9 Things You Need to Know About Getting Abs or a Flatter Stomach
With summer right around the corner, I know you are probably hyper-focused on getting six-pack abs or a flatter stomach, am I right?
If you’ve been following me for a while, you know this isn’t a topic I like to focus on, although I know it’s a goal for many of you and that’s why I think it’s important I share these 9 important things with you.
If you are going to the extreme to get those six-pack abs–like doing a million crunches a day, spending hours doing cardio, drastically cutting calories, completely eliminating carbs, or fasting for an insanely long time–you could be doing more harm than good. To be 100% real with you, many of these extreme measures could actually be triggering you to store more abdominal fat instead of burning it. Seriously.
That’s why in today’s episode, I chat with you about how to actually get a flatter stomach while going about it in a healthy, sustainable, and more effective way.
If you love this episode, you will also love...
TRANSCRIPT:
Hey there, beautiful human. You're listening to Embrace Your Real, with me, Julie Ledbetter, a podcast where I empower you to just be you. With each episode, I dish you a dose of real talk and actionable advice for building your confidence, honoring your body, and unconditionally loving your authentic self. Stay tuned if you're ready to embrace your real. Let's get [inaudible 00:00:21].
Hello, and welcome back to the Embrace Your Real Podcast. I am so grateful that you are spending some time with me today, wherever you are in this world, whether you're cooking, you're driving, you're cleaning, you're walking, you're jogging, you're working out. I am just so grateful that you are here and tuning in. I'm going to get straight to it, because today we're going to be talking about a flat stomach and abs. Now, with summer right around the corner, this has been one of the most frequently asked questions in my DMs. And if you've been following me for a while, you know that I always talk about sustainability. I always talk about creating a healthy and thriving lifestyle and spending less time obsessing and fixating over our physical appearance.
But I also do know that so many women are striving for that flatter stomach, those abs, especially in the summertime, and I thought that I would just spend some time today shedding some light on this topic. So if that is you, please tune in. Before I dive into the episode, I just want to thank KFAnderson29 for such a sweet review. She said, "Julie is such an inspiration to me as a younger woman in college, and I'm so happy I follow her and her message that she's telling. Whenever I'm feeling kind of down about myself or lacking motivation, her podcasts never disappoint. She always tells it straight and to the point, leaving no room for excuses, only growth and positivity. Such an amazing podcast and person." Thank you so much for the review. I sincerely appreciate every single one of them. If you haven't already rated and reviewed the podcast, it would truly mean the world to me. If you do listen on Apple podcasts, all you've got to do is press pause, scroll all the way down, and you'll see the area where you can rate and review it. It takes less than 60 seconds, but it really does help the podcast out so much.
Okay, so without further ado, let's dive into it. I'm going to be giving you nine honest thoughts that will hopefully help you reframe your mindset around wanting to get a flatter stomach or abs. Thought number one, flat abs will only come from reducing your overall body fat. Now, first and foremost, the most important thing that you need to know about abs is that every single person has them. For real, we all have them. Of course, they will all look different, because everyone's genetic makeup is different, but you have to stop telling yourself that you don't have them and instead remind yourself that in order for you to visibly see the abs that you already have, you just need to simply reduce your overall body fat.
But one thing I have to point out with this is while, yes, you have to reduce your overall body fat, and your body fat has to be low enough in order for you to see your abs, I want to urge you to ask yourself why you're so hung up on wanting the flatter stomach or wanting abs in the first place. Speaking from experience, I had visible six pack abs, and I can tell you firsthand that it does not give you confidence. If you are just striving to get that flatter stomach because you think that you'll feel better about yourself or you think that you'll love yourself more, I urge you to think again. I urge you to take a step back and truly ask yourself why you think that this is the way to gain more self confidence. More often than not, the ones who have your definition of a quote perfect body are driven by insecurities. Those who are truly confident don't need to obsess over their body being a certain way in order for them to be confident.
I want to just briefly say, if you're looking to build more confidence, if that is something that you're really struggling with, be sure to check out episode 23. It's Five Steps to Building Unshakable Confidence. And then I also talk about this topic in episode 20, it's titled Your Looks Are Not Your Identity. So definitely check those two episodes out if that is something that you're currently struggling with.
Thought number two, doing more crunches won't help. Now, I think oftentimes when people learn that they need to just lower their overall body fat percentage in order to get those visible abs or the flatter stomach, they think that doing endless amounts of crunches or ab exercises is going to help you actually get flat abs. While of course incorporating ab specific and core specific exercises into your weekly training schedule is great for many reasons, you can, just like any other muscle group, overtrain them as well. So also while we're on this topic, many people think that if they just work them harder, they'll be able to spot reduce that specific area of their body. And that's just not true. Spot reduction is not real. It doesn't work like that. And this applies to any part of your body that you want to get rid of fat, whether it's your legs, your arms, your core. You need to focus on your overall body as a whole.
