Six Pack Abs Diet Menu

Unlike most diet plans, which are laden with complex, hard-to-follow rules and verboten foods you love but have to live without, the Abs Diet lets you eat the foods you love, keeps your cravings at bay, and helps you control stress -- all at the same time. Here's an example of how you can structure a week of eating. It's not written in stone, by any means: Mix up the meals. Substitute whenever you want. Heck, I don't care if you eat the same thing every day for a week. The purpose of this chart is simply to show you how to follow the principles of the Abs Diet. So enjoy!

Monday
Breakfast

One tall glass (8 to 12 ounces) Abs Diet Ultimate Power Smoothie; make extra for later

Abs Diet Ultimate Power Smoothie (number of Powerfoods: 5)
1 cup 1% milk
2 tablespoons low-fat vanilla yogurt
¾ cup instant oatmeal, nuked in water
2 teaspoons peanut butter
2 teaspoons chocolate whey powder
6 ice cubes, crushed

Makes 2 8-ounce servings

Per serving: 220 calories, 12 g protein, 29 g carbohydrates, 4 g fat (1.5 g saturated), 3 g fiber, 118 mg sodium


Snack #1

2 teaspoons peanut butter, raw vegetables (as much as you want)



Lunch

Turkey or roast beef sandwich on whole-grain bread, 1 cup 1% or fat-free milk, 1 apple



Snack #2

1 ounce almonds, 1½ cups berries



Dinner

Mas Macho Meatballs (number of Powerfoods: 3)
1 pound extra-lean ground beef
½ cup crushed saltine crackers
1 large onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon ground flaxseed or whey powder
1 jar (16 ounces) tomato sauce
4 whole-wheat hoagie rolls
½ cup reduced-fat mozzarella cheese, shredded

1. Mix the beef, crackers, onion, garlic, and flaxseed or whey powder into golf ball-size meatballs.
2. In a nonstick skillet over medium heat, cook the meatballs until browned all the way around. Drain the fat from the skillet, and add the tomato sauce.
3. While the mixture is warming, use a fork to scoop out some of the bread in the rolls to form shallow trenches. Spoon the meatballs and sauce into each trench, and sprinkle with shredded mozzarella, and top with the top half of the roll.

Makes 4 servings



Per serving: 569 calories, 38 g protein, 65 g carbohydrates, 19 g fat (6 g saturated), 10 g fiber, 1,341 mg sodium



Snack #3

8 to 12 ounces Abs Diet Ultimate Power Smoothie

Source: http://www.menshealth.com/nutrition/abs-diet-weekly-meal-plan-recipes

Six Pack ABS Diet and Workout Plan

Six Pack ABS Diet and Workout Plan. Did you know that you all ready have six pack abs? Everybody does, in point of fact. The difference between you and the guy on the beach with the stomach that looks like a washboard might not necessarily be the amount of exercise you do, although exercise does play a huge role in getting a six pack. What makes a critical difference on whether you're showing a six pack or simply one huge single pack is in your diet.

Men hear the word diet and the first thing that comes to mind is all the fussy 'chick' food that dieting seems to entail. While you could go that route, and lose weight, there are ways to get a solid six pack abs diet going without having to live on salad and tuna fish.

Diet is a matter of putting the correct amount of calories into your system at the correct times of day. It really is that simple. Getting there will take a little bit of preparation, and will include a green salad, or so, but you can eat real food and still lose the extra weight that is hiding your six pack.

Overall, men's caloric needs are vastly different from women's- men burn calories faster due to overall differences in metabolism and size. A normal diet to maintain weight can range from 2000 calories for a sedentary older man to 2400 calories per day for an active man 18-33. To lose a pound of fat, you simply need to decrease overall consumption by 3500 calories. For an active man 18-33 years old, this means reducing caloric intake to between 1800-2000 calories per day and using a combination of strength training and aerobic training. According to all legitimate sources, you should never go below 1500 calories/day as this will lead to your body going into starvation mode-it is extremely unhealthy and you will lose muscle instead of fat.

