What You Need to Know for an Ab Building Meal Plan

What’s the formula to build a stronger, leaner core? It takes hard work and a focused diet but you can do it with this ab-building meal plan.

You’ve heard the phrase “abs are built in the kitchen”. While that’s got some truth to it, I like this one better…

Abs are built in the gym and uncovered in the kitchen.

Just like any other muscle group, abs are developed and strengthened with exercise. We don’t often think about it this way, but it’s time to. It takes reps, weight, consistency and progressive overload to build abs that you might someday be able to see.

Visible abs take on another layer. No matter how strong or built your ab muscles are, you won’t see them if there is a layer of fat over top.

A Quick Dip Into BUILDING Your Abs

If abs are built at the gym, how do you do it? You focus on the right exercises, great form and your constantly push your own boundaries. If your goal is to eat well enough to see abs, you have to build them first!

Focus on proper form and technique.

Do you feel like your hips are doing more work during your ab workout than your abs are? If your answer is “Yes”, it’s because you need to rethink your form. Crunches, leg raises, active planks – these exercises require you to draw your rib cage closer to your pelvic bone. The easiest way to do that is to bend at the waist. But bending at the waist doesn’t work your abs! It works your hip flexors.

Next time you do a core workout, think about rounding your back instead of bending at your waist. It’s your abs job to control that rounding of the back. So consciously engage those abs as if someone was about to sucker punch you in the gut! #gamechanger

Target your abdominals and obliques to develop visible abs.

Now that you know proper form, these are some of my favorite ab exercises that really target those visible muscles.

• Planks. Chances are you’ve done planks before…but have you done the right? When you hold a plank you want to tuck your tailbone and gently round your back to engage your core. Squeeze your entire body – quads, glutes, core, biceps – as consciously as possible.
  
• Lying Leg Raises. Leg raises hit the ever elusive lower abs. The key: as you lower your legs to the floor, gently press your lower back into the matt to engage your abs and ensure most of the work initiates from your core, not your hips.
  
• Reverse Crunches. When done right you’ll feel reverse crunches at the top of the abs, closer to your rib cage. Unlike regular crunches, reverse crunches really emphasize the “pelvic bone to rib cage” function of your core. Make sure that you are using your abs to push your hips back and up, not momentum and not a little donkey kick from your legs.
  
• Cable Oblique Twists. I love this movement because you feel the work from start to finish. Step far enough away from the cable machine to feel a bit of tension at the start. Keep your arms straight and at belly button height and make sure to twist from your core, not your hips!
  
• Stability Ball Knee Tuck (or Pike). Start with the knee tuck and build your way up to the pike. To get the most out of this exercise, initiate the movement by tucking your tail bone, squeezing your core and drawing your knees and hips towards your rib cage.

Your Ab Building Meal Plan

There are three main components to this ab building meal plan: high quality food, macronutrient manipulation and caloric defecit.

Caloric Deficit

The most effective way to drop body fat is to put yourself in a slight caloric deficit. That means that there is a small shortage in the numbers of calories that you consume in relation to the number of calories required to maintain your current body weight. If you can stay consistent for long enough, you’ll lose body fat and reveal those abs. It takes time, but here are some tips to do it right:

• Create a daily deficit of 250-300 calories. You could create a larger deficit but keep in mind that your body needs fuel to function on a daily basis. A larger deficit may not provide your body with enough fuel or nutrients to thrive.
  
• Include weight lifting and cardio in your daily routine.
  
• Increase NEAT – non-exercise activity thermogenesis. Aka: move more, sit less.
  
• Use portion control to balance your intake of calories and nutrients.

Macronutrients and Food Quality

Everybody’s calorie and nutrient needs are different but these simple guidelines can work for most everyone. *Before starting a new diet please talk to your personal health care practitioner.

Lean sources of protein, like chicken, fish, eggs and Greek yogurt, are essential to an ab-building diet. To start, it’s the building block of muscle. To preserve lean muscle while in a caloric deficit you must eat enough protein. That means .65-1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass. More than that? Protein boosts your immune system, metabolism, satiety and performance. Shoot for 1, 20-30 gram portion of protein, 3-4 times a day.

Plenty of non-starchy vegetables go a long way in providing nutrient-dense, low-calorie bulk to your diet. Choose vegetables in all colors of the rainbow to ensure you are getting a wide array of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients.

Complex carbohydrates are not to be feared. In fact, carbohydrates such as whole grains, potatoes, rice and beans, are your body’s favorite source of energy! Complex carbohydrates contain an array of nutrients, including fiber, that help your body function and perform at a high level. For a maintenance diet, aim for 3-4 servings of complex carbs per day.

And remember: you need fat to burn fat. Healthy fats, like the kind you get from fatty fish, nuts, seeds, avocados and olive oil, support metabolic function, hormone production, nutrient absorption and so much more. Set an initial goal of 3-4 servings of healthy fats (avoid trans fats from processed foods), per day.

When you do start to think about a caloric deficit, maintaining maintenance level protein intake is important. It’s your fat and carbohydrate nutrient sources that you will start to manipulate to create a caloric deficit.

Sample, Ab-Building Meal Plan

This is just one way that you could plan your day to eat for abs.

Breakfast

• 2 egg omelet with spinach, tomatoes and mushrooms with 1 slice of whole grain bread spread with avocado and sprinkled with sea salt and crushed red pepper flakes OR
• 3/4 cup steel cut oats with 1/2 cup mixed berries, toasted walnuts and coconut flakes

Lunch

• Giant mixed greens salad with 1 cup of tomatoes, peppers, cucumber and red onion topped with 4 ounces of grilled chicken, 1/2 cup of wild rice and Greek yogurt Green Goddess dressing OR
• Whole grain wrap with 4 ounces of tuna (mixed with Greek yogurt, mayonnaise, salt, pepper and celery), lettuce, tomato and onion.

Dinner

• 3/4 cup spaghetti squash with 4 ounces of sautéed shrimp, tomatoes, asparagus, onion and 1-2 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese OR
• 4 ounces of grilled sirloin with 1 small baked sweet potato, 1 cup of broiled broccoli with lemon and a drizzle of olive oil.

Snacks

• an apple with 1 tablespoon of peanut butter and a hard boiled egg OR
• 3/4 cups Greek yogurt with sliced banana and hemp hearts.

Level Up Nutrition Tips

Sure, having abs is neat. But it takes a lot of work. If you’ve decided that it’s worth it for you, here are a couple of nutrition tips to level up your results:

Stay hydrated. Drink at least 100 ounces of water per day.

Avoid processed foods. Processed foods contain plenty of lab-manipulated ingredients and few real, high quality ingredients that your body needs. Choose real foods when possible.

Limit added sugar intake. Sugar can wreak havoc on your blood sugar and insulin levels, and contribute to cravings. Limit added sugar when possible. *Fruit contains real sugar, fiber and nutrients that your body loves – so they don’t fit in this category!

Try not to skip meals. It might seem like a good idea to skip a meal and save yourself some calories. The reality is that skipped meals most often lead to a grumbling stomach and most people tend to overeat later on in the day.

Is That It?

You can do a lot of things and make a lot of choices that influence whether or not you can see your abs. That being said, your body is far more complex than egg whites and reverse crunches. Other factors that contribute to the equation:

• genetics
• hormones
• body type
• health conditions/health history
• exercise history

Some people can see their abs at a higher body fat percentage. Others have to get done to the single digits in body fat to see that 6-pack.

Keep in mind that a visible 6-pack doesn’t necessarily equate to health, core strength or day-to-day function. If you plan on forging ahead on the path to abs, don’t lose sight of your overall physiological and mental health along the way.