I'm speaking to the mass majority of people who are interested in making this a lifestyle. I'm not speaking to specific people training for a marathon or triathlon or a bodybuilding competition. I'm talking to the majority of people, that's myself included. It comes down to just incorporating more movements that require more energy. So for example, HIIT, high intense interval training, I incorporate that, I would say average around one to two times per week. Resistance training, this is weight training and compound movements that use multiple muscle groups at a time. The more muscles that you use at a time, the more energy that you're going to use, as well. And that's why inside my Movement with Julie app, my weekly workouts, we focus on resistance training. We also focus, and I give you some HIIT training, some high intense interval training, some EMOMs, it's every minute on the minute.
And then I also incorporate a lot of compound movements instead of just massive amounts of cardiovascular. I think oftentimes people, they just think, oh, I just need to do more cardio, do more cardio or do more ab workouts. And it just does not work like that.
Thought number three, everyone's bodies are different. Now, when you're focusing on reducing your overall body fat in hopes of getting a flatter stomach, you need to realize that every single person's genetic makeup is entirely different, like I mentioned earlier. Although we all have abs, everybody's body is different when it comes to losing body fat in certain areas. So it really doesn't matter how many core exercises you do. It may be your arms that start to look leaner first, or your legs that start to look leaner first, or your abs. It totally depends on your genetic makeup.
For example, when I'm in a caloric deficit, which I'll talk about in a few minutes, naturally my upper body loses fat first, and then my legs are always the slowest to lose body fat. That's just how I'm genetically made up. And I know so many other people where it's totally different. They're doing the same exact training as me. They're adhering to their nutritional intake for what is their body, based on their goals, age, weight, height, all of those things, and they tend to lose body fat maybe first in their legs. And the last thing for them to lose is in their arms. It just totally depends on the person. So you need to be patient with yourself, continue to be consistent, and allow your body to do its thing on its own.
Thought number four, you have to keep your cortisol levels low. So what is cortisol? It is a stress hormone that is secreted from your adrenal glands, and when you are in a constant state of stress, your cortisol levels go way up. This is a problem, because high cortisol can trigger you to store fat in your midsection or other places in your body. So essentially no matter how clean you eat or how intense or consistent you are with your workouts, if you're constantly stressed, it could be extremely difficult for your body to lean out. You're going to want to make sure that you are getting enough sleep each night. This has been proven to help keep cortisol levels down. Now, everybody is different when it comes to how much sleep they need. For me, I need at least seven hours, seven to eight hours, and no more than that. If I get nine hours, I get super groggy, but at least getting between seven and eight, and I make that a huge priority, just as I make training and fueling my body optimally, I make sleep a priority.
So it's important that you need to figure out how much sleep makes you feel best, maybe for you that's seven, maybe for you that's nine, whatever the number is, make sure that that is a priority to get enough sleep each night. Since cortisol is a stress hormone, you're also going to need to keep your stress levels down overall. I know that sounds like an impossible thing to do, but it is not only essential for you while building the body that you want, but it's also essential for your overall health.
A few things that help keep my stress levels down is, I've talked about this before, but journaling. I always journal. I start my day off with gratitude. And I think that it's so important to start your day off in that way, because when you kick off the day with feeling gratitude and just living in that state, it's a lot harder for you to get to a state of stress because your first response is gratitude, because that is how you started your day.
Another thing that I like to do is really focus on my to do list, but only do three big things, the three big things that I need to do, and not focus on the entire to do list of the entire week or whatever. Because when I do that, it can stress me out, and I can really start to feel this tension rising when I'm just listing out all these things that I need to do. Instead, I ask myself, what are three things today that I need to do that are going to move the needle for ultimately where I want to go? And once you do that, if you get those three things done, you can easily do another three task list that day, if that's something that you want. But at least you're giving yourself the opportunity to be able to check those things off and actually do things that help move the needle instead of getting so overwhelmed that you just feel kind of paralyzed in stress and you don't do anything at all.
Also, if you haven't already tuned in to episode five, I talk about the 10 things that I do every single morning to set my day up for success. So be sure to tune in to episode five of the podcast.
