Abdominals

[Ueshirokarate]

The other issue in this is that a lot of the "food" that is available to us these days is ludicrously calorie dense. in the current agricultural climate, it makes sense to increase the use of high-fructose corn syrup (sugar) as a cost-saving filler, resulting in lots of empty calories that fail to bring satiety.

There is no doubt about it. However, you can still lose weight eating the stuff if you run a deficit of caloric intake to outtake as that nutritionist proved with his Twinkie diet. Given human history's record on mass starvation, I am grateful that we have an overabundance of food. I have no doubt that someone from a famine ridden country would kill for a Twinkie.

Once again it comes down to the individual's responsibility to control what they do. I have personally lost 50+lbs of fat. I gained it in the first place because I failed to watch what I ate and didn't exercise all that much. No one did it to me and no one lost the weight for me either. It was all self-control and discipline, or lack thereof. I still enjoy high calorically dense foods like ice cream, as well as diet soft drinks and other artificially flavored items. I just now watch how much I consume and put the effort in on the exercise front.

There is no magic bullet. Most people fail at losing weight because they don't know what it really takes to do it. They see all these programs and diet adds and believe the hype. When they don't lose 40lbs in two weeks they give up and go back to what they were doing. Their metabolism is now a little bit slower and the are in worse shape as a result. If they realized that it took a long time to put on and will take a long time to take off, maybe things would be different.

[JusticeZero]

It is, however, a lot easier to "control" oneself if you don't feel hunger pangs running a calorie NEUTRAL diet, let alone a deficit, because all of your food is stuffed with sugar-as-filler and assorted other craziness on top of being full of meat and carbs to begin with.

[Ueshirokarate]

It is, however, a lot easier to "control" oneself if you don't feel hunger pangs running a calorie NEUTRAL diet, let alone a deficit, because all of your food is stuffed with sugar-as-filler and assorted other craziness on top of being full of meat and carbs to begin with.

I don't know, I ate a ton of Chobani Greek yogurt and it is loaded with sugar. It was great to keep the hunger at bay. Also meat was viewed by me as essential to my diet, as I was also lifting weights and doing my best to gain muscle so the protein helped. I also avoided carbs at night and carbs to me are broccoli, corn, oranges, bananas, etc.

You can believe anything you like, all I have is my personal experience. By the way, at one point in my life (around 29) I was a vegetarian for about six months. It was the worst diet I had ever been on and I plumped up and grew exceedingly tired. If being a vegan and avoiding sugar and the rest works for you, all I can say is I am glad you found something that works for you.

[Evil Dave]

There is a lot to be said about portion control and snacking. Limit the amount you eat at any one sitting, and eat often. To avoid the 'hungry' feeling, drink plenty of water and have food going into your mouth every two hours. The water will keep something in your stomach, and eating every two hours will stabilize your blood sugar levels. Eating this way does not necessarily mean a meal every two hours, but a snack. A snack is not a Twinkie! There should be a bit of all three macro nutrients in your snack {protein, carb and fat}. Plan your snacks ahead of time, especially for the working day, and have them prepackaged {by you} and easily within reach. Also, use your smart phone, computer, etc to tell you when to snack as most people 'forget' about their snacks.

A little planning with your meal plan {I hate the term 'dieting'} goes a long way.

[Ueshirokarate]

There is a lot to be said about portion control and snacking. Limit the amount you eat at any one sitting, and eat often. To avoid the 'hungry' feeling, drink plenty of water and have food going into your mouth every two hours. The water will keep something in your stomach, and eating every two hours will stabilize your blood sugar levels. Eating this way does not necessarily mean a meal every two hours, but a snack. A snack is not a Twinkie! There should be a bit of all three macro nutrients in your snack {protein, carb and fat}. Plan your snacks ahead of time, especially for the working day, and have them prepackaged {by you} and easily within reach. Also, use your smart phone, computer, etc to tell you when to snack as most people 'forget' about their snacks.

A little planning with your meal plan {I hate the term 'dieting'} goes a long way.

I have no problems with a snack being a Twinkie. Just have have a cheat day once a week. You don't need to go crazy, but it is a huge psychological boost to literally have your cake and eat it too. You just need to make sure you are running the proper caloric deficit for the week in total.

I lost most of my weight doing caloric cycling. I would eat like a pig on weekends (I also lifted heavy on these days) and then I would cut my calories way back during the week to about 1800 calories per day. I haven't been lifting for a while, so I have settled into a diet that is pretty steady with a moderate reduction in calories.

[Evil Dave]

I like my cake and eat it too. Being an avid baker does not help....

[Dobie1979]

This is by no way a plug, but there are great ideas on Bodybuilding .com. I get alot of useful information there and they have great workouts and diets. Truth be told, Abs start in the kitchen. Like everyone says eating lean clean foods (not processed) and increasing cardio is a great way to see those abs.

As for carbs, we all need them for energy. Don't want to burn the protein for fuel, you'll need that for muscle bulding and recovery. If you do eat carbs the slow buring ones. The rule of thumb is stay away from white starchy foods. Those typically are the fast burning carbs... All of this advice is easier said than done. It takes dedication and discipline, which i have a hard time with.

I hope this helps