Your choice of foods is absolutely crucial when it comes to achieving those 6 pack abs. Roughly speaking, 80% of the work involved is in losing that belly fat. It's therefore extremely important that you're eating correctly. You can perform as many ab exercises as you like, but until you start shedding that layer of fat you're not going to see results at all.



- Stick To Low GI Foods

'GI' stands for Glycaemic Index. It is a ranking system based on the effect that foods have on our blood sugar levels. To explain this in a nutshell, the faster we are able to digest a particular food, the higher the GI level, and the faster that food will be converted into sugar and hence enter our bloodstream. Foods with high GI levels cause spikes in our blood sugar levels due to the fast rate of digestion. This results in insulin being secreted. Insulin is the culprit responsible for converting excess unused sugar/food into fat! So, the idea is to keep those insulin levels down, and to do that we stick to low GI foods. Low GI foods will also help to keep you feeling fuller for longer periods through out the day because energy is released a lot more gradually than with high GI foods.

Examples of low GI foods are: all whole grains (breads, cereals etc), brown pasta, brown rice, whole wheat produce, soya, linseed, and many more. (See the end of this article for a resource link on a more complete list of foods.)

- Low-Fat Foods

Try to stay away from foods that are high in fats. Fats contain more than double the calorie count per gram compared to carbohydrates and proteins. This means that it takes more than double the physical activity to burn it off! Stick to low-fat foods such as fat-free or low-fat milk, smoothies, cottage cheese, low-fat spreads and sauces. Make sure that the fats that you do take in are good fats. Good fats have many benefits such as protecting the brain and central nervous system, these fats are essential to your daily diet.

Examples of good fats are: olive oil, fish oil, nuts and avocado pear. Please not that it's important to balance your fat intake as it's extrememly easy to get a large amount of calories in the form of fats without even knowing it. For example, a handful of nuts can be the equivalent to a small packaged microwave meal.

- Watch Your Sugar and Carb intake

Carbs (or carbohydrates) are the body's preferred source of energy. We need carbohydrates for energy on a day to day basis, however taking in more carbs than we burn in a day will result in fat gain. Try to keep your carb intakes to around work out times as this will ensure that you're burning that fuel up and won't result in that excess sugar being converted to fat.

It's crucial that you have the correct balance of the above points.

There is so much misleading information out there that simply results in fat gain and bad health, be cautious about what you read.