Now, most people associate stress, not only with mental stress, but also physical stress. That can cause your cortisol levels to heighten, as well. So if you're over-exercising, if you're putting your body in a chronic state of stress, your cortisol levels as a result are going to be chronically high. So exercising too much can also cause you to store more fat in areas of your body, including your mid section. So just make sure that you're not overdoing it. For me, I never work out more than five days a week. That is all the workouts inside the Movement with Julie app. I really allow myself the opportunity to rest and recover, because it's so, so important. So no more thinking that two days is the way to get a flatter stomach. You've really got to focus on those cortisol levels and keeping that in check.
Thought number five, hormones, hormones, hormones. Now, cortisol is only one hormone that when out of balance can increase the amount of fat you store in your midsection, but any hormonal imbalance can actually trigger the same effect. So one thing that is very common among women who are trying to lose weight is they drastically cut their calories, and when you do this, you can seriously cause some hormonal imbalances. And also another thing that I've seen super trendy right now going on when it comes to losing fat is intermittent fasting. And people think that if they fast long enough, that it's actually going to help trigger fat loss, when in reality, studies have shown that if women fast more than 12 hours at a time, it could potentially cause hormonal imbalances, all of which can trigger you to store more fat in your midsection.
So these things are super important to make sure that you are keeping in check. And honestly, the things that you're trying to do to make your waistline slimmer could actually be doing the exact opposite. So hormonal imbalances can be caused by a wide array of things. So if you do think that you have a hormonal imbalance, it's definitely worth looking into doctors, certain seminars. There's so much information on the internet, but I would definitely go to an expert in this, because one hormone imbalance can lead to another, and it can ultimately cause some serious health issues longterm. So definitely recommend that you look to somebody who is very experienced in this.
Thought number six, you need to hydrate. Staying hydrated is so important to eliminate built-up toxins in your body. It's going to help improve digestion. It's going to help reduce bloating and inflammation, all of which can help reduce the amount of fat that you store in your mid section. Plus, water is actually essential for burning fat. So if you're looking to reduce your overall body fat percentage, you're going to need to drink enough water to do so. If you don't know how much water you need to be drinking, I know for me, for years of my life, like a decade plus of my life, I had no idea how important water was. And I would always tell myself, I just need to drink some more water, but I actually never knew how much my body needed. And maybe you don't, either.
So if that's you, here's just kind of a brief thing that maybe you can write down on your phone or write down on pen and paper, if you have that handy with you. But essentially, a great baseline for the amount of water in ounces that you need every day is your weight in pounds. So an estimate can be fine if you don't weigh yourself. And then times that by 0.67, and that's going to be the base amount of water intake in ounces. And then on top of that, for every 30 minutes of activity, studies have shown that you should be adding in an additional 12 to 18 ounces of water on top of that. So keep that in mind. There's so many ways that I've talked about on many various podcasts of how to drink more water. I think in episode five, I talk about that a lot, because it's really important that you are drinking enough water.
I start out my day drinking water, simply because the sooner I get a head start, the easier it is, so I'm not drinking so much water at night, and then I'm having to get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. So definitely check out episode five of that and be sure to do that water calculation. Again, it's your weight in pounds, an estimate is fine, times that by 0.67, and that's going to be your base amount of water intake in ounces that you need. And then any other activity on top of that, every 30 minutes, you need anywhere from 12 to 18 ounces more. So add that onto your baseline of your water intake.
Thought number seven, you need to dial in on your nutrition. Now I know in this list, nutrition is low on the list, but it doesn't mean that it's not the most important. If you've been listening to my podcast for any length of time or following my socials, you know that I talk about nutrition and how I always, always, always suggest that people focus on their nutrition, because that's ultimately what's going to move the needle. If you listen to my episode that is titled Nutrition or Exercise, Which One Comes First, you'll know that focusing on your nutrition is the most effective when it comes to which one to start with first when building the body that you want. That's why all of those cliche sayings like abs are made in the kitchen or you can't out-train a bad diet, that's actually real. When I say nutrition, I mean being in a caloric deficit, a slight caloric deficit. The keyword here being slight, because if you get too much into a caloric deficit that can also cause hormonal imbalances that will trigger you to store fat, which is why it's so important that you educate yourself on how to properly fuel your body based on your goals.
So if that's something that you're interested in, I do have a program. You can just go to my website, juliealedbetter.com, and you can search macro counting. I have tons of blogs about it. We also have an academy called the Macro Counting Made Simple online academy, and that's going to go in depth and we are going to help personalize your macro calculation, kind of teach you how to properly fuel your body based on your goals, where you're at, and where you want to be.