So, how exactly should you eat? It's simple Breakfast, lunch, dinner, plus two snacks-one mid morning between breakfast and lunch, and another part way through the afternoon, before dinner, is usually the best route to go. Your meals should be protein-rich and loaded with complex carbs. For protein, all meats and seafood are fine as long as they are lean and not fried. Complex carbs include green salads, fresh veggies and fresh fruits. You should try to stay away from white potatoes (sweet potato is fine), pasta, corn (a starch-NOT a veggie) bread, and the like. Occasional treats along these lines are fine after you've reached your target, but for the most part, you should avoid them while trying to lose weight. If you work out daily, you could add an occasional extra meal of protein and carbs for a recovery meal, but again, to start, you want to avoid extra calories. Yogurt, for example, might seem like a 'chick' food but it is an important source of protein and vitamins so don't rule it out completely. You get serious protein for very few calories and it is a good post workout food to add. Other good choices are hummus and peanut butter. These both provide good fats that you need as well.

Portion control is also important. Won't do you a bit of good to eat healthily, but stuff yourself full five times per day. Get to know the calorie counts in your foods and get to know what a normal portion size is. To start, you won't want to go too far over the recommended amounts.

Avoid alcohol, soda (even the diet/reduced calorie soda), and fruit juice. These will all sabotage your efforts to reclaim your six pack. Water, coffee, tea are all good as long as you don't put sugar in them. If you must, use a small amount of real sugar to sweeten your drinks-the sugar in the cute little colored packages is no good for anyone.

Most of all, stick to it. You will notice results pretty quickly and soon you too will have visible six pack abs to show off on the beach.

1000 Situps a Day VS Cardio Six Pack ABS

So which is better for getting six-pack abs: 1,000 sit-ups every day, or a regular program of cardio? I'm a certified personal trainer.

Cardio beats 1,000 daily sit-ups any day for getting a six-pack.

Why is cardio superior to doing a thousand sit-ups every day for achieving six-pack abs? After all, cardio doesn't even target the abs.

But it's not about targeting. It's about engaging the abs in combination with burning overall body fat. If you target the abs, even with a thousand sit-ups every day, you're still working only a very small muscle group.

The abdominal rectus (six-pack) group functions to stabilize the spine, as well as bend the trunk. Big deal. Carrying out these tasks won't do much to raise the body's energy needs, even if the bending (sit-ups) is repeated a thousand times.

Though a poorly conditioned person will struggle just to do one sit-up, don't let this fool you. This simple isolation movement is very miniscule work as far as force production and energy expenditure. Ab muscles are weak. When people lift very heavy things, which muscles do they use?

Their legs, back, chest and shoulders, essentially. When you do cardio, which muscles work? Those in the legs (and butt). For people who find it difficult to understand how cardio can bring out a six-pack, and 1,000 crunches a day will fail, I say look no further than the most extreme form of cardio: the competitive sprinter.

Show me one competitive sprinter who does NOT have a prominent six-pack. This also goes for 400 meter, even 800 meter specialists. It goes for soccer players and tennis players, who do a lot of cardio.

But you need not do a lot of cardio to get a six-pack. The time spent running, that the above athletes actually do, isn't that much, when you really think about it. It's brief bursts, stop and go, stop and go. But the bursts are significant.

When we apply this concept to a structured cardio program for the non-competitive athlete, it translates to high intensity interval training. This is a form of cardio exercise. It blasts fat.

In order to "get" a six-pack, you must shed enough body fat to reveal these ab muscles. A thousand crunches a day will shed miniscule fat. But high intensity interval training (even when done only twice a week) will burn a LOT of fat because it speeds up resting metabolism! It sets off a hormonal response that results in accelerated fat-burning, even while you're at rest.

Can Bread Prevent Six Pack ABS?

