Often when people think about getting sculpted 6 pack abs, diet is the first thing that comes to mind. Understandably, it may seem like a very strict, almost extreme diet would be required to really cut pounds and stay lean enough to have a six pack. But honestly, that doesn’t have to be the case at all.
For sure, diet is one of THE most important aspects of any 6 pack abs training program. The “training” part, i.e. the exercises, may even be less important than diet, just to put things in perspective. And the only element more important than diet, and training, would be mindset or mental attitude. That however, would be a topic for a whole ‘nother article!
Anyway, the key to losing body fat, and therefore to a sound 6 pack abs diet, is maintaining a proper balance between the main “macronutrients”, which can be thought of as food groups or types. I am talking about protein, carbohydrates and fats. Our bodies need all three of these types of food in our diets, but in healthy, balanced proportions and this really translates to moderation.
So, we need lean protein, and we need complex carbohydrates, and we need fat, in order for our bodies to function optimally – but we have to be careful not to have any of them in excess. And the other side of the coin is that, while many fad diets out there recommend eliminating or highly limiting one of these main macronutrients (like the infamous low-carb diets) the fact is, this is just as unhealthy as eating that type of food in excess.
The reason for that is that the body is designed to utilize all macronutrient types, so eliminating one will only cause an imbalance in a persons overall metabolism and healthy, and can often feed back into a negative cycle that results in malnutrition or even further weight gain. So, again, a 6 pack abs diet is about balance and moderation.
So what exactly would an ideal 6 pack abs diet actually look like? Basically, it would contain healthy sources of lean protein, in combination with low GI (glycemic index) carbohydrates, and some natural sources of fat such as that provided by nuts or avocado.
Higher GI foods that are healthy and natural, like bananas, can play positive role in a 6 pack abs diet as well, as long as they are eaten in combination with some source of lean protein. A great example of what I just described would be having a banana (high GI food) cut up in a bowl of cottage cheese (healthy source of protein.) This combination provides the benefit of healthy vitamins, nutrients, and fiber within the banana, but the release of natural sugars from the banana within the bloodstream, which would generally trigger a spike in insulin, are balanced out by the protein in the cottage cheese.
Great examples of healthy, low GI carbohydrates would be sprouted grain bread, sweet potatoes, fruits, vegetables, and beans. Healthy proteins might be fish (being careful they are not species identified as risks for mercury or other toxins, ) lean beef, poultry, or whey protein.
