My Secret to a Six Pack

A lot of MFP friends ask me all the time for advice on the secret to a six pack. This article is an attempt to answer that question based on my own personal experiences with weight loss, working out, and nutrition.

Disclaimer: By no means am I a doctor nor have any of these statements been approved by a doctor, the FDA, or any other health services professional. The information presented is 100% opinion based on the sole knowledge of the Original poster of this article.

How I got my six pack was based on a number of factors. Discipline, will power, and nutrition. It is important to follow a strict set of rules in order to maximize your success. The abs are the most difficult and last area of fat to be burned off. In order to reach them you have to eliminate certain foods from your diet, hit your calorie numbers daily, and avoid counterproductive foods and habits.

Since fat loss has to occur in order to reach and show your abs, it is important to eliminate the foods from your diet that are counter productive to your success. These foods include processed carbs like bread (that can turn to sugar in the body if not used), raw sugar, saturated fats (to a degree), soda, and excess fats.

What I do is try to eat from a menu of foods that can only help the end goal. These foods include: Oatmeal, brown rice, black beans, fish, skinless chicken breasts, greek yogurt, olive oil, flax seeds, and flax seed oil. For my vegetable servings I try to drink 2 4oz glasses of V8 juice daily. I also supplement by meals with whey protein and Myoplex shakes. It is important to get at least 1 gram of protein for every 1 lb. of goal weight. In my opinion this is one of the greatest reasons some people who lose weight become ripped (from the right amount of protein) while others just get smaller in size. IMO - not getting enough protein will cause your body to grab protein from your body instead of your food source. This will cause your muscles to shrink over time if protein is not supplemented.

Working out to build your abs is not neccessary until you begin to reach a point in your weight loss where your upper 4 pack begins to show. When this happens, you are in a good position to build some muscle as you continue to burn fat. Using weights during your crunches and ab routines will build bigger muscles than no weights. This is how body builders pop their abs off there mid section, rather than just having a six pack in general.

To get to this point you have to be burning fat and losing weight. It is important that you are eating as clean as possible while staying under your caloric goals daily. People will tell you to follow a strict diet for 6 days and then have a cheater day. CHEATER DAYS ARE COUNTERPRODUCTIVE! I skip the cheater day in favor of a cheater goal scheduled a few weeks after your six pack goal. The goal is a six pack not just weight loss, so rewarding yourself with fatty foods will only extend your journey. This is where will power plays a hand in keeping you on track to succeed.

About nutrition... This has been debated all over MFP as well as the internet and nutrition circles. I have tried both sides of the argument and found that more meals per day wins over less meals per day. This is purely based out of my own experiences. I have found that 6 meals spaced less than 3 hours apart and no more than 700 calories in any one sitting is better than 3 well balanced meals. I can't explain it scientifically other than to say that insulin spikes are reduced between meals and your digestive system is constantly in process mode rather than working at only 3 times per day. I try to include a carb, a fat, and a protein at every meal. I avoid red meat because of the saturated fat of red meat that cannot be removed as easily as say a chicken skin. I take several supplements as well, they include: CLA (8000mgs/day), L-Carnatine (1000mgs/day), Creatine (800mgs/day), and 2 multi-vitamins daily.

The most difficult part is following your routine everyday. It can get really boring eating the same foods day in and day out. The rewards are a ripped mid-section! Good luck to anyone with this as their goal!

~Damon