Haven't seen results!

[kelseymorg]

I'm a 24- almost 25 year old female. I'm 5'7 120 pounds. I played soccer for 17 years, including 2 years in college and never had visible abs! I recently got back into working out, about a month or so ago. I workout 5-6 days a week and I still see NO results. I have always had a "pooch" as I call it in my lower tummy and it seems that no matter how much I work out my abs I can't see any changes. I also haven't seen any results in my arms or legs either. I'm getting frustrated and a little discouraged. Any advice?!

[rdferguson]

Everything I'm about to say could easily sound harsh. I apologise if that's the case. Everything I'm about to say is intended to help, so please forgive me if I come off a bit blunt.

First things first, it's been a month. On a good program (which holistically addresses both physical training and nutrition in the context of your lifestyle), you should see some tangible change in that time (increased performance in the gym, change in clothing size/tightness of clothing), but to go from having a "pooch" to toned abs, arms and legs in that time is probably a bit of a stretch. It often takes 3-6 months to really see dramatic results...and that's if you're being honest with yourself.

You probably aren't doing the above. I have no evidence one way or another, but the lack of evidence is actually a sign that you don't have a clear plan other than "work out a lot."

You probably aren't training effectively. This isn't a personal attack, just a statistical likelihood. Most people, without considerate guidance, don't do useful training programs when they start...and 90% of people will continue to do programs that don't actually bring them any closer to their goals indefinitely, partially due to accepting unhelpful help (ie the expert advice of people who really aren't experts) but more often due to not accepting any advice. The fact that you're here asking this question means that you might avoid this pitfall from here on out.

You haven't mentioned your nutrition. Drastic changes in nutrition are seldom needed in any circumstance unless your health immediately calls for it, but small, manageable changes stack up over time. Do you know how many calories you've been consuming prior to training, and how many you're consuming each day now? Do you know how much protein, carbohydrates and fat you're consuming? Less is not always better, and in your case this is especially true, as you're already at a low weight. If your pooch is legitimate (more on that in a second), then you probably do want to be decreasing your body weight slightly in the short term (long term you probably want to be increasing weight, as the muscle definition you've indicated wanting to see in your abs, arms and legs can only exist if there's actually muscle there). This would mean a small decrease in calorie consumption. I'd start with figuring out how much you're consuming at the moment (use a food diary over the next 2 days, and an additional food diary entry for a day during the weekend, add the totals together and then divide by the number of days to calculate your average energy intake) and decrease it by 200kcal/day. If after 2-4 weeks your weight hasn't decreased, lop another 100kcal/day out of your diet. Repeat until you're steadily losing 0.5-1lb/wk. Never go below 1,200kcal/day, and try to stay as far above that as possible for as long as possible. When it comes time to build muscle, reverse this process, but only aim to gain 1lb/month (rather than 0.5-1lb/wk).

Lastly, you probably aren't being honest with yourself. Again, this isn't a sleight against you, just a statistical probability. As a culture, we are profoundly talented at looking for something wrong whenever we look in the mirror. At your height and weight, I highly suspect that the only person who knows this "pooch" exists is you. Everybody's belly has curves and contours throughout and across it. "Flat" bellies don't exist. But, even if you had a perfectly accurate perception of what you look like in your mind before your began training, odds are that you would not notice whatever changes you're making very easily. Part of that is because you see yourself every single day. The difference you see from day to day is so minute at the best of times that it's normal not to identify any changes day by day. The result of this is that for a month straight you've looked the same as yesterday, and so you haven't noticed that you look different compared to a month ago. That's assuming that changes are occurring. For this reason, progress photos (taken in the same pose and lighting, at the same time of day, in as close to the same conditions as possible) are more reliable than the mirror.

Adding to this point, the more image-focused we are, the more we tend to focus on perceived "flaws" (I'm reluctant to use that term, because it tends to take neutral features that might even be desirable and vilify them, but I'll use the lingo for now). If you're specifically training to get rid of a flaw, then you're going to draw even more focus in on that perceived flaw. This can actually mean that you end up inflating the severity of the flaw in your mind, so that as your training technically succeeds and the flaw decreases, you feel even worse about it. For this reason, it's often better to mentally frame training and goals in terms of beneficially enhancing some aspect of yourself rather than removing flaws...or "pooches."

[wakechica]

At 5'7 and 120lbs you're verging on underweight/unhealthy weight.

I think you need to up your calories and your weight training before you can shed your 'pooch' (often a sign of underweight, low muscle mass).

[Brynemt]

I think it all depends on bone structure, etc, but if 5'7" 120 is a normal weight for you, than I don't see an issue. However, I agree with a previous poster that one month is not long enough to see any sort of discernible change, especially if you're not on a program, etc. I'd suggest getting on a good lifting program (I'm doing Simply Shredded right now, and love it), and give it some time. Make sure that you are also eating well, and eating enough. Good luck!

[discdoggie]

I want to add, a "six pack" is a muscle. . Of course lower body fat is needed, but it also needs to be built. And that's not happening in a month

[rdferguson]

I want to add, a "six pack" is a muscle. . Of course lower body fat is needed, but it also needs to be built. And that's not happening in a month

I'm so glad that there are still people who know that 6-packs are made of muscle, and not just the absence of fat.