Thought number eight, you need to know that there are no shortcuts. Now, I know a lot of people see success when they go on fad diets. This is generally because they're cutting way back on their overall calories. And particularly nowadays, I've seen many, many people cutting carbs and going to super, super low carb. That is why you might see people initially getting results, because each gram of carb that you eat your body stores three to four grams of water. So when you cut way back on carbs, you're ultimately going to look slimmer, because you are losing water weight. But remember, as you start to eat carbs again, let's be real, literally not eating them for the rest of your life is going to be miserable. You're likely to gain all of that water weight back. And that's why you see these people that will go on a fad diet, they might initially lose 10, 15 pounds. They look great initially, but then you see them in a couple months and they've gained all of it, plus more, back.
Just remember this, if the method that they are using is not sustainable, it's likely that the results are not sustainable, as well. It's so, so important that you remember that slow and steady wins the race. I know for me, I've been tempted so many times in these last eight years of being on my health and fitness journey to want to go on a fad diet. But the fact is what I have found is that a sustainable lifestyle and actually enjoying what I'm doing, enjoying the movement, enjoying what I'm eating, and enjoying the process, most importantly, that's ultimately what's going to last and that's what's to give you the ultimate happiness, the confidence that you're looking for, because it's no longer this race. You are in this for the long haul. You know that this is something you can sustain three years, five years, 10 years down the road, and ultimately every single habit that you're building is something that's going to serve you longterm. So remember that.
And lastly, thought number nine, getting abs actually means nothing. The most important thing that I want you to know about getting a flatter stomach is that it really does mean nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing. Seriously, the only person that actually cares about whether or not you have a flatter stomach is you. And that won't change how beautiful you are. It won't change how worthy you are, and it won't change how kind, smart, loving, amazing, capable, desirable, or anything else about you. Flat abs are just flat abs. I can promise you that when you get them, you're going to realize nothing magical is going to happen within you, because there's nothing magical about having flat abs.
There you have it. Nine thoughts that you need to know about a flatter stomach or abs. So let me quickly recap. Thought number one, flat abs will only come from reducing your overall body fat. Thought number two, doing more crunches won't help. Thought number three, everyone's bodies are different. Thought number four, you've got to keep your cortisol levels low. Thought number five, hormones, hormones, hormones. Make sure that you're checking up on those hormones. Thought number six, you need to hydrate. Hydrating is so, so important. Thought number seven, you've got to dial in on your nutrition. Thought number eight, know that there are no shortcuts. And lastly, thought number nine, and most importantly, getting abs or a flatter stomach really does mean nothing.
If you love this episode, I know that you will also love episode 18. I titled it What Happens When You Don't Eat Enough? In this episode, I break down why overly restricting your calories is not an effective or healthy way to create lasting weight loss. I also dive into why you should never live in a caloric deficit longterm and how it can be damaging to your metabolism, as well as the entire function of your body, and signs when you aren't eating enough calories.
And then also, like I mentioned earlier, I have an episode called When Lean Does Not Equal Healthy. I know when you see women with shredded abs, extremely defined muscles, and overall lean physiques, you automatically might think goals or something like that. But what I have learned is that being super lean does not mean that that's something that you need to strive for. And in this episode, I'm going to kind of give you a new light on those perfect picture bodies that you want so badly, and help you to understand the drastic measures that it takes to get there, the dangerous mentality, and ultimately why it shouldn't be something that you're striving towards.
So those are my nine thoughts on getting a flatter stomach, getting abs, and just remember, you are so beautiful. You are so worthy. You can absolutely have goals. I'm not saying that you can't have goals to overall become leaner, stronger, healthier, all the things, but I just want to make sure that you're not just fixating on that and you're looking at this whole entire lifestyle as a whole. If you have somebody in your life that could benefit from this, all you've got to do if you're listening on Spotify or Apple podcasts is click the three dots, and you'll see the opportunity to copy the link, share it out in a text message, share it out on your socials. It really does mean the world. It helps spread the message of the just overall embracing your real, creating a healthy, thriving, sustainable lifestyle out into the world.
Thank you so much for tuning in. Be sure to screenshot this, post it up on your story, tag me so that I can physically see you listening to it. I love with connecting you guys on the gram, and I will talk to you guys in the next episode.
All right, sister. That's all I've got for you today, but I have two things that I need you to do. First thing, if you are not already following me on the gram, be sure to do so, JulieALedbetter, yes, it's with an A in the middle, for that daily post-workout real talk, healthy tips and tricks, and honest accountability to keep your mind and heart in check. The second thing, be sure to subscribe to Apple podcasts to never miss an episode. Thank you so much for joining me. It means the absolute world. And I'm going to leave you with one last thought. The most beautiful women that I have met in my life are the ones who are completely confident and secure in being authentically themselves. Remember that beauty goes so much deeper than the surface. So go out there and embrace your real, because you're worth it.