About The Author
Hello!
My name is Lisa and I am a 32 year old St. Louis native currently residing in Dallas, TX. My own trials and tribulations with stomach flab inspired me to build this website.
I have always been a naturally thin person, but when I hit the magic age of 27 I began gaining a bit of weight - not too much, and also not in the areas where I wanted it. Unfortunately I got it mostly in my butt and gut.
Don't get me wrong, I don't mind having a little "junk in the trunk", as they say. :) As someone who was considered a "stick figure" as a child, I actually welcomed a few more curves. However, I wanted to keep my tummy flat/toned as well.
It just didn't make sense to me, though. How can a skinny person have an out-of-shape lower tummy while remaining thin everywhere else? I was baffled.
Let's face it, those hip hugger jeans don't look as cute with an overhang over the top. In my opinion, it looks even worse when the rest of you is still very thin. UGH!
I've never particularly liked being skinny, but I will say this, it does help hide those "problem areas." Most people don't even realize I have to watch my middle area.
Even if I told them they'd roll their eyes anyway so I don't usually mention it to anyone. That's OK if you don't understand. Many people who have experienced this issue have emailed me in agreement so I know I'm not alone or crazy.
The Stomach Flattening Journey Begins...
I bought an 8 minute ab tape and religiously began performing the routine every morning for three months straight. By the end of the three months, I noticed that not only was the 8 minute ab workout ineffective, but my stomach seemed to be getting larger!
Puzzled and frustrated, I gave up on the ab workout and searched for something else that would be more effective. A few months later I bought a Pilates DVD that focuses on the abdominals.
I didn't know much about this form of exercise but I remember hearing on TV that Pilates is the thing to do these days if you want a flatter stomach. I figured I give it a try.
After a month or two of Pilates I noticed that my flexibility had definitely improved, but it seemed to be doing very little for my tummy.
A few weeks later I found myself in Barnes and Noble and stumbled upon a book called The Abs Diet by David Zinczenko. It really taught me a lot about foods and how they affect the body.
It shows you what kinds of foods you can eat all the time and what kinds you should rarely eat.
The biggest lesson I learned was that it is not possible to spot tone. If I wanted a flat stomach, I would have to change my diet and do some cardio exercises to raise my metabolism enough to burn fat all over.
So in March of 2005 I joined 24 Hour Fitness and began working out 3-4 days per week. I also began watching what I ate and added more protein and fiber to my diet.
The tricky part for me is that I actually want to keep some of the weight I've gained over the past few years. However, since I've learned you can't spot tone your stomach - that means in order to ever see a completely flat tummy again, I'd have to go back to the size I was when my stomach was flat.
Not an option! I don't want to be 105 pounds again. I personally like my body better in the 120's (except the un-toned tummy, of course).
So the bottom line is I can't stay at 120 pounds and have a completely flat stomach due to how I'm naturally shaped and where my body stores extra weight.
I'm okay with that. I've just learned how to minimize the damage by eating healthier (eliminate those stomach bloating foods), drinking lots of water and regular exercise at 24 Hour Fitness.
We have to choose our battles since we sure as heck can't choose our bodies. ;)
Don't Be Fooled!
There are a lot of misconceptions when it comes to flattening the stomach and toning the abs. That's why I created this site.
Currently tons of people are out there right now doing hundreds of ab crunches per day while maintaining the same diet they've always had wondering why they aren't seeing any results.
People don't realize if they don't watch their fat intake and perform crunches regularly, they're adding muscle to their existing fat - causing their stomach to look even worse.
Then there are those that purchase every ab machine that is put out on the market. They use the apparatus for a week and then watch it sit and collect dust after they get burned out on it.
I read somewhere that the best exercise equipment for your abs is a treadmill. I thought that was an excellent statement. In other words, get your cardio exercises in and boost your metabolism so your body can burn the fat. Then and only then will you start seeing results. It took a while for me to grasp that but I get it now. :)
Remember, stop spot toning your stomach, and get your heart moving in order to burn that overall body fat! THEN do strengthening exercises as described in Mike Geary's book to help define your middle section and give it a more toned look.
About This Site
I know you came here to learn how to tone up your body, but I decided to add this section because I get a lot of questions about why I give away so much information for free.
Ever since I discovered why I was not having success with flattening my stomach, I said I would build a website to educate others.
I used a web host called Site Build It. It caters to beginners, but is applicable to anyone. I kept hearing the buzz surounding it so I decided to try it out.
It takes the fear out of building that first website by providing an action guide, design templates (no web developing experience necesssary), search engine ranking help, etc. More importantly it shows you how to make a little cash with your site.
Even though all the information on this site is completely free (and will always be!), SBI has showed me how to earn a profit with Google ads and other affiliate programs.
Yes, I give away so much for free, but the reward comes back to me through these affiliations. So instead of it costing me to maintain this website, it actually returns a nice profit. Pretty cool, huh?
You probably found this site by using a search engine. Well that's what SBI helps me with. It showed me how to build pages that rank high in the major engines so I can get as much free traffic as possible.
As for the money, Google has a program called AdSense, and it allows you to help them advertise by placing text ads on your pages.
I don't like the phrase "easy money", but it's the closest I've ever come to such a concept in my life!
See one of my commission checks.
A Cool Success Story
Here's one of my favorite Site Build It! stories. Elad bought SBI! and created a site based on his hobby and began earning $2,000 per month after only six months.
He was completely new to website building and I love to tell my friends and family about Elad because it proves you don't have to have website building experience to achieve success with SBI!.
Check out his inspiring video below...
Just Give it a Go!
If you've got some spare time, you should try it. I wouldn't recommend it if I didn't use it myself. My advice is to pick a topic that you have a personal interest in. Think about your hobbies or passions?
Do you have the solution to a problem that can help people? Acne? Make-up? Gardening? Dating? The topic can be anything. Just make sure you are interested enought in the topic to build a useful, informative site - otherwise you'd get bored and abandon it.
The host I used, SBI, is completely risk free. SiteSell.com will give you a FULL refund if it's not for you, and there's no "trial period" or any sneaky catches.
They can honor a great guarantee like that because they know they've got an outstanding product and the success stories like mine to back it up.
Try SBI when you get some time and tell 'em Lisa sent ya! :)