toning up abdomen

[zade]

well the issue is that i have been exercising for quite a long period, that is for the past 7 months

and i usually indulge in running followed by stretching and crunches .

i have been able to reduce from 37 inches to 33 inches, and all these months i have refrain my self from eating sugar in any form , oily food, bread.

but i have not been able to get good abdominal muscles , i mean my belly has reduced but it isn't in shape. i am now sick of running , i don't know what else i need to do get my tummy in shape

i have even gone on an extent to starve myself to get that fat layer out of my belly.

can somebody throw some light on my isssue

[dudemag]

Burn calories, and don't do crunches until all the fat in yur stomach has subsided. All crunches do is make it harder to reduce that, by addig firm muscle over your fat

 

Keep jogging!

[Katherineos123]

You really shouldnt be starving yourself. This will only put your body into starvation mode, wherein you are tricking your body into thinking it needs to hold onto any remaining calories you do have, therefore, not burning any excess. In this way, you are doing more harm than good because you are really screwing with your metabolism.

 

You should be eating a small meal, every 2 hours or so, adding up to about seven meals per day. The majority of your diet should be fruits and veggies, without as few processed foods as possible, and as much protein *lean meats, think chicken breast* as possible. I know this is MUCH easier said than done but if you really want to see muscle gain, this is what needs to be done.

 

Im not sure if you belong to a gym or not, but I tend to shy away from any of the abdominal machines at the gym, I feel that you get a much better overall workout, especially for the abs, by using floor exercises.

 

I think that you should certainly keep up with the cardio, but dont drop the crunches alltogether. Muscle metabolically burns more calories than fat, so by gaining muscle, you are therefore going to be burning more calories daily just by having it! Build the muscles, and if you keep up with the cardio, slowly but surely, they wil begin to emerge!

 

Keep it up and dont get discouraged, youve already done so much, and if you keep up with this kind of determination, you will see results!

[zade]

hey thanks dudemag, Katherineos123

i thinks so my diet needs to be regulated

i think i'll continue with cardio and go for a swim too

but the problem is as soon as i stop any form of xercise i gain fat

thanks guys for your concern

[sunshinegirl]

I stopped drinking carbonated beverages in January, replacing them with water, and that, combined with yoga, have made a big difference in my abdominal region.

[Trialbyfire]

I stopped drinking carbonated beverages in January, replacing them with water, and that, combined with yoga, have made a big difference in my abdominal region.

Yes. The less unnecessary calories you intake and the more core strengthening, flexibility exercises you do, like yoga and pilates, the better your body will look but more importantly, feel!

[jazzlovr1990]

thats the most important thing, making sure that you feel good!!

[squall]

hey thanks dudemag, Katherineos123

i thinks so my diet needs to be regulated

i think i'll continue with cardio and go for a swim too

but the problem is as soon as i stop any form of xercise i gain fat

thanks guys for your concern

 

Bro, I eat rice 3 times a day and I do 6 kinds of abdomen exercise twice a week. I want to have 6-pack abs soon. Should I eat less rice as part of the diet?

[Bluebird In My Heart]

I have visible abs (think "fitness chick" type of physique, but less buff...I have a hard time building muscle so just look skinny), and I can't begin to tell you how many people say to me I must spend uber-hours in the gym - or that it must be genetic.

 

They're wrong on both counts.

 

I rarely do crunches or direct ab exercises of any kind.

 

Do you know what your body fat percentage is?

 

Your progress has been so impressive!

 

Abs are made in the kitchen. Never starve yourself. Keep a close eye on your diet, and keep doing what you're doing exercise-wise.

[Lovelybird]

How about sit-up? It is the quickest way to make your abdomen tight, I think.

 

and don't drink coke. Jogging is a very good exercise, it is benefit for the general physical health if it cannot build the abdomen muscle

[Enema]

Burn calories, and don't do crunches until all the fat in yur stomach has subsided. All crunches do is make it harder to reduce that, by addig firm muscle over your fat

 

Keep jogging!

 

Err... the muscle on your gut is under the fat...

 

That's why it's so hard to get visible abs. You need to have a very low percent body fat.

 

OP: As others have mentioned, abs are made in the kitchen, but if you want to do an exercise to help them, make sure you're doing weighted exercises, not crunches.

[lino]

well the issue is that i have been exercising for quite a long period, that is for the past 7 months

and i usually indulge in running followed by stretching and crunches .

i have been able to reduce from 37 inches to 33 inches, and all these months i have refrain my self from eating sugar in any form , oily food, bread.

but i have not been able to get good abdominal muscles , i mean my belly has reduced but it isn't in shape. i am now sick of running , i don't know what else i need to do get my tummy in shape

i have even gone on an extent to starve myself to get that fat layer out of my belly.

can somebody throw some light on my isssue

 

 

What I have made bold is where you're going wrong IMO.

You shouldn't totally cut out sugar, oil and bread from your diet. The body needs these too! Just make sure that the ones you eat are good ones and not heavily processed. Raw sugar, Olive oil and whole grain bread are excellent foods.

