[][FONT="Comic Sans MS"]Hi everyone! I'm new to this site because since i've been losing weight I thought it would be a great idea if I joined an online community about it. Well, here's the thing, i'm 19 (20 soon!) and i've lose 20-25 pounds in a year with diet and excercise. Since summer vacation has hit I'm back into REALLY excercising, but one thing i never see an improvement on is my lower stomach area. I can see it in my legs, my arms, and my upper body and also just...losing inches, but I still have a flabby stomach no matter how much i run/do crunches. I know I have to be doing something wrong or missing out on something i could be doing!....If anyone has any advice or help on how they lost that area, that would be a great help. Thank you so much for your time!

Keep cool since it's INTOLERABLE outside and have a great night ![/FONT]

Welcome and congrats on your weight loss!

The first thing that people will tell you here is that you simply cannot "spot reduce". No matter how many crunches you do, they won't remove fat from one spot on your body.

The best thing (IME) is to have an all over training plan that combines cardio and strength training and just keep at it!

.

The only way to get rid of the tummy is to get your body fat to a lower percentage and then work on those abs. There is a great ab workout that I used years ago that really worked....http://musclemedia.com/training/BootCamp.asp

Mine looks like I am about 4-5 months pregnant and it is rock hard to the touch. Will that ab boot camp work with that also?

I am so frustrated with it, maybe that is going to help me, and not make me want to give up all together.

Thank you all for answering! i guess I just gotta keep at it, i'm gonna try out a body sculpting tape maybe that will help bc i took a class over the year at my school and it actually helped with my overall appearance a lot! I'm trying not to get discouraged

In addition to what everyone else said, diet is another important component of getting a flat stomach. You want to make sure you're drinking plenty of water and keeping your sodium intake down, (ie: 1500mg or less per day). The less processed foods you eat the better. I'm sure if you keep working at you'll see some changes soon, but bear in mind that some people will always be predisposed to carry weight in their stomach. You can make it smaller but it may not become rock hard; just like other women will always carry a little extra weight in their thighs/butt area.

Congrats on your weight loss so far. You've done great! I'm sure you'll see some results soon!

FunnySunnyGirl-

No, you cannot spot reduce, as PhotoChick mentioned (meaning you cannot lose weight in one area...) but I do have a bit of advice.

Traditional crunches are great for the abs, but is this all you are doing?

Crunches focus on working the rectus area of the abdominals, or the 6 pack muscles...the upper and middle ab area. They do not work the lower abdominals, or the oblique muscles (sides of the waistline).

If you are only doing regular crunches, then you are missing two big areas of your abdominals.

I highly recommend Pilates...it will work ALL of the abdominals, not just the upper abs.