If you’re really into working out, it’s likely that you’ve heard this expression: Abs are made in the kitchen.
If you haven’t heard that before, hold your bewilderment a moment and keep reading.
It’s true. You will never see your ab muscles if your diet isn’t right. The rest of your body will respond well to good, hard training. Every other muscle group will look decent even if you don’t religiously follow the average diet restrictions and requirements that go along with weight training.
On the other hand, your body will look awesome if you add a disciplined diet in with your training. Every muscle will look leaner, but here’s the kicker. You’ll be able to see your abs.
A better way to express the aforementioned concept is that abs are made in the gym and revealed in the kitchen. What you eat 100 percent determines whether you get to show off all that hard work you’ve put in lately.
My best friend/personal trainer has always told me not to treat abs any differently than other muscle groups. Go to the gym on ab day, do all your exercises to exhaustion – good deal. But I’ve found that abs are different than other muscle groups in terms of how they affect the entire “look” of your body.
Personally, I don’t see the point in kicking my own ass in the gym every day if I don’t get to have a nice tummy at the end of it.
Yes, this friend of mine has a six-pack and is in very good shape. I followed his advice and ended up standing in front of the mirror sideways, wondering why the hell I looked like I had a serious case of the bloat.
You know… I think it’s a girl thing. I hate saying that, but it really might be a girl thing.
First of all, you don’t need an entire day dedicated to working out your ab muscles.
I’ll tell you later how and when to work them out, but for now, know this.
Second of all, there is no way around the fact that what you eat is important.
Think of it like this: You work so hard in the gym, so why would you let extra sodium, saturated fats and sugars negate that?
Some rules:
- “Everything in moderation” is applicable to eating all foods, even healthful ones
- If you’re going to mess up and eat refined sugars/processed foods/bad carbs, you better do it right after your workout and never right before bed.
- You have to eat, remember? For life. For health. For muscle recovery. For abs.
- A well-rounded diet needs balance, flavor, and all the necessary nutrients.
- Your body wants you to eat a whole bunch of things. It doesn’t just want you to pop vitamins and drink protein powder in water. It also doesn’t want you to down five zebra cakes at 2 a.m. when you’re starving because all you ate for dinner with an almond and a broccoli floret.
So, here’s a list of some really good food items.
These are loose “categories;” I’m trying to give you this information concisely and in a form that’s easy to understand/absorb quickly. Furthermore, this list isn’t exhaustive; it only contains items that the majority of young women are likely to be familiar with.
Hope you guys are excited!
Protein:
- chicken
- tuna
- salmon
- fish (look up “fatty fish” for some really great ones)
- lean beef
- turkey
- lentils, black beans, pinto beans, chick peas (garbanzos)
- shrimp
- greek yogurt
- eggs
- cottage cheese
Fats:
- nuts
- olives and olive oil
- avocados
- coconut oil
- flax seed
Vegetables:
- broccoli
- sweet potatoes
- spinach
- kale
- carrots
- cauliflower
- cabbage
- tomatoes
- carrots
Carbohydrates:
- fruit, but stick to fibrous ones
o raspberries
o strawberries
o blueberries
o cherries
o apples
o bananas
o grapefruit
o papaya
- oatmeal
- brown rice
- quinoa
Cheats:
If you can’t imagine giving up bread completely, oatmeal bread is high in protein.
If you’re a cheese addict, start looking for cheeses made with skim milk or 2 percent (or lower) fat content. Non-fat cream cheese or Neufchatel cheese and yogurt cheese are all awesome.
For someone who doesn’t enjoy math very much, this is a strange but helpful comparison: A successful diet is like understanding your math homework. If you can actually wrap your mind around the nutritional concepts behind the eating guidelines, you’re less likely to be frustrated with them.
Don’t just know what you’re “supposed” to eat, know why.