Also starving yourself won't get results, it's just torture!!

 

Keep the exercise up, be it running or another activity if you're getting bored of running.

This depends on your location of course but I've found that surfing is great exercise. I've been doing it since I was 16 and it has helped to give me a great physique. It's so much fun too

 

Eat lots of seafood too if you can.

[zade]

Bro, I eat rice 3 times a day and I do 6 kinds of abdomen exercise twice a week. I want to have 6-pack abs soon. Should I eat less rice as part of the diet?

 

 

hi squall , rice i believe is starch , which gets stored as a reserve in our body , and breakdown of starch by body is a little difficult for our body as it is not a direct source of energy .

[zade]

i am continuing with the same routine but not that rigorously ,

i have developed a phobia over these few months that if i eat butter , oil it'll stick to me as fat and

i would have to work out more to get it out

so i m just keeping it out of my diet.

no i am actually mentally tired , cause its been so long i am not getting the results

[Bluebird In My Heart]

You could very well be burning out at this point.

 

Might even be overtraining, but it's hard to tell.

 

Could you be more specific on what your routine is? How long do you run, how much, how fast, how often? Rest days? What else do you do, if anything?

 

How many calories are you taking in? Getting enough of all the macronutrients?

 

Some gyms offer body fat testing. Check your local YMCA if you live in the US, they might offer it there.

 

The whole developing a phobia about certain foods is sending my spidey-senses tingling a little bit...which is why I am trying to figure out if you are working out too much/not eating enough. I've seen this kind of thing happen before.

[zade]

You could very well be burning out at this point.

 

Might even be overtraining, but it's hard to tell.

 

Could you be more specific on what your routine is? How long do you run, how much, how fast, how often? Rest days? What else do you do, if anything?

 

How many calories are you taking in? Getting enough of all the macronutrients?

 

Some gyms offer body fat testing. Check your local YMCA if you live in the US, they might offer it there.

 

The whole developing a phobia about certain foods is sending my spidey-senses tingling a little bit...which is why I am trying to figure out if you are working out too much/not eating enough. I've seen this kind of thing happen before.

 

hi bluebird

 

in breakfast i drink a glass of milk with choclate in it eat 2 to 4 slices of toast with jam and a fried egg

 

lunch usually pulses with rice or anything which is made of wheat

 

before dinner i have soup and in dinner any pulse and a glass of milk

i drink lots of water i also drink tea in the morning , and even munch on some biscuits in between as i feel hungry often in a day

 

as far as my exercise routine , i run for 4 kms and do 1 set of leg raising of about 20 reps and a set of sit ups of 40 reps ,also crunches 20 reps , side stretching and 3 sets of push ups 15 reps each and even go for swimming , i rest for about 2 days in a week preferably sunday.

[Enema]

Diet is pretty bad.

 

It's mostly carbs.... you should try to swap that out for protein.

[lino]

hi bluebird

 

in breakfast i drink a glass of milk with choclate in it eat 2 to 4 slices of toast with jam and a fried egg

 

lunch usually pulses with rice or anything which is made of wheat

 

before dinner i have soup and in dinner any pulse and a glass of milk

i drink lots of water i also drink tea in the morning , and even munch on some biscuits in between as i feel hungry often in a day

 

as far as my exercise routine , i run for 4 kms and do 1 set of leg raising of about 20 reps and a set of sit ups of 40 reps ,also crunches 20 reps , side stretching and 3 sets of push ups 15 reps each and even go for swimming , i rest for about 2 days in a week preferably sunday.

 

Your diet isn't the best. You need to include some fruits and vegetables in it too.

 

Doing some light weight training may also help you

[zade]

i presonally avoid weight training and moreover my schedule doesnt allow that

[lonelyandfrustrated]

Have you tried any resistance workouts? You can buy a band fairly cheap, a few bucks, and most come with some exercises included. I do a weight-training workout three times a week, and you can use either hand weights or resistance bands. If you're not building muscle, fat is harder to burn.

[gfto]

Getting a six-pack is pretty much like a science project. Your diet has to be flawless. Many bodybuilders say, "great abs are made in the kitchen; not in the gym." And, I'd ease up on the running, unless you're talking about sprints. Notice how sprinters always have amazing six-packs, whereas distance runners have that "thin & flabby" look.

[lino]

i presonally avoid weight training and moreover my schedule doesnt allow that

 

fair enough

[Soul-Searcher]

This is going to sound silly, but when you walk, suck your tummy in. I did that and I got muscly abs as a result. It is the equivalent of doing sit ups. I got so used to doing that, that I didn't even notice it and it became a habit. I need to start doing it again though cos my belly looks ridiculous at the moment.

