Flat Tummy.

[vertigoxo]

I dream of having a flat stomach. Not a four pack, not a six pack... Just a slender, flat tummy. Since I have let myself go for quite some time, I have a bit of a gut thing going on. For the most part, I'm in a healthy weight range, so I'm not looking for dropping pounds. Everywhere else seem fine, (Well, I do need to tighten up my legs and butt for the most part.) I just wonder... How do you get a flat tummy?

 

 

Thanks, y'all!

[_Asti_]

Spot reduction doesn't exist.

Generally having a bit of stomach is essentially just excess fat in that area, and fat loss will come from exercising, mainly cardio, as well as proper dieting.

Additional exercises like weight training, and things like situps will help strengthen and tone that area.

 

It's a combination effort.

[vertigoxo]

Spot reduction doesn't exist.

Generally having a bit of stomach is essentially just excess fat in that area, and fat loss will come from exercising, mainly cardio, as well as proper dieting.

Additional exercises like weight training, and things like situps will help strengthen and tone that area.

 

It's a combination effort.

 

I understand. I just don't want to end up all gross and muscle-y.

[_Asti_]

I understand. I just don't want to end up all gross and muscle-y.

 

You won't.

It's very hard for females to get really ripped.

Very hard.

The most you will get is toned, and there's nothing wrong with toned.

[gidget1]

You won't get muscly!

I exercise A LOT and rarely eat crappy food, and every time my stomach gets to that really nice toned, flat stage, it doesn't take long (for example, i got the flu, or am too busy with work to exercise for a week or so) for it to go away again!

i find it incredibly hard (personally) to manage my tummy and keep it flat, it's easy in spring/summer when i can exercise more often (cause it isn't too cold) but it's also hard in general to go from flabby/chubby to nice and tight and flat! so hard!!

good luck

[Lucy__lou]

Do the plank (where you rest on your forearms, and hold your body up in one straight line-it's really hard. (Do this for at least one minute a day. It gets easier to increase the time you do it for, but one minute is still hard after you've done it a hundred times)..... works though.

[furious]

I understand. I just don't want to end up all gross and muscle-y.

 

girls with packs are just as hot as girls with slender stomachs. not gross at all. in fact i'd go as far as to say a little bit of packs are hotter as it signifies reproductive health.

 

you will get a slender stomach before you get a pack anyway. just jog and do sit ups.

[zzprometheuszz]

I dream of having a flat stomach. Not a four pack, not a six pack... Just a slender, flat tummy. Since I have let myself go for quite some time, I have a bit of a gut thing going on. For the most part, I'm in a healthy weight range, so I'm not looking for dropping pounds. Everywhere else seem fine, (Well, I do need to tighten up my legs and butt for the most part.) I just wonder... How do you get a flat tummy?

 

 

Thanks, y'all!

 

what you eat is very important. Read this article if you have time. I think the reason why a lot of people in america is overweight is because people ate too much junk/fast food

 

 

Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin

 

source: link removed

[cantexplain]

wants to burn more calories in a day than consume. The body then burns more fat than it stores. A conscious diet is really the only way to insure that this occurs. Then, exercise of areas with fat proximate to it will burn that fat the quickest.

 

Spot reduction doesn't exist.

Generally having a bit of stomach is essentially just excess fat in that area, and fat loss will come from exercising, mainly cardio, as well as proper dieting.

Additional exercises like weight training, and things like situps will help strengthen and tone that area.

 

It's a combination effort.

 

There could not be a better answer than Asti's here. Avoiding processed foods and refined sugar (and alcohol), plus keeping fat intake limited to lean meats and low-fat dairy is helpful. Unused carbohydrates and sugars are more likely to be stored as fat. So avoid these things later in the day when metabolism is slowing before bed.

