Tight and Toned Abs again

NUTRITION:

This is the most important component to achieving a flat abs. First, you'll need to control blood sugar levels in order to lose body fat. This is best accomplished by consuming four to six meals per day. Don't mistake the definition of a meal for a six-course extravaganza. They are actually feedings. Each of the meals is comprised of protein, a little carbohydrate and a little fat.


RATIOS:

It's unlikely that you'll get tight abs and a flat stomach by consuming 80 percent of your calories from carbohydrates. Ratios can vary quite a bit, but consuming more than 55 percent of your calories from carbohydrate will not be optimal for fat loss.



TIMING:

I realize four to six meals sounds like a lot, but you must keep in mind that the body is always seeking to store body fat. It (the body) doesn't care if you want to lose fat. In fact, your body would prefer to keep fat in order to accomplish its number one goal of keeping you alive in case of a future famine or drought

Always consider the body from the inside out and not the other way around. In order to control blood sugar, eat every two to three hours throughout the day. When using the most effective nutrient ratios, this helps to control blood sugar (which, in turn, assists in body fat loss).



CALORIES:

Many of us are still consuming too many calories. It doesn't matter how healthy your nutrition program is if you're eating too much. It's important that you find maintenance calories first. Maintenance represents the amount of food you consume without any change in your weight. This will take some experimentation and some effort. Observation and trial and errors are what you need to do. Until then, you will not know what is the right amount of food to consume without putting on weights.


SLIGHT CALORIC DEFICIT:

After you have found maintenance, simply reduce your calories by 200. Our goal is to have you eating as much as possible and still losing fat and retaining muscle. But you must not starve yourself and thereby slowing the metabolism and losing valuable muscle tissue. The goal is to preserve muscle and make your body a metabolic inferno.


CONSISTENCY:

You'll need to be on this nutrition program six days a week with one day being somewhat of a cheat day. Unlike many, I'm not a big fan of the "cheat" day. I find that people tend to use it as an excuse to gorge themselves.

So, on Sunday for example, you're allowed to have some pizza, a bit of ice cream, etc. But nothing extreme! When you pig out, blood sugar levels can be elevated for seven hours or more. This will absolutely halt your body fat loss and actually backfire.



WEIGHT TRAIN:

At this point, you should be aware of the importance of resistance training. Just three to four workout sessions lasting no more than 35 minutes to an hour will do the trick. For every pound of muscle on your body, you'll burn 30-50 additional calories per day.

Part of your program should include abdominal exercises to strengthen and build the abs. That way, when you achieve your low body fat level, your abs will be tight.

By the way, there is one great movement to help pull the stomach inwards; however, I'll cover that in a future abdominal exercise article. I have to give you some reason to come back, right?



CARDIOVASCULAR EXERCISE:

Perform three to five days per week of moderate cardio exercise for approximately 30-40 minutes. During two of the days, you can exercise at a higher intensity level to accelerate fat loss -- but, only if you reach a sticking point. Do this consistently, keep adjusting calories SLIGHTLY and change your routine every three to four weeks. You will get a flatter stomach!


Extracted from an article contributed by Raphael Calzadilla.