[MissConduct]

hi bluebird

 

in breakfast i drink a glass of milk with choclate in it eat 2 to 4 slices of toast with jam and a fried egg

 

lunch usually pulses with rice or anything which is made of wheat

 

before dinner i have soup and in dinner any pulse and a glass of milk

i drink lots of water i also drink tea in the morning , and even munch on some biscuits in between as i feel hungry often in a day

 

OMG your diet is terrible!!!!!!!! 4 slices of toast with jam, and rice every day for lunch? no wonder you can't get ahead.

 

Ok first of all you should start your day with protein an egg is fine but ONE piece of toast should do. Instead of a fried egg why not do an omelet of scrambled uses less oil and you can do one full egg and a second egg white. Mix with onions mushrooms and red peppers you have a very tasty and filling omelet and one slice of toast.

 

Other mornings have a slice of low fat cheese or very thin layer of butter is fine on your toast, but ONE slice of toast it with something else and two if alone. Whole grain or brown toast. Also you should get into the habit of eating low fat oatmeal with some berries for breakfast, this is very filling and you will not crave anything more until it's well into lunchtime. Put some fresh blueberries and a quarter of a banana sliced to add extra flavor.

 

Lunch should consist of a protein and veggies. You can have a something like a turkey slice sandwich light mayo thinly spread to give flavor but mustard does the trick just fine, and tomatoes cucumbers lettuce onions whatever veggies you want in there. Salad with teaspoon olive oil and balsamic or whatever non creamy dressing you would like (if you use dressing no more than a table spoon)

If you like tuna have a big salad and add half canned white tuna and a few crushed walnuts you will be full and get all the nutrients you need to keep you going. Summer is easy to stick to these types of salads for lunch since we crave less comfort food.

 

Then for dinner a protein chicken or beef or fish and a salad or veggies. Alternate meals and if you want rice that's fine but no more than half a cup and once a week only, and use brown rice. You are cutting out all sugar and bread and eat rice 7 days a week? that's insane, no wonder you can't lose tummy fat.

 

Forget crunches, forget spot training, you have no use for those exercises until the fat is gone then you sculpt with those spot exercises. Use your leg muscles to burn fat, the leg muscles are the larges muscles in our body therefore working those is good to burn overall fat. Running/jogging is great keep that up, and the leg lifts, if you can incorporate more leg weight lifting exercises that would be ideal.

 

Protein and veggies is the best way to go, you can have bread and pasta and rice in small moderation and if you alternate that's the key. Rice every day is ludicrous, that is a surefire way to stunt your weight loss so please STOP that.

 

Good luck!

[zade]

OMG your diet is terrible!!!!!!!! 4 slices of toast with jam, and rice every day for lunch? no wonder you can't get ahead.

 

Ok first of all you should start your day with protein an egg is fine but ONE piece of toast should do. Instead of a fried egg why not do an omelet of scrambled uses less oil and you can do one full egg and a second egg white. Mix with onions mushrooms and red peppers you have a very tasty and filling omelet and one slice of toast.

 

Other mornings have a slice of low fat cheese or very thin layer of butter is fine on your toast, but ONE slice of toast it with something else and two if alone. Whole grain or brown toast. Also you should get into the habit of eating low fat oatmeal with some berries for breakfast, this is very filling and you will not crave anything more until it's well into lunchtime. Put some fresh blueberries and a quarter of a banana sliced to add extra flavor.

 

Lunch should consist of a protein and veggies. You can have a something like a turkey slice sandwich light mayo thinly spread to give flavor but mustard does the trick just fine, and tomatoes cucumbers lettuce onions whatever veggies you want in there. Salad with teaspoon olive oil and balsamic or whatever non creamy dressing you would like (if you use dressing no more than a table spoon)

If you like tuna have a big salad and add half canned white tuna and a few crushed walnuts you will be full and get all the nutrients you need to keep you going. Summer is easy to stick to these types of salads for lunch since we crave less comfort food.

 

Then for dinner a protein chicken or beef or fish and a salad or veggies. Alternate meals and if you want rice that's fine but no more than half a cup and once a week only, and use brown rice. You are cutting out all sugar and bread and eat rice 7 days a week? that's insane, no wonder you can't lose tummy fat.

 

Forget crunches, forget spot training, you have no use for those exercises until the fat is gone then you sculpt with those spot exercises. Use your leg muscles to burn fat, the leg muscles are the larges muscles in our body therefore working those is good to burn overall fat. Running/jogging is great keep that up, and the leg lifts, if you can incorporate more leg weight lifting exercises that would be ideal.

 

Protein and veggies is the best way to go, you can have bread and pasta and rice in small moderation and if you alternate that's the key. Rice every day is ludicrous, that is a surefire way to stunt your weight loss so please STOP that.

 

Good luck!

 

 

diet is my problem, i somehow knew that and i am uncable to do anything about it , thanks missconduct for your advice ,i'll surely try out.

i stopped eating toast too , but than i thought i hardly am taking any fat food so 3 -4 toast in breakfast wont do much of harm.

i'll try out and get some cornflakes and oats. i believe pulses are a good source of protein should i continuing eating pulses , sprouts or keep them limited.