Six-pack abs. They are kind of like the lost city of Atlantis, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, or a winning lottery ticket. Awesome to find, but not exactly the most realistic thing to pursue. Talk of having beautiful abs is all over the place. There are books devoted to the midsection, magazine articles to help you get abs by Friday, infomercials for ways to achieve the perfect stomach, talk in the locker room about the wish for abs, and even a prevalence of posts in our beloved Bloggerville about getting great abs.

[Source 1, Source 2, Source 3]

Before I go further, I want to clarify one thing. When I say “abs”, I am discussing very defined abs. Like no pooches visible, very lean with obvious musculature, the six-pack (or even four-pack) look, if you will. Something along the lines of the picture on the left. A flat stomach with some definition (similar to the photo on the right), in my opinion, is very different and does not fully apply to the things I will be discussing.

[Source 1, Source 2]

I will admit the abs on the left are nice. Maggie Diubaldo has a fantastic set of abs and I wouldn’t mind having them. But when I consider the reality of abs like those, the questions start to rise. Is it even worth it and how realistic is it? There are quite a few points to consider.

1. It is very difficult to maintain. A lot of things have to happen in order to achieve abs like the ones above. There is no doubt an extreme amount of dedication goes into it. It is likely that some years of tough workouts and a very “clean” diet would be involved. It would have to be your lifestyle. It couldn’t be something where you eat a very healthy diet during the week and then are able to have some treats on the weekend. You would be eating those lean proteins, fruits, veggies, and whole grains day in and day out with extremely limited or no treats for a long time with a fair amount of time spent in consistent workouts as well. For some, a lifestyle like that works. But for many, we have other facets of our lives and have certain foods we enjoy and don’t want to give up for life. I had abs for awhile last year during my competition prep.

Even at 14% body fat, they didn’t look like what you see on a fitness model and I knew the way I was living during prep wasn’t something I could (or would even want) to maintain. Some things aren’t worth it and I realized it doesn’t make me any less worthy to not have that stomach.

2. Unhealthy low body fat levels. In order for abs to be visible on a woman she would have to reach a body fat level of around 12%. Athletes have an average body fat percentage of 14-20% and the average woman has a percentage of 22-26%, which is NOT bad. In fact, low levels, such as the approximate 12% for six-pack abs, can be detrimental to your health. Issues ranging from fatigue to menstrual issues to low bone density are common when living at such a low body fat level. Personally, I would rather be healthy on the inside with energy, the option to bear children, and the ability to walk when I’m 50. Not worth sacrificing those things to have abs.

3. Genetics. You could work you butt off in the gym, diet like crazy, achieve the required level of leanness and STILL not have abs like you see in fitness magazines. Some women have more predominant abdominal muscles that will stick out and show up more readily when they lean out. Others will end up with a flatter stomach and may not have the clear sections of the abdominal wall show through.

4. Even models don’t keep their abs year round. I’ve already talked about airbrushing before on the blog and you have to be wary that what you see in magazines could be “refinished” to help the look along. Also, when women work towards a photo shoot or fitness competition they have a specific date set and work hard for it. They lean down for the event and then go back to more real life living. That doesn’t mean they don’t look amazing other times of the year, but it is likely their midsections aren’t quite as defined 24/7/365 like you think they are. Think about it. How often do you see women at the pool, beach, gym locker room, etc with perfect abs? Pretty rarely. And the ones you do see, I would bet 90% of them have one of the first three things affecting them.

So where does that leave us now? That doesn’t mean you need to forget about working hard in the gym, eating a healthy diet, and training your abdominals. It does mean trying to achieve abs as a goal may not be the best thing to pursue. It means do workouts you enjoy, eat a balanced diet, and live well for your health and not your appearance. Go ahead and incorporate any plethora of tips out there on abs – such as a balanced eating style, adding planks to your ab moves, engaging your abs in all your movements, doing cardio, etc. because those things will help you achieve a flatter, more defined, fit and healthy looking  stomach. Just don’t expect them to be a magic prescription to give you the perfect six pack for the rest of your life.

How does time go by so fast? It's already Sunday afternoon! Yesterday went by in a blur...and not because I had some margaritas. I have to say I sometimes enjoy time going by fast. It means I am busy and am surrounded by lots of things to do. For this lady, that typically means things to do with friends or activities I thoroughly enjoy working on. God has blessed me by filling my life with things I am passionate about. Being a mother & wife, helping students, leading a Sunday class, blogging, involving myself in health & fitness, spending time with friends, and more. So being busy just reminds me how full my life is. He is amazing and never ceases to meet our needs and, on top of that, He abundantly gives joy that overflows. Can you tell I'm high on life today? That doesn't have to do with the margaritas either. 😉

This weekend wasn't anything too special. We didn't have any set plans since we were going to be out of town. Friday we just stayed in with dinner and some relaxation together. We even hit the sack by 9:00. Party hearty!

Saturday was a lot more exciting. I hit up the gym for Power + Kick classes. I have decided that mirrors in group exercise classes are not necessary and a pet peeve of mine.[Source]

I don't really see the point in them being all over. This could be nitpicky, but I realized it was a pet peeve of mine. Maybe I am being over dramatic, but I was in a spot right in front of a mirror for class on Saturday and it drove me crazy having to watch myself workout the entire time. It also gave me a lot of time to go from "I feel strong doing these squats" thinking to "Oh look at myself. My thighs/butt/hips jiggle so much while I'm jumping in Kick" thoughts. NOT COOL! I know I have the power to control my thoughts and fight the negative talk. The point is however that staring at myself for 2 hours distracted me from simply being able to feel strong and enjoy a quality workout. I know the argument for mirrors is that they can help people check their form...but in most exercises, if you are looking in a mirror you lose proper form by moving your neck out of alignment or you are being distracted by yourself or others you can see in them. Is it overthinking things to consider this can put too much of an emphasis on image? Maybe it would be okay if all mirrors looked like this:

That is the best Operation Beautiful message I have ever seen. That was on our church bathroom mirror this morning. I have never seen it up before. I wondered if it was an Operation Beautiful message but I didn’t see any note about the website. No matter. I thought it was really uplifting to see and maybe I will send it in to Caitlin as a note I found. 🙂

Now that I have rambled unnecessarily for too long, I will get back to the remainder of our Saturday. We decided to get together with some friends of ours. We went to the park to play with Makenzie.

Obviously I had fun making weird faces, going down slides, and pushing swings for insane lengths of time. All whilst drooling over our friend Dan’s camera. Hey, Peter. If you read this…that would be a great Mother’s Day present. Wishful thinking never hurts. Don’t dash my dreams before they’ve even started.

The fun began after the park. My buddy Nicole knows how to make a mean margarita. So I was not surprised when I downed three of these beauties over the course of the night.

I think the chips and tacos helped soak up some of the tequila. PS – Chips need salsa. Some people (raises hand) just don’t like Queso.

Not too much though. A little buzz never hurt anyone. Although I don’t think my 3 (ahem, strong) margaritas compared to baby M’s buzz. She was buzzing on sugar and presents. Dan & Nicole gave Makenzie a little backpack, a little purse, and a necklace just for fun. Then they topped it off with a cupcake. Clearly she was in heaven. And their love for M makes me forgive the lack of salsa. Kidding. Or maybe not. I take salsa seriously.

Check out Lisa's Giveaway here! I promise it will have you buzzing with happiness too.