Stomach Crunches Are Not Enough

Email from Anonymous:

I have had three kids and contribute my huge stomach to just that. But I would not mind it so much if the bottom of my stomach as big instead of the top. But both the bottom and top and always bulging out no matter what I wear. I try to hold it in as much as I could but that is normally uncomfortable. I am 5ft 3 and 170 pounds. I always thought crunches alone would do the trick. Should I work first on toning dowm the top part first and both?

Lisa's Response:

If you're doing crunches alone without changing your diet then your stomach
will get bigger. That's what happened to me.

This is because you are building muscle with the crunches but you're not
losing any body fat. Losing your stomach means losing weight ALL OVER. You can't just spot tone and slim your stomach by itself.

So you need to start eating lots of protein (fish, eggs, nuts) and cutting
down on sugars and fatty foods. Also not eating late at night is another
big thing because a lot of people have more of a bloating problem than they
realize.

You can't choose what part of your stomach to lose. It all goes together
and it won't start reducing until you exercise (full body not just crunches)
and lower your fat intake.

If you remember nothing else, just remember that a flatter stomach comes
with an overall weight loss program, not just crunching.

Hope that helps!