abs diet

cartman555

hey ok so I joined my local gym the other day and my goal is to drop my bodyfat in order to make my abs visable and hopefully gain some upper body muscle as well. I know you have to eat the right foods and exercise, but I'm just wondering which would be more important, like if you just ate the right foods and only did light exercise would I still reach my goal that way or would I have to putting 100% into both? And if anyone had any tips on either the diet or the gym side they would be much appreciated?

Stats:
5ft 6
148 lbs
Bodyfat 12.3%

EileenG

Bodybuilders have a saying "Abs are built in the kitchen, not the gym". You must get your diet right to have visible abs.

However, you also need to do your share of lifting and cardio to have abs worth showing off.

What are you eating now?

cartman555

generally just healthy foods, alpen/weetabix no sugar, brown bread, eggs, chicken, potatoes, lots of water, popcorn and things like that......any foods in particular that are good/should be avoided?

Bleedin Delish

I asked gym instructor same thing recently from what he said youre pretty much on the money with getting the bodyfat down and at the same time working hard on the core etc. Cutting out fats seemed to be high on the priority list

EileenG

Actually no. A lot of bodybuilders cut for competitions by cutting out the carbs and increasing the fats to 65-70% of calories.

It's impossible to cut fat without increasing carbs, and it's very difficult to lose belly fat on a high carb diet.

Cartman, cut the cereal, brown bread, potatoes, popcorn. Eat more eggs, fish, steak and lots of green veg. Pour olive oil on your salad and make sure you are getting oily fish or fish oil.

Quite a few pro BB-ers don't do any core work. If you are regularly squating, deadlifting, etc, you'll hit your whole core area hard, and burn lots of calories as well. You can't spot reduce, so endless sit-ups and crunches will give up strong stomach muscles, with a nice layer of fat on top. You've got to shift the fat to reveal the abs.

Big lifts like squat, bench and dead will increase testosterone which will help burn fat.

El_Dangeroso

On the subject of getting buff, came across this today:

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/37815411/ns/today-entertainment/

So what does personal trainer to the stars recommend to hollywood stars who want to get the bodyfat down?

Mike Torchia, personal trainer extraordinaire, remembers working with Kevin Spacey on the 2000 film “Ordinary Decent Criminal,” shot in Dublin, Ireland. Spacey lived in a beautiful estate during the production, and Torchia was not only his exercise guru, but also his personal chef.

“When I got there, in the cabinets he had all this pasta and Paul Newman Sockarooni sauce,” Torchia said. “He was used to having a big bowl of pasta and a half a jar of Sockarooni sauce with cheese on it every night. I threw everything out one day. When Kevin came home, he said, ‘Where’s my pasta?’ He flipped. ‘What am I gonna do?’”

Then Torchia told him what he was going to do: Work out hard, eat right (no carbs or sugar), and eventually reduce his 23.8 percent body fat to eight percent.

Transform

Bleedin Delish wrote: »

I asked gym instructor same thing recently from what he said youre pretty much on the money with getting the bodyfat down and at the same time working hard on the core etc. Cutting out fats seemed to be high on the priority list

emmmm no cutting back on fat and working hard on lots of core exericses is about the last thing you want to do if you want to see your abs.

Hit the weights hard with full body workouts, sort diet out (post it up) and be consistent

Transform

cartman555 wrote: »

generally just healthy foods, alpen/weetabix no sugar, brown bread, eggs, chicken, potatoes, lots of water, popcorn and things like that......any foods in particular that are good/should be avoided?

thats not posting up your diet - post it up for 2 days in detail and the training program you are following - the more detail the better if you are serious

cartman555

Ok so for example days when im working monday-wednesday:

7.00 Small bowl alpen/weetabix
11.00 Coffee
13.00 Sandwich 4 slices brown slice pan with tinned salmon and lettuce or ham/turkey
15.45 Coffee
18.30 Dinner, usually meat and 2 veg with potatoes
21:00 Snack: Popcorn/Cereal
And at least 2 litres of water a day

The rest of days:
Breakfast: Same as above
Lunch: Fried egg sandwich or sandwiches as above
Dinner/Snack: Same as above

there would be fruit added in there to, grapes/bananas and I'm getting whey protein soon so that will be added in also.

1.So I know the diet isn't the best but Should I be eating less/more if I want to see my abs and gain some upper body muscle?
2.Theres so much info on the internet like some sites tell you to switch from all the processed foods pasta/white bread/sugar etc to the less processed foods such as brown bread but then as someone mentioned above I should cut this and eat more fish etc. Can anyone who has achieved my goal i.e. has a six pack tell me what practical foods they ate. Nearly every site tells you to eat six small meals a day but can anyone actually give me an example of what these might be please?

Info much appreciated!

cartman555

cartman555 wrote:

1.So I know the diet isn't the best but Should I be eating less/more if I want to see my abs and gain some upper body muscle?
2.Theres so much info on the internet like some sites tell you to switch from all the processed foods pasta/white bread/sugar etc to the less processed foods such as brown bread but then as someone mentioned above I should cut this and eat more fish etc. Can anyone who has achieved my goal i.e. has a six pack tell me what practical foods they ate. Nearly every site tells you to eat six small meals a day but can anyone actually give me an example of what these might be please?

