Building Abs In The Kitchen
“Abs are built in the kitchen, not the gym.” Ok, but how?
Saying that “abs are built in the kitchen” is about 75% true.
A proper diet is going to ensure that bellies stay lean, but the abs need to be trained, too.
This newsletter was published in partnership with Form50 Fitness, a reformer strength and conditioning studio in New York City and Florida.
A big prerequisite for a defined stomach involves proper core training, which involves comprehensive, full-body exercises that generate intra-abdominal pressure (think deadlifts, squats, etc) as well as direct abdominal work (crunches, oblique bending, plank variations, and other holds).
All of these muscle groups are trained through exercises that happen during the course of any intense, well-balanced workout.
From there, your diet and the foods you choose can absolutely define the core.
But does having a toned, strong core matter?
Training abs just to have them is still a valid reason to train them. Good aesthetics are a sign that very meaningful work has been put into your physique, so I think this matters a lot.
It also matters because your abdominal muscles and core — meaning the hamstrings, glutes, and lats, too — don’t just benefit you aesthetically.
They’re a crucial set of muscles to build on throughout life to limit the risk of injury and chronic pain.
And just like any other muscle group, they grow with a proper regimen of stimulus — whether it’s the HIIT, isometric holds, or cardiovascular — and nutrient intake.
Nutrition, Metabolism, and Muscle Development
Muscles tear (at a microscopic level) when stretched and shortened through strength training, and repair themselves during rest.
The repair can be aided, however, by adequately timed protein, carbs (yes, I said carbs!), and overall calories.
High-protein meals throughout an active week will lead to more lean muscle growth.
Regular complex carbohydrate intake will provide your muscles with the fuel to effectively hit your workouts, and keeping your calorie intake near or slightly below your overall expenditure (calorie burn) will help you stay lean and develop the stomach you want.
But it’s also important to determine how your workout schedule and your meals will be structured throughout your day.
Meal Selection and Timing for Performance
Making sure you optimize your workouts is not just about eating before or after them.
It’s finding the right meal that’s:
Digestible and low-inflammation
Low-fiber
Providing the right amount of glucose (sugar) for muscle fuel
Enjoyable and reliable for you to eat!
Minimally Processed (in most cases)
Most of these foods will be complex carbohydrates, which your body needs to sustain energy during workouts lasting longer than 30 minutes. Carbohydrates will NOT make you gain weight, despite popular misconception, so long as you’re using them strategically to fuel your training.
Depending on the time of day you’re training, some complex carbs you might consider 30-60 minutes before your workout could be:
For the morning:
🌾 Light grain options*:
Oatmeal (quick oats > steel cut)
Cream of Wheat
Low-fiber cereals (e.g., puffed rice, rice-based cereals)
*Keeping portion size in check, as too many oats can be inflammatory for some
🍞 Processed but performance-friendly grains**:
Sourdough bread
English muffins
Bagels (plain)
** Despite being more processed than other foods, these foods consistently lead to higher exercise output
Simple go-to combos (easy wins)
Rice cakes + banana + a little salt
Cream of Rice + protein powder
White toast + jam + egg whites
Fruit, Applesauce, or a carb-drink with electrolytes
…whereas some foods you might consider after working out might be:
A grilled chicken Caesar salad
A shrimp and vegetable stir-fry
A protein shake with milk of your choice (or water, if you’re going super lean)
A taco bowl with lean ground beef, bell peppers, black beans, and avocado
All of the above options are protein-forward, which will not only refuel muscle growth and keep you full, but it will also mitigate the soreness felt from intense training sessions.
HIIT workouts and other high-intensity exercises will demand lots of protein for muscle growth, and as long as you’re keeping tabs on your total weekly calorie intake, you’re not going to gain excess weight while trying to build the stomach you want.
The Balance
What’s most important for making sure your body responds the way you want it to to the food you’re eating is keeping the quality of your food as high as you can.
That means healthy, whole foods that are minimally processed (because most food these days goes through some form of “processing”) to keep weight and body composition in check.
Optimizing muscle gain and staying in a calorie deficit means avoiding a skewed ratio of protein to carbohydrates. Filling your diet with too many simple carbs relative to total protein can negatively affect lean muscle mass and lead to inflammation, which can show up visually (and on the scale) as unwanted weight.
