Yes, burn more calories than consumed. Consume more of your day's calories in the early part of your day. The running you are doing is great. Swimming is great, too. Think cardio activities. However, all of this means nothing if the output is keeping your body in check, while toning or perhaps slightly building muscle, because perhaps your calorie intake increases. So, you need to be aware of what you are eating, when you are eating, how you are burning calories, and what your metabolism is like. Depending on your frame and where you store fat, you would be aiming for a body fat % between 4-8% to show developed abs. However, there is huge variation between persons in regards to how defined the abs will be shown. Unless you plan on burning lots of calories late in the day, perhaps avoid the carbs after mid-afternoon. Really, diet depends on your lifestyle and schedule. Needless to say, cut down or out the sugar and excess salt. Drink the minimum recommended amount of water/day. If you aren't used to this, you may notice some added weight in early weeks and the appearance of a larger belly. Many people live day-to-day in a dehydrated state, but the benefits of water (not gatorade, etc.) can't be denied. Guage your metabolism. It's not so much about weight, you know, but rather body fat. Every frame will have its benefits and challenges. You want to gain understanding of yours. Crunches, lifts, twists, and stretching all serve a purpose, and building up some muscles will increase calorie-burning. But one without the other gets you nowhere. Diet and exercise. Do not eat, unless you are hungry. It's not about denying yourself, though. It's about being sensible and balanced. Do not overeat. Do not undereat. Workout at different times in the day over the week. Mornings, sometimes, afternoons, others, etc. Burn more than you consume, again, but understand that if you reduce your caloric intake to <some level I cannot guess>, the body has a mechanism that will essentially slow down your consistent efforts. So, uh, don't be starving yourself! How many calories you need per day varies from person to person. What's the average recommended now, 2500? 2000? Find out and compare to what you consume now. Do not live by numbers. It's really about putting into practice the common sense ideas of a healthy diet and exercise in the context of your lifestyle and what you know or come to understand about your body's makeup. edit: Oh, eat sensible portions of varieties of foods per meal. Don't leave the table feeling "stuffed". Eating 3-5 times per day isn't bad, but if you're going with the 5x, I don't believe two of those occasions really count as meals, but rather "healthy snacks" (2 hard boiled eggs, for example). To me, 5 "meals" just seems to be a lot of food consumption. Thoughts?
