Good Diets To Get Six Pack Abs

Abdominal exercises help build up and tone your abdominal muscles, while cardiovascular exercise helps strip off fat. Nutrition is of equal importance in the quest to get six-pack abs. A suitable nutrition plan will provide enough energy for your workouts, help keep your metabolism high and ensure you do not accumulate belly fat which will obscure your abdominal muscles and prevent you from getting six-pack abs.

Guidelines

Eat breakfast and a minimum of four other meals a day. Breakfast provides energy after eight hours of fasting and kick-starts your metabolism for the day. Eating regularly throughout the day ensures your energy levels do not drop. Your body expends energy to process and assimilate each meal, thus raising your metabolism. Do not deprive yourself of food in the mistaken belief this will help you lose belly fat. Lack of food will cause your metabolism to slow down as your body seeks to conserve energy. This causes fat gain, which can obscure your abdominal muscles and sabotage your attempt to get a six pack.

Carbohydrates

Eliminate simple and refined carbohydrates from your diet. This includes table sugar, muffins, doughnuts, chips, biscuits, cakes, white rice, bread and packaged breakfast cereals. Eat complex carbohydrates such as oatmeal, quinoa, brown rice, yams, potatoes and sweet potatoes. Restrict these to two meals a day. Replace complex carbs with fruits and vegetables in your other meals. Complex carbs provide energy required for your workouts.

Protein

Protein is required to maintain lean muscle tissue, which helps boost your metabolism and keeps your body in a belly-fat-burning zone. Your protein should include lean cuts of meat, chicken, turkey, fish, whole eggs, beans and legumes. Do not eat egg whites only. Egg yolks contain protein, together with vitamins, minerals and fat-burning omega-3 essential fatty acids.

Fats

Include flaxseed oil and hemp seed oil in your diet. These contain fat-burning omega-3 essential fatty acids. Use these oils as a condiment on your food. Do not cook with them. Heat destabilizes their unstable molecular structure and releases harmful free radicals. Cook with coconut oil. According to a study by Kagawa Nutrition University reported in the November 2001 issue of the "Journal of Nutrition," coconut oil suppresses the accumulation of body fat. The medium chain triglycerides in coconut oil also provide an alternative energy source and do not cause fat gain.

Mid-Day Meals and Snacks

Mike Geary, personal trainer and author of "Truth About Abs," suggests a number of healthy mid-day meals or snacks that will help you keep the fat off your belly and allow your underlying abdominal muscles to show through as a six pack: apple or another fruit with almond butter; cottage cheese mixed with yogurt, berries and pecans; avocado slices wrapped in deli turkey breast; and blueberries mixed with raw almonds.