While fat in foods is not necessarily always a key macronutrient in weight loss, it’s still an important nutrient for regulating this type of inflammation, too. It’s why foods like eggs, Greek yogurt, and other dairy products with certain amounts of fat in them can be essential parts of a lean-muscle building program.
There’s really no need to leave any of the macronutrients completely out of your diet when trying to stay lean, but a good macronutrient split for someone who is optimizing their diet for weight loss and keeping things tight is roughly around 35% protein, 40% carbohydrates, and 25% fats.
This balance, of course, can be adjusted based on changes to your physique, energy levels and digestion capabilities.
If you are still feeling like the muscles aren’t muscling, you might skew toward a bit more protein, and a bit fewer carbs and fats.
If digestion feels funky, aim for an even balance of all three.
If energy levels dip to a point where it doesn’t feel sustainable, add a small amount of carbs back in.
The Protocol For Keeping Abs Flat
In short, after you’ve found the right nutritional balance, you’re going to want to find foods within those macronutrient groups that keep metabolism moving. Form50 is a workout that brings you to (and keeps you in, long after the workout is over) a fat-burning zone because of the EPOC effect.
The same foods listed above — lean beef, turkey, chicken breast, egg whites, or protein shakes — all help keep metabolism in check.
What may surprise you is that many of the carbohydrates listed above that are useful before the workout can also be beneficial post-workout, too: rice cakes, jasmine rice, bananas and/or berries, and potatoes all help refuel glycogen, which muscles thrive on in a HIIT-workout focused routine.
It’s also worth keeping a healthy dose of anti-inflammatory foods in your diet to both aid in recovery and keep hormones in check. Inflammation is a part of muscle development, but these foods will help keep it under control so that muscle growth doesn’t turn to bloating:
Fatty Fish (Salmon, Tuna)
Blueberries
Avocados
Leafy Greens (Spinach, Arugula, Kale)
All of these can be mixed into a complete diet to control for recovery.
What also matters for controlling inflammation is limiting processed sugar and alcohol intake.
Processed sugar will take longer to digest, fill you with empty calories, and cause bloating and unwanted water retention that will sabotage muscle gains.
Alcohol consumption can slow and potentially halt the muscle development process altogether. It’s also an easy way to “drink your calories” that adds up in the form of water weight and unnecessary inflammation.
If possible, try to limit alcohol intake and find a fizzy drink alternative with nutrients (think new soda brands like Poppi or Olipop, with trace prebiotics and fiber) to curb the craving for a spiked beverage.
A drink like this can easily help you hit your daily fiber goal (around 22-25g per day) and control the inflammatory response. One of fiber’s key roles in the body is to help produce a stronger gut, which is where anti-inflammatory cells live.
In short, you’ll want to be open to all food groups and macronutrients (barring any allergies or intolerances) and not limit yourself to a “low” or “no” diet, since your nutrition is your fuel for the tough workouts that move the needle.
A high-protein diet is great for weight loss, but only if it is easy to digest.
A healthy mixture of carbs in your day-to-day is essential, but make sure they’re mostly complex and that they’re not leading to excess water weight or a calorie surplus.
The goal is to be continually burning fat through a variety of foods and macronutrients, supplementing carbs and electrolytes on harder days, and boosting protein in your recovery time (after workouts and on rest days).
Some other tips that may help recover and build muscle from your workouts:
Finish your last meal of the day (as in your final bite of the meal) about 2 hours before bedtime for healthier, deeper sleep
Keep hydration high, not just from water but from electrolyte supplements as well
Track your protein intake with an app or journal (MyFitnessPal has a free trial!) to aim for around 70% of your bodyweight in grams. If you can’t hit this number because of getting too full, try to get as close as you can.
Lastly, please note that these strategies take a bit of practice to nail down. You may have to experiment with different calorie intakes, meal types, and meal timing before you find the groove that effectively leads to the body you want.
As long as you’re safely and enjoyably working these habits into your routine, you can build the abs of your dreams with a few weeks of focused workouts and determination in your diet.
Ready to give Form50 fitness a try? Book a class in New York or Florida today.