 

I sport a half-pack still. But, since March, I am down from 43 inches (measuring around love handles to around belly button) to just under 37 inches today. I eat right most of the time and do cardio, circuit training, and swimming. I plan to add in Yoga and ab work as next phase. My goal is to have a waist about 9/10ths the circumference of my hips. I do not want any beer cans. I think it looks silly on people to have abs like that.

[cantexplain]

girls with packs are just as hot as girls with slender stomachs. not gross at all. in fact i'd go as far as to say a little bit of packs are hotter as it signifies reproductive health.

Maybe to you!!

 

I read recently that children born of women with large hips had, on average, higher IQs. It is theorized that these women had more of some certain type of fat available at a critical time of a fetus's brain development.

 

People who are really ripped and who likely are not in extremely physical jobs make me think they are motivated to these body definitions by low self-esteem, insecurity. Perhaps they are driven by a need to be able to protect themselves because of some exertion of power which affected them at a critical age. People who are really muscular or extremely toned and defined make me wonder about what drives them to such extremes. I worry they may be imbalanced emotionally. People who are really overweight make me think they might have a food addiction or other health problem.

 

I like everything in between. I like smile and eyes the best. Personality and character are hot to me.

 

In any case, we should do for ourselves what makes us feel good about ourselves so we are comfortable in our own skin. Then personality and character will shine the most.

[furious]

Hips are a different part of your body. and since when did having some abs mean you had to be really "ripped"?

 

but speaking of insecurities...I believe people who are ripping on others for having a certain body type are insecure themselves....

[cantexplain]

girls with packs are just as hot as girls with slender stomachs. not gross at all. in fact i'd go as far as to say a little bit of packs are hotter as it signifies reproductive health.

 

I read recently that children born of women with large hips had, on average, higher IQs. It is theorized that these women had more of some certain type of fat available at a critical time of a fetus's brain development.

 

Hips are a different part of your body. and since when did having some abs mean you had to be really "ripped"? but speaking of insecurities...I believe people who are ripping on others for having a certain body type are insecure themselves....

 

Furious, you brought up physical signs of reproductive health stemming from "packs". Perhaps "ripped" and "packs" mean two different things to you. I don't know enough to distinguish the two. Hip qualities do signify reproductive health to me, for scientists, and for many others.

 

And yes I wish I was a bit smaller around the waist still, but I am by no means as insecure as I was. I feel great as a matter of fact. Before I lost myself ... back when I was very athletic and extremely in shape ... I still found found super-ripped gym monsters (guys and gals) to look unattractively extreme. And to this day I would not want to be any more muscular than I am.

 

Flat stomachs on gals are impressive to me. Yet a wee bit of a paunch is just as hot to me. And if you think a wee bit of packs on a gal is hot, that's cool. It takes all kinds. There's some gal putting a pack in right now for guys like you. This is a good thing.

 

I also probably did come accross too harsh about my own personal lack of attraction, even repulsion of people who are ripped, super-toned, and/or "big". I over-shot my goal of affirming the OP's value of not having six-pack abs. My psycho-babble of speculation of why people push their bodies to such a fine-tuned and extreme state is certainly off-topic. Sorry about that. But I am sure I am not the only person in the world who thinks these things when they see the look.

[furious]

I still don't know why you keep bringing up hips though. I am actually a fan of nice average hips and thighs. and I don't think a bit of paunch on the tummy is a turn off or anything.

 

I am actually a gym rat right now for the opposite reasons you probably claim a lot of people are. I consider myself too slim. noone ever told me so, it's just how I see myself. not looking to get ripped per say, but just a bit of bulkiness you know? and I realize that girls have just as much if not more different preferences for body types than guys, but I am only doing this for myself. this is how I'd be happier looking.

[ResonanceTheory]

Dunno what journal of medicine you're reading, Furious. Having a six-pack (or 4 pack) has nothing to do with reproductive health. Muscles come and go. A woman who is incapable of having children can exercise and develop a 6 pack just the same as a woman who is very fertile.