Many people wonder if eating bread, even in small amounts, can interfere with achieving six-pack abs. I'm a certified personal trainer.

Trust me on this: There is absolutely no association between bread consumption and the development, or lack thereof, of six-pack abs.

Now when I say "consumption," I'm referring to the ingredients in bread, a flour-based processed food. I am NOT referring to total daily calories when I say "bread consumption."

I'll get to calories in a moment. But first, I must reiterate: There is nothing inherent in bread's ingredients, including white flour, that would make getting a six-pack difficult, let alone impossible.

Formula for Six-Pack Abs

The formula for this most appealing trait is a low body fat percentage combined with trained abdominal muscles.

This begs the question: Won't bread prevent low body fat percentage, thereby preventing getting a six-pack?

The only thing that stands in the way of achieving a low body fat percentage is consuming more calories than you can burn off in a day. If you're in caloric deficit mode, you'll have a low body fat percentage.

How do you cut back on calories to lower body fat so that the six-pack is visible?

This can be done by deleting 500 calories a day of food. In one week you'll lose a pound of body fat. This plan is ideal for those who are eating more food than they need. A pound of fat = 3,500 calories.

On the other hand, an increase in exercise is all it takes to lower body fat enough to show the abs in some individuals.

Bread, in and of itself, has nothing to do with the calories in vs. calories out fat loss model.

Now, if you're chowing down lots of bread every day, that's too many calories from one type of food -- a type of food that's not essential to good health. If you cut back on your daily bread consumption, resulting in, say, 400 fewer calories per day, of COURSE this will result in fat loss: it's fewer calories!

You'll get the same result if you cut back on 400 calories worth of other foods you might be consuming in excess, such as pasta, butter, beef, cheese or potato chips. Fewer calories means your body will dip into fat reserves for energy, including fat that's hiding your six-pack.

The reason not all "skinny" people have a six-pack is because, though a person may be thin in terms of abdominal diameter, they're packing enough fat in their stomach to hide abdominal definition.

Another reason why many slimmer folks don't sport a six-pack is because their abs aren't trained adequately, that is, the muscles there aren't tight and strong.

To get a six-pack, you must have trained abs, plus a low body fat percentage from appropriate caloric intake combined with exercise that burns a lot of fat, such as high intensity interval training. There is nothing inherent in bread's ingredients that preclude development of a six-pack. Also check out: Blast fat by using your force production muscles.

4 Ways Rev Metabolism

Yes it's true... as we get older weight gain begins to creep up on us. You hear people every day in the grocery store, around the water cooler, at parties complaining of this additional weight they can't seem to lose. You used to eat anything and not gain an ounce but now it seems 2 chips will send your weight up another notch on the scale. So what is this weight gain mystery?
One thing we know for sure is that our metabolism is slowing down as we get older. Simply put, metabolism is the way our bodies burn the calories from the food that we eat. The shift of midlife weight gain actually begins in our 20's - 30's. We naturally gain body fat while losing lean body mass. This loss of lean body mass can greatly affect our metabolism. Starting at about age 25, a person's metabolism declines approximately 5 percent every decade! Therefore, if you were able to burn 2000 calories per day when you were 25 this can decrease to 1700 calories by the time your 55. So it seems we are entering into the battle of age vs. metabolism. We can't control ageing, so what now? Do we wave our white flags and succumb to what seems a natural progression of unwanted, continuous weight gain?

Absolutely not- there are several simple and natural ways to triumph over this battle at any age.

• Increase Muscle Mass
The most important factor of metabolism is lean body mass. Muscle burns up to 90% more calories than fat. The more muscle mass you have, the more calories you will burn in a day. By adding three to five pounds of muscle you could actually burn 100 - 250 additional calories a day. Try adding a weight bearing activity 2-3 times a week such as lifting free weights, walking, or resistance training. Simply carrying your groceries home could be considered weight bearing.

