6 Foods to Eat When You’re Working Toward a Six-Pack

Working towards sexy abs? List of food you must enjoy & avoid!

When you’re working on your abs, essential nutrients become all the more essential for your body. And if you really want those abs to ripple out from your shirt, your workout routine or how many dumbbells you lift need the least of your consideration. You see, building killer abs have very little to do with going crazy on the plank for several minutes or working out for hours. It’s all about nutrition and providing your muscles enough energy to make them stronger.

Now don’t get us wrong, workouts obviously matter and if you want to make them effective in building up your muscles, you need to pick out the right foods and add them to their diet right away. You need to build up your energy before and after your power workout sessions, and make sure that you burn up all the fat that can accumulate in your belly.

Did you know that certain foods can help your burn the nasty fat around your belly that might hide away those sexy abs that you’ve been working so hard on? Yes indeed, while of course, the wrong kind of diet can threaten all that sexiness to disappearing out of you. So, in order to make the most of your abs routine at the gym, you need to pick up and stick to the right diet.

Here are all the nutrients that you need:

Green Tea

Green tea is always hailed for its weight loss and caffeine purposes, what most people don’t know is that this drink is highly rich in antioxidants and it can help you power your workout session like nothing else. It will not only help you cut down all the nasty belly fats but also, it will keep you calm and fatigue-free throughout your workout session.

Pairing your workout with green tea is a great idea because it contains caffeine that will black all tiring adenosine and help you reach your workout goals for the day. Green tea contains a remarkably powerful antioxidant, EGCG, which basically increases the oxygen in your body needed to fuel your workout and avoid tiring. Indeed, if you want better results from your workout session, chug down a glass of green tea before heading to the gym.

Now that we’re done listing the foods that you should and must add to your diet, let us take a look at the foods you must religiously avoid to work those abs!

Whole Grains

Whole grains contain complex carbs and essential fibers that energize your body and give you the power to exhaust yourself in a grueling workout. If you wish to reach your fitness goals, you must add whole grains to your diet for they not only help reduce belly fat, but also, they increase the levels of satiety hormones, which are responsible to stop you from eating too much.

A recent study studied dieters who received all their grains from whole grains for around 12 weeks, and they revealed that although the weight loss was just the same as those who did not consume any kinds of grains. However, the whole grain eaters lost a great deal of fat around their midsections.

Well, do you still want those dreamy abs? Get yourself brown rice and wheat berries, they taste amazing and they are super filling without causing any kind of bloating or gas.

Greek Yogurt

The one thing that is absolutely essential and vital for your muscle build up is none other than protein, and if you want to enjoy the energy of 23 grams of protein with each cup, you need to add Greek yogurt to your diet. Greek Yogurt isn’t just brimming with protein, but also, it is an amazing way to hoard on your probiotics and calcium. These two are just as essential to build up your six-pack and highly recommended by all professional trainers.

A recent study revealed that individuals who consume probiotics on a daily basis experience a great loss of weight around their abdomen, which is basically all the fat that is present between your organs and your muscles. Naturally, the reason you have all that belly fat is because you’re missing out on Greek yogurt and a very important dose of probiotics.

However, don’t let yourself get carried away by the countless flavors that are available in Greek yogurt, and only pick out the one that says “Live and active cultures” on the pack.

Asparagus

Asparagus is extremely rich with prebiotic fibers, a kind of fiber that serves to increase the amount of good bacteria in your digestive system and fights against bloating. Moreover, green talks serve as mild diuretics, they decrease the level of excess fluids in your body and make your muscles all more enhanced.

Asparagus also has a higher antioxidant content that helps make the muscles strong and avoid weight gain due to inflammation. Also, research proves that if you wish to flaunt your abs without any kind of belly fat, all the green veggies are going to help you immensely.

Whey Protein Powder

Another extremely rich source of protein that will also nourish your body with branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs). Now, the branched-chain amino acids are extremely important for your muscle build up because they eliminate all signs of muscle damage that can possibly occur during your exercise regime. Moreover, the BCAAs will also ensure that your muscle recovery is speedy so that you can really test your limits at the gym.

Research reveals that dieters and fitness freaks who consume great amounts of protein tend to lose greater fats and experience greater growth in their muscles. If you’re someone who has a protein allergy, there’s nothing to worry about because whey protein powder will not upset your stomach or cause any kind of gas or bloating. It is so effective that even women who lactose intolerant can add it to their diet. If you want to consume 110 grams of protein daily, you need to get whey protein powder right away.

Almonds

Almonds contain non-fermentable fibers that enhance satiety and prevent any kind of constipation or bloating. They also work to stabilize the blood sugar levels of your body. Research has proven that consuming around 30 to 35 almonds everyday can help you shed belly fat. And that is primarily because almonds are the richest in fibers among all nuts.

Trans Fats

Trans fats can destroy all your workout efforts and diet progress with just one meal. If you want to build up your abs and get rid of all that nasty belly fat, these must be avoided religiously. You see, you can always consume trans fats that come naturally in dairy products and meat. It is actually the man-made trans fats that you must be avoiding, and these are found in partially hydrogenated oils. It’s really hard to differentiate which items carry these trans fats, they are mostly found in donuts, baked items, margarine and French fries.

All such items cooked in partially hydrogenated oils can cause severe inflammation and accumulate fats in your belly. There are countless products in the grocery store that claim to have zero trans fats but please, do not let these labels misguide you because there is no such thing.

Alcohol

Several nutritionists suggest that alcohol can provide health benefits and help you reduce your waistline, however, realistic scientific studies have shown us otherwise. One may argue that moderate drinking cannot possibly effect one’s metabolism, it is actually the heavy drinkers who end up accumulating too much body fat.

Allow me to tell you the truth. Even a glass of liquor or two can stoke up your appetite and slow down your body’s ability to process the calories you intake. And if you’re gulping down cocktails that are swimming in sugar, you need to stop or those abs just won’t come out.

We understand that its’ hard to avoid getting drunk when you’re socializing and to be honest, it also gets a little boring. So, make sure your drinks don’t exceed from three each day or better yet, seven drinks for the week. We all like a good drink after a long tiring day, and as long as your liquor intake is moderate, if won’t affect your meal plans and your body’s ability to digest.

Ultra-Processed Items

Ultra-processed foods can destroy your health and your diets. They contain so many carbs and sugar that the more you consume them the greater the risk of obesity and heart-diseases. Now these items include foods like pasta, French fries, cookies, spaghetti and meat balls, white bread and much more.

These ultra-processed items are rich in refined carbs that can cause your blood sugar to rocket up and cause fats to get stored in your body along with create recurrent cravings for more. According to scientific research, normal foods burn calories when your body is digesting them, but in the case of ultra-processed foods, the body doesn’t burn calories instead it accumulates more and more. Moreover, these high processed food items degrade your muscle cells and hinder their recovery after the workout.

Now that we have given you a list of all them items you should be eating and the ones you must avoid, it is important to state that when picking out food items, think about your health rather than gratifying your taste buds. If you don’t particularly like green veggies, you can always cook them up in sauces and vinegar to give them a nice taste. Remember, working out tirelessly at the gym will only have an impact when you pair it up with the right kind of diet.