The road to ripped abs isn’t the same as the road to a great chest or arms — it has a lot more to do with the kitchen than the gym. Focusing on your diet is non-negotiable.
“Nutrition is the access factor to your success,” says Mike Roussell, PhD, a men’s health nutrition advisor. “It’s too hard to burn enough calories through exercise, and it’s too easy to eat extra calories.” In other words, the ab exercises you do and the effort you put into them won’t mean much if you go through buffet dinners like Pete Davidson goes through celebrity brides.
But controlling your diet isn’t as daunting as you might expect. You can put yourself on the path to visible abs within 90 days by following these simple steps. Find information like this and much more in the new men’s health training guide 90 Day Transformation Challenge: Abs. In one volume, you’ll get all the tools you need (information, a nutrition and exercise guide) to build your abs in just 3 months.
Step 1 – Find your macros
Okay, you know you need to cut calories to lose fat, but how exactly do you do it? You could make an effort to eat less, but that’s leaving a lot to chance. How do you know exactly how many calories you’re consuming if you don’t record them? Also, not all calories are created equal. You can achieve a calorie deficit by eating nothing but bread and water, but do you really think you’d look better at the end of 90 days with that strategy?
Roussell recommends dividing calories into macronutrients (protein, carbohydrates, and fat) and counting them every day. This isn’t as brutal as it sounds, but it does require you to read food labels and invest in a food scale (you can get one for a few bucks at pretty much any grocery store).
Getting the right amount of each macro gives your body the nutrition it needs to maintain muscle and fuel your workouts without leaving anything extra to store as fat. No, there is no exact macro formula that will give you six pack abs in 90 days, but the following from Roussell is a great start.
one. Multiply your body weight (in pounds) by 13. This determines the number of calories you’ll consume in your diet. For example, a 190-pound man should start consuming 2,470 calories daily.
two. Eat one gram of protein per pound of your body weight. So a 190 pound man will eat 190 grams of protein. “Protein is the most important macronutrient while losing weight,” Roussell says, “because optimal protein intake will help your body maintain lean muscle mass and help you feel fuller and more satisfied after meals.”
Now find out how many calories your protein allowance counts by multiplying the number by four. (Since one gram of protein contains four calories, 190 grams of protein has 760 calories.)
3. Subtract the protein calories you just calculated from your total calories. That leaves 1,710 calories for the 190-pounder (2,470 – 760 = 1,710).
Four. Now you need to calculate how many grams of carbohydrates and fats you will eat. Divide the remaining calories in half. In our example, 1710 divided by two equals 855. One gram of carbs has four calories, just like protein, so dividing 855 by four leaves the 190-pound guy with 213 grams of carbs to eat. One gram of fat has nine calories, which means you are allowed 95 grams of fat.
Are you still with us? We have determined that a 190 pound man will need to eat 190 grams of protein, 213 grams of carbohydrates, and 95 grams of fat to start his diet. Again, this isn’t an exact science, but it doesn’t need to be. He may round his numbers to the nearest integer if that makes it easier for him to remember or count them. He may also find that he is still eating too much to lose weight, even if he is hitting his macro goals perfectly.
Roussell says give him two weeks. If he’s not losing weight by then, he’ll cut back on his carb and fat totals a bit and continue to manage his weight. With a few weeks of trial and error, you’ll find the macros that work. You can read more about this strategy at 90 Day Transformation Challenge: Abs.
Step 2. Choose real food
The number of calories you eat is the biggest determinant of where your weight is headed, but just like your macros, the quality of your food counts, too. “Try to make most of your diet unprocessed and minimally processed foods,” says Roussell. “If a food contains ingredients that you can’t source and cook yourself, that’s a food you want to minimize in your diet. This will allow you to eat more nutrient-dense foods that will help you feel fuller and more satisfied per calorie.”
