts: 31 Member
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    Thanks @psulemon !
  • iheartmakeup01
    iheartmakeup01 Posts: 35 Member
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    Abs are extremely hard to achieve, in addition to diet and excercise, I do compound movements ( deadlifts, squats, weighted hanging leg raises, leg raises, ab work 3 times a week) . I had to go through 2 cut phases to achieve a low enough body fat to have my abs to show. Best way to lean out is to do a mini cut slowly decrease calories and maybe cut back on your cardio if you don’t see improvement. Sometimes, more is less.
  • Daveygirl1
    Daveygirl1 Posts: 31 Member
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    @iheartmakeup01 That’s helpful perspective.
  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,979 Member
    edited January 2018
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    lorrpb wrote: »
    Abs are made in the gym and revealed in the kitchen!

    This^

    I developed visible abs by just doing compound lifts (mainly DL, SQT, BP & OHP) and body weight exercises (just pullups, pushups and dips) and dropping my BF down to 10-13% (as measured by hydro & DXA).

    No isolated ab work (weighted or not) was required whatsoever.

    Don't think it would be much different for a woman, except that the necessary BF% would be higher, probably around 16-19%

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