• Don't Skip Meals
The myth that skipping meals decreases your total calorie level and helps you to lose weight is not true. When people skip meals or decrease their calories significantly
(< 1000 calories/day), they actually decrease their metabolism. They go into "starvation mode" where the body tries to compensate for the low calories. Your metabolic rate can actually decrease as much as 10-15% and your body will hold on to the fat and burn lean muscle instead. Always eat at least 3 meals and avoid dipping below 1000 calories a day.

• Regular activity
Regular exercise routines such as biking, walking, or hiking will help raise your metabolism during the activity and for several hours after. Even simple movements such as taking the stairs, house cleaning, or simple yard work can help increase your burn rate.

• Adequate Protein
Protein provides the building blocks for muscle. Without adequate protein you may actually lose muscle. You need about .4 - .5 gram of protein per pound body weight. For a woman weighing 160 pounds she would need approximately 64 - 80 grams of protein daily. Choose healthy protein sources such as chicken, turkey, fish, soy, nuts, and beans. A three-ounce chicken breast will provide about 20 grams of protein.

Beware of Magic Cures
We have all seen the ads for products that increase our metabolism and promise miraculous weight loss. Metabolism boosters and Fat Burners - not only do the people they show us in the testimonials lose weight they also end up with a firm body and a six pack stomach. Can a pill do all this?

Generally, the answer is no. These weight loss pills are often ineffective, and they can also harm us. Many of them contain either human growth hormone, which can lead to joint or heart problems, or epinephrine type ingredients that are correlated with increased blood pressure.

The answer is the good old tried and true: eat a balanced diet that does not exceed your calorie needs, and exercise regularly. Realize that aging does not need to win the metabolism battle and that we can look our best, increase our energy, and enjoy good health at any age.

Huge Mistake traying Six Pack

Everywhere you look, someone is promising you some big secret about how to get six-pack abs. Some of these "secrets" have a slight ring of truth, while others do not. Learning to decipher what methods are the best ways for how to get a six pack will determine your success.

When trying to get six pack abs fast, the biggest issue you need to focus on is your diet. If your diet is not in line, you will never be able to get rid of belly fat, no matter how many sit ups, crunches, or other ab exercises you do.

Eat Enough Protein

First, make sure you get enough protein. Not only will proteins form the key elements you need to build muscle, but they will also give you greater feeling of fullness than eating carbohydrates by themselves. Protein is more "expensive" than any other macronutrient, meaning that your body will burn more calories to break down proteins, compared to carbohydrates and fats.

Dietary Fat is Your Friend

Don't be afraid of dietary fats, such as olive oils, fish oils, mixed nuts, avocado and peanut butter. While it is true that eating fat will increase your calories fast, as long as you keep it between 20-30%, it can be one of the best things you do to get a six pack fast.
The important point here is that dietary fat helps keep your insulin level stable, which can actually cause fat itself, when high enough. Furthermore, dietary fat will keep you feeling full for a longer time, more than carbohydrates or proteins. Interestingly, with some high-fat diets you can get six pack abs fast because your body learns to metabolize fat for energy.

Carbs are Crucial on Post-Workout

Finally, when it comes to carbohydrate intake and getting six pack abs, you want to focus more on your carb intake around the post-workout period. If you want to get a six pack fast, then each meal you consume should contain raw vegetables (at least 1-2 cups). This will help stabilize insulin levels, improve protein absorption, and give your body all the vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fibers it needs.
Diet and Exercise for Success

So, if you're aiming to get abs in the coming months, you need to take a good hard look at your diet. This is the biggest factor that can't be overlooked, if you want to succeed.

The exercises you should do for your abs are crunches and leg raises. Try to run a little to burn fat; if you are not fit enough to run, try to swim one or two times a week. Skipping is a great exercise for fat burning, too and will help to tone your abs, as well. Pushups and pull-ups are also one of the best ways to shape your abs and tone your entire body.