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Besides sharing this super cute Beyond Yoga outfit, we had a few requests of how we get our abs. Instead of just answering you all individually through email, I thought I would write up a quick post of what works for us!
I will start off by saying, that like with anything, it takes time/patience, dedication, and discipline. It took me quite a while to figure out what worked best for me, and I am still figuring it out each day. There is no single formula that will work great for every single person. We all have different body types, and do better eating different types of food, doing different types of workouts, etc. We both started eating “healthier” about 3 years ago. At that time, I started being more mindful of what I was eating, but I will also say that I still had NO clue on what types of foods to eat.
I would definitely one of those types of people that was influenced by what was so-called “healthy” in the media. I even thought about buying my own juicer at one point. The ironic thing is, I don’t think I have ever had a green juice. Not that they are bad or anything, but I think our society relies so much on what the media says is a healthy choice.
After doing this a couple years, this is what works best for me, and what I would suggest to you all who want a more defined midsection.
- Lifting Weights– while I think cardio has great benefits, I also think that lifting weights is extremely beneficial. I am sure I have written about this somewhere else on the blog, but this is what I do for my workouts. I try to share my workouts on snapchat (alexis.belbel) and (sbelbel) once in a while, and we also have a youtube channel that is SUPER old here that has a bunch of workout clips. For the most part, I train a different muscle group each workout ( chest and calves, legs, arms, shoulders, back, etc) and I almost always start off with about 20-30 minutes of cardio on the stairmaster or treadmill.
- As far as ab exercises, I honestly don’t do a ton at all. I probably do ONE ab exercise once a week. I could probably benefit from training them more often, but I am too lazy (lol), and you could sit there and do billions of ab exercise all day long, but if you are not leaner in your midsection, your abs will never show! I also think just lifting weights in general is great because it constantly forces your core to be engaged, basically gives you an ab workout in a way each time you workout.
- Eating Throughout The Day– I know there are several opinions on if this is beneficial or not. Again, for me this is what works best. I usually eat 5-6 times throughout the day. I used to just eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but of course, I found myself snacking in between meals, and basically eating non-stop all day long. This would have been fine if I was actually sitting down and eating something, but what I was doing was just sticking my hands in everything, and not being conscious about what I was eating, and how much I was actually consuming. I’m not saying you need to eat a million times a day, but my suggestion to you is to put everything you plan on eating inside a bowl or on a plate so you know exactly what you’re eating.
- Eating More Protein– I will admit that I wasn’t always good about this. Most of us read the typical magazine articles and hear in the media that you don’t need a ton of protein. For me, I personally eat about 125G of protein a day (I weight a little bit under a 100lbs). Depending on what your dietary preferences are (vegan, vegetarian, etc.) it can become more challenging to get that amount of protein in your diet. Yes, things like quinoa, beans, etc have protein in them, BUT they also have carbs in them as well. For example, 1 cup of cooked quinoa does have 8G of protein, but it also has 39G of carbs. 3 eggs, for example, have 18G of protein, and under 2G of carbs. Similar with chicken, and other lean proteins like turkey, fish, etc. Does that make sense?
- My favorite types of proteins are eggs, fish like salmon, trout, etc, chicken, turkey, bison, and red meat. If you can tolerate yogurt or cottage cheese, those are also great options! Just be sure you pick one that doesn’t have any added sugars in it.
- Watch The Carbs You Eat + The Type of Carbs – First off, I am NOT saying carbs are bad by any means. With that being said, I think certain body types do better on more or less carbs. I, unfortunately, do not do well on tons of carbs. I definitely eat my share of them, but if I eat large quantities all day long, I will definitely pack on some extra weight (yes, it is happened before). It is all about trial and error! Almost every type of food has carbs in it, even vegetables. So what I am saying is that when people say they’re not eating carbs, they’re wrong because you are almost always eating them. If I am going to have a huge salad with TONS of vegetables, I will probably not have a ton of starchy carbs with it like quinoa, rice, potatoes, oatmeal, bread, etc. I LOVE vegetables, as you all can tell, so I will usually stay away from the starchier carbs depending on what I am eating with it.
- I have shared a few of “what I eat in a day” here and here. I typically will have pancakes or something with protein in it in the morning for breakfast, have eggs with our doubledosebakery waffles after my workout, a big salad with grilled chicken or tuna in the afternoon, and then some roasted or sautéed veggies with chicken, fish, or steak, and then either a toasted quest bar or chocolate mug cake for dessert. I will sometime also make this healthier hot chocolate if I am craving sweet tooth!
- Keeping A Food Journal– I am NOT saying you need to track every single morsel of food that goes into your mouth Been there, done that. It personally makes me CRAZY tracking everything I eat. However, with that being said, I think it is important to understand and make note of what you are eating and how much of it you are consuming, especially when it comes down to how much protein, carbs, etc you are eating. I would not suggest typing everything in your phone because it is definitely not a lifestyle, but it is good to know what you are eating! I also think by sticking to fresh veggies, fruits, lean proteins, healthy fats, etc, you can’t go wrong!
- Drink water – This is something that I struggled with for a long time. I used to drink 5-6 diet cokes for the longest time and never any water. However, over time I switched over to water, and try to always have it with me so that I never get dehydrated. It is never a bad thing to be hydrated! I can’t say enough about it! I also love La Croix waters, which are sparkling. I also drink hot water with lemon in the mornings and love that
- Be Mindful of Added Sugars- It seems like almost every type of food has sugar in it. I know that most food doesn’t taste well without it, but those sugars add up eventually. My suggestion is to buy unsweetened products and then lightly sweeten them with stevia or whatever sugar you prefer! Pay attention to peanut butters, oatmeal, yogurts, granola, etc.
Those are most of my tips, but as always feel free to email me with anything I didn’t cover, or specifics!
Check out this post for more tips!
