Again...question about flat tommy..

What / How can I get flat tommu?? I know there are sooo many posts about this but I can't really find a specific answer. The whole eating "clean" as in NO process carbs?? What if we still have some process carbs such as rice cake or white rice? A lot of asian people (I'm also Asian) eat TONS of white rice and a lot of them have flat tummy and VERY VERY skinny. I did tried eating clean for like...3 days and I feel that it's a bit torture (well...I ended up eating salad for lunch and dinner and that was basically starve me).

Many people said I need strenght trainning but I don't know how much to do? I run 30 minutes 3 times a week (I'm 16, 5"1 and 106-108 pounds).

Anyone has any suggestion on how to do the excercise to get flat stomach? I'm trying to lose some weight just to get rid of the belly fat (just a bit of weight). I saw the 12 food for flat abs and I tried to eat all that but since I'm in a bording school and have no fridge...it's a bit hard to get all the good food.

Anyway,...suggestion on WHAT to eat and HOW to excercise?

 Your genetic heritage probably makes you much less susceptible to the effects of rice on insulin - that and how much you have at each meal makes a difference. You probably wouldn't have 4-5 cups of rice in one sitting, yeh?

 Portions do make a difference. That, and what you eat with the rice - as long as you have a healthy amount of protein and good fats to go with the carbs in the rice, the glycemic load shouldn't be overly high.

 Do you have access to a gym in your boarding school? If you do, there's any number of programs I could suggest for your strength training - if you don't, bodyweight-based or improvised-gear based training is an option. Though they both have limitations over the long term, you can get off to a good start and it's possible that you'll be satisfied within the limits of what's possible, yeh?

The reason you can't find the answer is because there isn't one.  Sorry.  Your stomach is the hardest area to tone and flatten, and for some, it's an unreachable goal.  It really is all about lifestyle.  You need to eat healthy, and exercise.  I think core exercises and ab work are necessary to strenghten your core and develop good muscles, but those exercises alone will not flatten your stomach. 

So I guess do what you can, maintain a healthy lifestyle and maybe come to terms that you will never have the "perfect" tummy and learn to accept yourself as you are.

I have access to the gym but we only have the cycling machine and the treadmill. I can try to do sit-ups and crunches in my own bedroom. I don't have any dumbell to lift weight, though. Thats the problem. If I have to do crunches and sit-ups, how much and how often should I do?

Is this mean, I have to do the training and running for the rest of my life in order to be in shape? Or it's enough if I just keep myself active? (When I went back home to Thailand, I do a lot of walking - shopping -hanging out with friends ...( we have lots of cars but Bangkok is like New York. traffic is horrible).

Thanks for your reply, though =D

jill91198 - you probably right. It's all about healthy lifestyle...I just find it a bit hard to live a healthy lifestyle in America when I don't have a frisge or anything to cook.. =( I tried to keep eating things in moderation but I'm still afraid of eating foods like donuts, pizza, fries, burger (I havn't have any of these for 6 months now). It's suppose to be good, right? But not really among teenage friends. They don't care what they eat and I always have to turn down their invitation when they go and hangout in a bakery shops or pizza place. It sucks! When I was in Thailand, I eat a lot of snacks but even though we ate chips , our biggest bag of chips is 6 serving. And we have a lot of Thai snacks that is WAYYYYY healthyier (the really really sweet one may contain coconut milk and sugar..but no butter or anything). Oh, well, I guess I have to live with it until I got my own fridge in college!!

And yeah..maybe there is no such thing as 'perfect' abs......

 Try backpack squats and deadlifts - or a shopping bag filled with water bottles for a dumbbell substitute. It doesn't need to be a dumbbell or a barbell to be heavy, it just needs to be something that'll give you a proper training effect.

 And try the "Death By Bodyweight"  workout from Ian King -  that's a pretty good bodyweight-based routine. Though if you're new to strength training  Total Body for Beginners is probably a better starting point. Follow that for about 4 weeks, and then you'd graduate to Ian King's workout, or Total Body for Beginners 2 - add in improvised weights to your routine, and you'll have something that'll serve you for at least a few months.

melkor - Thanks you for the suggestion! I'll check them out!

I would have loved to have a flat tummy but it never happened for me in the past when I was in shape, but I wasn't overweight by any means, I just had a small pooch. But I found I really didn't mind the pooch, the only reason it bothered me is because none of my friends had one. I found clothes and bathing suits that made my pooch look just as flattering as their perfectly flat tummies. I knew I was in good shape, my friends knew I was in good shape, the guys I hung out with knew I was in good shape, it was just my own self image getting to me. Of course you can continue to work toward your goal, I am not telling you not to, I am just asking that you love your body the way it is and with whatever changes may come your way. Enjoy your workouts and enjoy food, enjoy your friends. It doesn't hurt to have pizza every once in awhile. Just remember to pay attention to portion sizes. Have a slice once a week, just hit the gym for an extra 20 minutes that day. I allow myself small splurges throughout the week, like a hershey kiss or one big splurge once a week like a bowl of ice cream. I was still losing the weight. (I am pregnant now so I am no longer losing weight but I am having a very healthy pregnancy eating this way) 

Go to you tube and type abs exercise, there are few very good videos for abs exercise and the best part is that you don't need any gears to do them so you can do them in your room. Offcourse healthy eating is must as everybody said.

 

 

Original Post by parul:

Go to you tube and type abs exercise, there are few very good videos for abs exercise and the best part is that you don't need any gears to do them so you can do them in your room. Offcourse healthy eating is must as everybody said.

 

 

The only problem with this advice is that ab isolation exercises do next to nothing for flattening your stomach. 

i wouldn't worry about it too much. my brother told me that he thinks it's cute that girls have a little tummy pooch. it's definitely not a turn off.

if bloating is an issue then do what I do. I eat differently that people say to, but it works for me. I eat a normal breakfast and a small lunch so that all morning and afternoon bloating is kept to a minimum. Most of my calories come from dinner and after-dinner when it doesn't matter if i have a very full tummy or not.