Believe it or not, this rule makes all the counting that you set up yourself with your macros much easier. It’s much simpler to calculate the protein in some skinless chicken breasts you cook yourself than it is to calculate how many grams are in a Chipotle burrito (no matter what they say in the nutrition facts on their website; you can’t trust it). You can trace the fat in two tablespoons of olive oil you put on your salad better than you can estimate the butter they put on your fries at a restaurant. (That said, you CAN eat out with this plan; see Step 4.)
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Let most of your protein come from lean meats, such as beef, chicken breast, turkey, white fish, and shellfish. Let your carbs come from vegetables (broccoli, kale, bell peppers, spinach, etc.), whole grains and starches (oatmeal, quinoa, potatoes), and beans and legumes (lentils, black beans, chickpeas). Your fats should come primarily as a byproduct of your protein foods (there’s still fat in most meats, even though you’re eating them for the protein), but you can also have a little olive oil, nuts, and avocados to top it off. Learn to cook yourself and embrace zero-calorie condiments (like Mrs. Dash).
Step 3. Plan your menu
We’ve given you a fair amount to keep track of, and the truth is, the fancier you eat, the less likely you are to keep up with your diet. Changing the foods you eat every day and trying to fit gourmet meals into your schedule can make the process more enjoyable, but it will be harder to stick with. “Know that dietary variety is overhyped and hyped,” says Roussell. “It’s much easier to eat the same thing for breakfast all week than it is to eat seven different breakfasts just for the sake of variety.”
When it comes to meal plans, boring is better. Choose a few foods for each meal that you will eat almost every day and prepare them ahead of time. “Spending a couple of hours on the weekend preparing your weekly menu will save you a lot of time and potential headaches during the week,” says Roussell. “I have always found that the easiest diet plan for clients to follow is one that is automatic.”
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Make Sunday your day to do your grocery shopping and spend the afternoon grilling your chicken and fish for a stockpile of protein to spread throughout the week. (Bonus tip: buy protein foods in bulk to save money!)
“When it comes time to eat, if his food is there, he will eat it,” says Roussell. “If you need to stop, think about what you’re supposed to have and then go get it, the chances of you sticking to the plan are greatly reduced.”
Step 4. Eat out smart
You don’t have to live like a monk to lose weight. There are bound to be times over the course of 90 days when you want or need to eat out, or order takeout, and this doesn’t have to derail your diet. Just make the best decisions you can. Instead of ordering foods that are advertised as battered, breaded, crispy, fried, or broiled, choose baked, braised, grilled, poached, or steamed.
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Start meals with a salad and order the oil and vinegar on the side, so you can control the amounts you use. The same goes for any other dressing or sauce. Replace side dishes of potatoes or rice with additional vegetables. (Yes, we said earlier that starchy foods are fine, but when you eat out, you often take in more calories than you realize; cutting out starches helps offset this.)
Do not drink alcohol or any other beverage that contains calories; ask for water, tea, unsweetened iced tea, or diet soda. Ignore the bread or tortilla chips at the table, as it’s very easy to overeat without even realizing it. Lastly, leave the leftovers. “Most restaurant portions are too large,” says Roussell, “so reserve at least a third to take home for later.”
Step 5. Stop thinking it’s “all or nothing”
According to Roussell, this is the biggest mistake men make when trying to uncover their abs: “They’ll be 100% committed [to their diet]but then Friday night comes along, someone orders pizza, they have a slice, and all of a sudden it’s, ‘Oh, I’ll just eat four more slices and start my diet on Monday.’”
Let’s get this straight right now: You’re definitely going to fall off the bandwagon from time to time for the next 90 days, and the solution is to simply get back on. When you cheat, try to do it as little as possible and go back to eating smart at your next meal. Don’t say, “Fuck it,” hold on tighter and back up even further.
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“If you end up eating a couple of slices of pizza, that’s fine, that’s not a big deal,” says Roussell. “Stop at two, then refocus on making sure your next meal is one that supports your goal of getting abs.”
For more abs tips and a workout plan, take the 90 Day Transformation Challenge: Abs.
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