Doom878

So you work out before 7am. What time do you eat your last meal before bed?

Devil Dog 21

I workout at 5:15 most mornings and eat dinner around 7, and then consume a ton of carbs as close to bed as possible which is usually 9:00 since I get up at 4:30.

I also have to point out that my workouts are ridiculously intense and always involve a considerable amount of time doing both strength work and HIIT for cardio which is why carb loading every night works so well for me. If your activity level is lower then a smaller amount of carbs will suffice.

Costco

I want abs so badly. But I'm not the type of person to consistently keep to a diet, and it fucking sucks.

For about 2-3 months, I was very consistent, keeping to 1-3 cheat meals a week. I went from a very average-body, 162 lbs to a somewhat defined 150.

But I've been slipping, and now my abs only show if I suck in my stomach just a bit, and/or stand in the right lighting. There were a few weeks when they were just like... BAM! Right there when I woke up and looked in the mirror.

I know what generally works for me, and I want to have a flexible diet. But how the hell do you stick to prepping meals every god forsaken week?

Devil Dog 21

If you can't keep your diet there then you have to really increase the activity level. On the weeks where I splurge and eat bad I put in a ton of extra work in the gym. As far as meal prep, I just cook enough to have leftovers for a couple days and create a grocery list each week of the things I want to make sure I have. By making sure I have something to snack on I avoid eating bad crap when I'm in a bind and trying to rush around to run errands or do whatever. It also helps that my wife is a damn rabbit so there's always some sort of vegetable or lean meat in the fridge to snack on. Now that summer is here I'll grill a bunch of steaks up and have extra to eat with my eggs in the morning and with a massive salad at night.

Nothing wrong with cheat meals or even being super flexible with your diet, just avoid the big pitfalls. The most common is combining bad habits such as eating bad and drinking alcohol at the same meal. I've found that you'll keep that defined look so much easier if you do one or the other but both will set you back so much further.

Acura_Dude

I have no clue why that cracked me up.

Great advice though.

Doom878

I've seen on people that i know outside of ab workouts and diets as mentioned that complex lifts like deadlifts, snatches, cleans, squats, even weighted pullups really hit the abs as well.

Devil Dog 21

Ha! I have to constantly remind her to eat protein and not freaking carrots.

+100

IMO there's nothing better for developing core strength than olympic lifts, squats, and deadlifts. As your form improves on each of these lifts you'll gain a massive amount of power and strength which builds a ton of muscle that will burn tons of excess calories.