Just about everyone wants to have nice abs that make them look great. Unfortunately many people try to get nice abs by doing all the wrong things! If you make some of the mistakes that are discussed in this article it is likely that you will never get a solid six pack.

Mistake #1: Trying to do too many crunches to lose stomach fat

If only doing lots of crunches worked for carving out a solid set of abs. If doing a few hundred crunches was all it took to lose body fat then everyone walking around would not have any excess fat. Doing lots of crunches and other ab exercises do not help you get nice abs simply because they do not help you lose the fat that covers them up!

Ab exercises simply do not burn enough calories or stimulate the body's metabolism enough to get down to 8-10% body fat for a man and 15-20% if you are a woman. If you are down to those low levels of body fat already then lots of crunches might help your abs look more toned. If you cannot see your abs at all then it simply means that is too much body fat covering them up!

That means that the main focus of your diet and workout regimen should be to lose body fat. Doing endless amounts of ab exercises just won't help do that.

Mistake #2: Not keeping a food log

Since you know that getting a nice set of six pack abs all depends on having low enough levels of body fat, you should know that the next step is to pay attention to the most important part of the whole process: how many calories you are taking in.

If you have excess body fat that you can't seem to get rid of, then you absolutely have to understand that it is simply the result of taking in too many calories. It is not because of bad genetics or some other physiological disorder, it is simply a matter of eating too many calories. The fitness models who have the sexiest abs of anyone will be the first to tell you they got that way by being extremely careful about what they eat.

The absolute best indication you can use for figuring this out is to keep a food log of what you are eating. You will be amazed at the perspective you will gain about your eating habits from keeping a food log.

Developing nice abs really depends on losing enough body fat so that you can see some solid definition. Tracking your food intake with a food log is an excellent way to see if you are taking in too many calories. If you do take in too many calories you will always have trouble getting lean.

Mistake #3: Not lifting weights

This will seem counterintuitive to some, but lifting weights is an excellent way to lose more body fat. Resistance training will give you more lean muscle mass that will have a dramatic impact with increasing your resting metabolism.

This means that you are burning more calories because muscle is very active tissue. If you are not strength training then you are missing a huge opportunity to burn more calories. It has been said that each extra pound of muscle mass burns an extra 60 calories per day. If you gain even 3 lbs of lean muscle tissue, you will burn an extra 180 calories each day! That is much more than a simple ab workout will burn.