 

It may be your SEXUAL PREFERENCE, though, and that's fine.

 

I, personally think that abs on a girl really does look sort of weird and unnatural. I think that healthy and slender in the middle region is the way to go (and I don't want to see ALL your ribs, either). To obtain this, focus on developing a healthy, balanced diet, some cardiovascular exercise, and strength training. Don't even really worry about exercising your abdominals...you work those out doing almost everything you do, but not to an extreme level.

 

Also, realize that it is natural to have SOME fat on your body. Some people find it easier to lose the fat around their middle, and some people find it harder. Should you be one of those people that tend to carry fat around the middle, I think you should still exercise to keep things under control, but know that looking like a noodle doesn't come naturally to everybody, even if you do exercise. The important thing is being healthy, taking care of yourself, and being proud of your body.

[furious]

I was speaking in terms of core stability not fertility.

[ResonanceTheory]

Core stability? And what does that have to do with reproduction? The act of reproducing itself isn't too difficult, and carrying a baby no longer requires us to run through the wilderness with a young child in tow. Not trying to derail the thread, but I have no idea how that has to do with reproductive health at all.

[furious]

well the environment has changed, but some of our hardwiring hasn't. Some of us are attracted to body types that are still capable of running through the woods so to speak. thanks for making me feel like a freak for liking a wee bit of abs on a woman..

[vertigoxo]

Guys, guys! Oh my gosh, I don't like it when people fight, so here it is; I don't want any packs on my stomach because, well, I don't find it attractive on women at all. Men, of course, do look nice with a six pack, though I'm not so shallow to pick a boyfriend up just because he's "ripped". As long as the guy exercises, eats right, takes care of himself, he is already attractive in my eyes.

 

For now, I like my body. I like my curves, and maybe I should leave my butt/legs alone. In fact, people tell me my legs have got to be the most attractive pair of legs they ever seen. I just want to loose the pouch that is my stomach so I can look a bit more "balanced", I suppose. I have an hourglass figure, so I think a flat stomach would look wonderful on me.

[itsallgrand]

Trust me on this, because when I was younger I did aim towards the super flat and toned stomach with definition:

 

You have to be very, very strict or extremely genetically gifted to get those rock hard abs like you see on tv on women. Most of us naturally have a little 'pooch' (right under and around the belly button). It might be tiny little or it might be prominent with fat all around due to an overall excess of weight. But, you have to be super dedicated to work that sucker off! (and in the end, many people prefer that bit of softness).

 

Don't be afraid of exercise. Exercise - core strengthening, and weights for the entire body, I'm talking working on the stomach and surrounding muscles every second or every day and all those muscles that make up 'core'.

 

And watching your diet with precision and every little detail: how much of what is going in and out at all times, things like salt and water retention and dealing with your menstrual cycle included in the goodies to watch for in order to have that taunt look - - it takes time to get there!! It won't be sneaking up on you!!

 

The very last thing to worry about is getting muscley. Doesn't happen. You have to work like a dog to get that look. So exercise - hard. Along with diet, that is really all there is to it. Learn all you can. It takes dedication and commitment.

[ghost69]

flat, 4-pack, 6-pack, even 8-pack. there is only one way to get them. diet is the underlying factor. if you don't fix your diet, you will never get there. you must do cardio and do some kind of ab routine at minimum. you cannot just do situps and get there. you can do that all day, but if the fat covering it is still there, you will never see the muscle.

[vertigoxo]

Maybe I should pride myself in my pooch. I am sooo lazy, lol!

[hexaemeron]

Maybe I should pride myself in my pooch. I am sooo lazy, lol!

 

Trust me, it's 10000% better to get in good habits about this stuff now, because do you think you'll be any more motivated at 20? 25? 30? 40? After all those years of eating crap and not doing anything, it's soooooo hard to change. You're young enough that it's so much easier to do it now and enjoy the benefits of it.