If you have been on the floor doing sit-up after sit-up and still have a flabby stomach, there are probably a few simple things that you are doing wrong.  First of all, many people assume that in order to get ripped abs, they only need to increase the amount of ab exercises they are doing.  While doing ab exercises is a key area in obtaining those “to die for” abs, it is not the most important area.  The most important area is…

[highlight color="yellow"]Nutrition[/highlight]

You can perform hundreds of sit-ups and other ab exercises all day, everyday but until you change your eating habits, you will not see the results you are looking for.  The foods you put into your body are absolutely critical if you are trying to get ripped.  I learned this the hard way many years ago when I was under the impression that six pack abs should automatically appear as long as I just worked out hard enough.  It wasn’t until I completely changed my eating habits that I was able to achieve what I was looking for.

There are a few things that you can do to make sure you see speedy results.

1. Cut down or reduce sugar

My goal is to keep my sugar intake to under 25 grams per day (not including fruit).  Sometimes this can be a difficult task especially when you have a family like mine that loves to eat sweets.  It seems that there is always a family gathering where sugar dishes are screaming your name.  Beyond this, the daily foods we eat can add up higher than you think if you don’t keep a mental note of what you are eating.  The best way to avoid eating too much sugar is to stay away from sodas, sports drinks, candies, white breads, pastas and other processed foods that may contain high levels of added sugar.

2. Stop eating out

Eating out is a really simple way to ensure that you are reducing your fat and sugar intake.  Fix all your meals yourself so that you know all the ingredients used.  Of course, you’ll need to use fresh ingredients and create healthy meals when choosing to cook yourself.  Processed meals just won’t cut it.  Fresh veggies, fruits and lean protein sources should be used instead of the “healthy” packaged meals that you may be used to seeing at the grocery.

 3. Don’t drink calories

Unless you are drinking fresh pressed fruit and vegetable juices, you should never get calories from a drink.  Water should be your primary source of hydration.  Sodas, sports drinks and other sugary concoctions should be off limits when you are working towards ripped abs.  These things will slow your progress tremendously.

4. Add intensity to your workouts in order to burn more fat

Gaining six pack abs is really a full body approach.  You cannot “spot reduce” meaning that you cannot just shed fat from your stomach.  When you shed fat, you shed it from all over your body.  Adding intensity to your workouts will help you to burn more fat.  This is especially true if you are combining all types of workout strategies including weight-lifting, cardio, interval training and circuit training.

Don’t get caught up in thinking that you have to solely focus on ab workouts in order to get six pack abs.  You already have six pack abs, you just can’t see them because the fat may be covering them.  Work on eliminating the fat from your body and you will eventually see the six pack shining through.  It’s a great feeling when you finally start to see the outline of a six pack coming through when you look in the mirror.