Check out Transforms sig and do whatever he/his blog says!

EileenG

Many bodybuilders with visible abs eat six meals a day, but this is because they often have to eat such a volume of food that it would be physically difficult to shovel it in in only three meals. Someone who is cutting doesn't have this problem, and may find that six meals means you eat such small meals that it is depressing.

It also encourages constant snacking.

Gillian McKeith is a fan of the six meals a day, which is should tell you all you need to know.

Actually, I'm being unfair. There is an argument to be made for six meals: if you eat a very high sugar diet and suffer from insulin rollercoaster as a result, then six small meals will result in smaller swings in blood sugar and so have less of an effect on insulin. I'd like to think that no-one who is eating a decent diet needs to do this.

Looking at your diet, I'd cut some of the carbs (cereal, bread and popcorn) and replace with protein and fat (eggs or cottage cheese) and replace the grapes and bananas with low gi berries. Bread is great for bulking, or carb loading if you do endurance sports. If you want to cut, cut it out.

cartman555

Looking at your diet, I'd cut some of the carbs (cereal, bread and popcorn) and replace with protein and fat (eggs or cottage cheese) and replace the grapes and bananas with low gi berries. Bread is great for bulking, or carb loading if you do endurance sports. If you want to cut, cut it out.[/QUOTE]

Ok its just that usually I'd eat some healthy sandwiches at work for lunch as they are handy to bring. Could you suggest some meals which I should try, say for lunch and dinner because most things I suggest seem not to be the best!

EileenG

Chop some veg, throw some dressing over it, and hey presto, you've got a nice cheap salad. Open a tin of fish and you have a good lunch. Or use leftovers from dinner. Grilled steak is lovely served cold and sliced thin with some horseradish.

If you must buy a sandwich, try taking the top off it, and eating it as an open face sandwich.

--Kaiser--

cartman555 wrote: »

hey ok so I joined my local gym the other day and my goal is to drop my bodyfat in order to make my abs visable and hopefully gain some upper body muscle as well. I know you have to eat the right foods and exercise, but I'm just wondering which would be more important, like if you just ate the right foods and only did light exercise would I still reach my goal that way or would I have to putting 100% into both? And if anyone had any tips on either the diet or the gym side they would be much appreciated?

Stats:
5ft 6
148 lbs
Bodyfat 12.3%

How do you work out your Bodyfat %, out of interest? If your bodyfat was actually 12.3 % I would say your abs would be quite visible already.

cartman555

--Kaiser-- wrote: »

How do you work out your Bodyfat %, out of interest? If your bodyfat was actually 12.3 % I would say your abs would be quite visible already.

I joined the local gym recently and they had a gadget that looks like and xbox controller that measures bodyfat. The area where my abs are is fairly flat but the individual abs are not visable at all, supposedly you must get under 10% to see them.

Transform

--Kaiser-- wrote: »

How do you work out your Bodyfat %, out of interest? If your bodyfat was actually 12.3 % I would say your abs would be quite visible already.

emmm no they wouldnt

Transform

my shed fat fast article will cover most of what you need

http://thetransformationcatalyst.wordpress.com/2010/06/04/shed-fat-fast-the-guaranteed-summer-plan/

focus on performance goals NOT just getting a set of abs e.g. can you complete this workout? Do press ups instead of ring dips and remember a press up is NOT a press up unless your chest touches the floor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjl3AfKZD18

If not then start training right for your goals and focus on getting stronger, fitter and then leaner will come.

--Kaiser--

Transform wrote: »

emmm no they wouldnt

Well I doubt my bodyfat has ever been as low as 10% but my abs are usually quite visible, perhaps people tend to retain fat in different areas.

PerrinV2

--Kaiser-- wrote: »

Well I doubt my bodyfat has ever been as low as 10% but my abs are usually quite visible, perhaps people tend to retain fat in different areas.

This must be true cause I just had my body fat measured recently(not with a calipers,on one of those machines) and it read 10%,when seems off since I'm carrying a belly.....

Transform

--Kaiser-- wrote: »

Well I doubt my bodyfat has ever been as low as 10% but my abs are usually quite visible, perhaps people tend to retain fat in different areas.

not with my caliper you wouldnt as if your abs are quite visable you are likely under 10% body fat.

really depends on how its measured but to be honest who gives a crap as a picture paints a thousand words so as long as you are happy with how you look then thats all that matters

--Kaiser--

To be honest, unless you go for fancy measurement system such as Hydrostatic weighing or X-ray Absorptiometry, the body fat estimation is not going to be very accurate. There's probably a 3% margin of error on both caliper testing and electric impedance testing.

My point being that just because some machine tells you you have only 12.3% fat doesn't necessarily make it so.

Transform

--Kaiser-- wrote: »

To be honest, unless you go for fancy measurement system such as Hydrostatic weighing or X-ray Absorptiometry, the body fat estimation is not going to be very accurate. There's probably a 3% margin of error on both caliper testing and electric impedance testing.

My point being that just because some machine tells you you have only 12.3% fat doesn't necessarily make it so.

and again i couldnt really care as its only a number the same way you can use a tape measure.

Whats important is the same person measures in the same way all the time.

i know of no trainer at all that uses anything other than a calipers, scales and a tape measure.

Overall, eat clean, train hard and focus on performance improvements