Midterms & midsections: The lean-cut abs recipe

Midterms signal a time for midway evaluation. It's a time to work on areas of weakness in preparation for an enhanced performance and a better product than before.

Like the midterm evaluation, midway through the semester and thus midway through your fitness pursuits, check in with yourself concerning your midsection.

Want better abs? Yes, I guess that is a rhetorical question because who doesn't? In the fitness and medical world, a healthy midsection is seen as a sign of fitness and good health.

You may wonder why you can wrestle with crunches for days and still not quite see the desired results. Well, the key to this conundrum lies in this combination.

The recipe for a healthy midsection begins with:

* A consistent serving of properly portioned foods.

This entails fresh fruit and vegetables as well as lean proteins. They say that you are what you eat, so feed yourself for a fitter physique.

Try eating several (four to six) times a day with three main meals and the rest as healthy snacks. Remember to load up on fiber, about five grams per meal. Such foods include almonds, berries, spinach, brown rice and whole wheat bread. As a tip, avoid alcohol if you want a leaner middle.

* A generous dash of potent cardio power and a punch of muscle magic!

To minimize your gut, get to serious fat-burning. This can be a secret or special combination of ingredients (like KFC's 11 herbs and spices!) and often varies from person to person.

So whether you enjoy a pinch of toning and muscle building or a heap of running, jogging, treadmill-ing or being on the elliptical, create a concoction that you can handle.

Don't be afraid to mix machines and different workouts for the best and most impactful results. Simply remember to endure the workout long enough to give your midsection time to bake and heat up for the fat burn!

Remember that a leaner midsection is the result of total body trim for fat loss and toning of the abdominal muscles for a defined look.

* A calm state of mind and body.

It is important to get enough sleep and to be as stress-free as possible while you work for fab abs. Sleep promotes and proliferates the effects of eating well and exercising, while stress encourages the presence of cortisol, aka the stress hormone, which can muddle with the midsection and encourage fat storage specifically in the abs.

Instead of letting stress get the best of you and ruining your lean midsection plans, beat the stress before it beats you and get enough sleep most nights.

Use this recipe and put your personalized spin on it for the best belly-busting midsection fix you've ever seen!