You can spend hours doing countless crunches and still not have the six pack abs you want.  How is this possible?  Well, if you’re not eating the right way, it’s likely that you have a layer of fat covering your hard earned muscles.  If you want to lose that fat around your midsection to uncover your six pack abs, the smart eating strategies below can help.

 

  • Eat fewer calories- If you can cut your daily calorie intake by just 250 calories, you’ll lose a pound every other week doing this alone.  250 calories may seem like a lot, but it’s really not.  If you make a few adjustments to the way you eat, you shouldn’t have a problem cutting your calories.  For example, if you’re making a sandwich for lunch, use mustard instead of mayo and leave the cheese off.  That’s probably almost half of the calories right there.  Things like this really add up over the day and can make a big difference on your waistline.

 

  • Eat 6 times a day- This strategy is very important if you want six pack abs.  When you eat 6 times a day, compared to 3, your body burns fat more efficiently.  This way of eating also increases your metabolism, so you’ll burn more fat throughout the day.  Of course since you’re eating 6 times instead of 3, you need to make sure that the meals are small.  You don’t want to eat more calories in a day, so portion sizing will be especially important when you’re eating this way. 

 

  • Eat more protein- There are so many great benefits of eating protein.  If you want to build muscle, it’s absolutely necessary that you eat enough protein.  Protein also keeps you fuller for longer periods than other types of food.  Every person requires a different amount of protein everyday.  It depends on your body and your fitness goals.  You can find several online guides that will tell you exactly how much protein your diet should have everyday.  The best sources of protein are poultry, fish, nuts, and even low fat dairy products.  If you want to see great results, you can add in a little protein to each one of your meals. 

 

  • Eat carbs early in the day- Every diet should include a good amount of healthy carbohydrates.  They’re necessary for your body to function, and they give you lots of energy.  Since you usually need more energy earlier in the day, it makes the most sense to eat the majority of your carbs during this time.  At night, you don’t really need carbs to keep you going, and you won’t have time to burn them off before you go to bed, so you may not want to load up on them at dinner.  Instead, you can try to eat most of your carbs at breakfast, lunch, and your morning and afternoon snacks.  This way you get the carbs your body needs, but you have plenty of time to burn them off during the day. 

 

While a proper diet is important for six pack abs, it doesn’t have to be difficult.  The smart eating strategies above will make sure that your stomach stays trim so your six pack abs can show through.