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How to Get a Flat Stomach
Getting a flat stomach is normally high on the agender for a lot of people. To learn how to get a flat stomach you first need to understand that it’s not achieved by hundreds of hundreds of sit-ups every day. Situps or crunches will work your abdominal muscles and overtime make them stronger but none of this matters if there is a large layer of fat covering your stomach. To flatten your stomach you should focus on diet and exercise.
A consistent diet and exercise regime can often lead to getting a six-pack by burning away the fat around your stomach area and making your abdominal muscles far more visible. A lot of people look to flatten their stomachs to improve their image and become healthier but do not know where to start.
If this sounds like you then you are in the right place. This is your ultimate guide on how to get a flat stomach so pay close attention. Flattening your stomach is not rocket science. Anyone can do it!
Calculate How Many Calories Your Body Requires Each Day
Your body has a certain number of calories it can consume each day before storing the additional calories as fat. This is known as your daily calorie intake. Your daily calorie intake is what your body requires to maintain what is currently has. To get a flat stomach your going to need to lose stomach fat which is achieved by losing weight.
So, to get started you can use an online calorie calculator to determine how many calories you should be consuming each day to get a flat stomach: Once you have a rough estimate of what your daily calorie intake should look like we can get to work!
Plan Out a Rough Meal Plan
Once you know roughly how many calories you need each day to lose weight you should now make out a rough plan of what meals you will consume throughout a typical working day.
You don’t have to sit down for hours and write out a detailed plan but you should take some time to write down some healthy meals you know you like and can consume throughout a typical day and write down what time you will be eating those meals. This is not difficult. Take a notepad or a piece of paper and jot down your ideas. Remember to make them healthy and relatively low in calories. Heres a few ideas to get you started:
- Good Carbohydrate Sources – Jacket/sweet potatoes, wholemeal pasta/rice/spaghetti/bread, baked beans, vegetables
- Good Protein Sources – Chicken, turkey, fish, lean beef/steak, pork, lamb, eggs
- Good Fat Sources – Unsalted nuts, oily fish such as salmon, mackerel, sardines, or tuna, fish oil, virgin olive oil, flax oil
So many people fail with efforts simply because they do not plan. They don’t think about how they can really go about achieving what they want to and therefore fall at the first hurdle when things get a little tricky.
Don’t fall into the same habits of these people. Failing to plan is planning to fail. Write down 3 regular meals you know you can eat that contain around 600 calories in each. Space these out evenly throughout the day and then schedule in 2 low-calorie snacks between meals 1 and 2 and between-meal 2 and 3.
That pretty much sets you up for each day.
All that’s left is to figure out which foods you will be consuming for your 3 meals and 2 snacks.
Eating this way, in my opinion, is far more effective than consuming 2 or 3 big meals throughout the day. Eating 5 times throughout the day while losing weight should make you feel good about your diet and will help stop food cravings ruining your efforts. You should feel content on this type of diet plan as you will not be starving your body of food for hours at a time. This will help bring results.
Consume Fewer Calories
So far you have a rough estimate of how many calories you need each day to lose weight and have learned how to plan and space your meals out throughout the day to help achieve that flat stomach. The next thing I’m going to explain to you is the real secret to losing weight, losing stomach fat and achieving a flat stomach. The secret is calories in versus calories out. Your body naturally burns off so many calories a day. Say somewhere between 2000-2500 calories depending on your age and weight.
This basically means that if you take in fewer calories than your body is burning throughout the day you will lose weight! how simple is that? Weight loss does not necessarily relate to what you eat but more of how much you eat. If your maintenance calorie intake for each day is 2,500 calories and you eat 2,000 calories coming directly from chips and burgers you will still lose weight. This is just an example and of course, I don’t recommend you do this.
Consuming unhealthy foods that are high in fat are of course more calorie-dense and has more calories in them. It makes far more sense to eat moderate-sized healthy meals throughout the day to help keep you feeling full and satisfied and of course to hit that calorie deficit your after in order to lose stomach fat and get a flat stomach.
Be Consistent
If you want to get a flat stomach you got to be consistent in your efforts. Depending on how much you weigh getting a flat stomach is not going to be a 2-week thing. It’s going to require a minor lifestyle change, discipline, and consistency.
Always keep in mind the reasons why you started and think of these reasons when you are having a bad day and feel like quitting. Consistency is the key to a lot of things. Building muscle, weight loss and improving your cardiovascular health (getting fitter) all require consistency and effort. Without consistency, you are never going to reach your goals.
Additional Tips to Help You Get a Flat Stomach
Do more cardio
If you are looking to lose weight easier or quicker or simply just want to eat a little bit more each day try performing 20-60 minutes of cardio for 3-4 days a week. Cardio is great for fat loss. Cardio will help you burn off additional calories and will rev up your metabolism (the rate at which your body burns calories).
If your looking for ideas for your cardio be sure to check out different types of cardio, low intensity or high-intensity cardio and HIIT Cardio Training. Cardio is, of course, great for your body as well as it will help strengthen your muscles and greatly improve your cardiovascular system. Cardio when bulking is also fine so even if you are looking to put on weight don’t forget to stay in shape with some sort of cardio. Your heart and lungs will thank you later!
Consume Protein-Rich Meals
Protein helps fill you up and will make you feel fuller for longer. Increasing your protein intake can, therefore, be a great tool to use when trying to get a flat stomach. How much protein do you need? This will depend on the goals of the individual. If you have built muscle mass beforehand and you’re trying to maintain muscle while cutting and losing fat, protein intake will need to be moderately high.
If you haven’t built up a lot of muscle mass before and are just looking to lose some fat then i would recommend a slightly lower amount of protein. Ensure you are getting in some sort of complete protein in each of your main meals and you should be good to go. Check out the best protein foods if you’re stuck for ideas on protein-rich foods.
Have a Cheat Meal
Yes, you read that correctly. When your restricting calories for prolonged periods of time its only natural to begin craving food or meal that isn’t good for you. My advice would be to schedule 1-2 cheat meals throughout the week to help keep you sane. After all, you don’t wanna be feeling that you’re going to be deprived of your favorite food or dessert forever. That can really demotivate you and make you feel like rubbish.
You need to know you can still have it but only in moderation. It’s not off-limits completely! Only have a cheat meal if you need it. If you can go a week without feeling the urge to have one then that’s great! Better results will probably be seen if you schedule a cheat meal or two every other week. Remember this is a cheat MEAL and not a cheat day.
Since its a meal I would recommend placing this meal towards the end of the day so you can go to bed satisfied and wake up in the morning starting fresh again. Eating the cheat meal earlier on in the day will encourage you to cheat even more throughout the day. Place it towards the end of the day and enjoy it!
Weigh Yourself Once a Week First Thing In The Morning
This allows you to measure your progress more accurately. Weigh yourself first thing in the morning when you get up on the same day every week and jot down your weight. If the scale isn’t moving then you are either cheating too much or you simply need to drop down your calories slightly. Either that or incorporate cardio into your routine. Keep track of your weight each week and write it down.
This will help motivate you once you start to see the numbers going down and will encourage you to continue living a healthy lifestyle.
Additional advice and tips? If your looking for more detailed advice on getting a flat stomach then be sure to look through Sean Nalewanyj’s fantastic ebook on the truth of burning fat and getting that flat stomach. This will contain all the advice you will ever need on weight loss and achieving that flat stomach. I personally have it myself and recommend it to anyone looking to flatten their stomach and lose weight. Good luck guys!
