Having a trouble getting cut up in ab area

[HardTimes]

Hi all

I have been working out fairly heavily for about 8 months now and I am very satisfied with the results overall, lost about 25lbs and gained A LOT of strength. Right now I'm 5'8 and fluctuate between 145 and 150 and I'm pretty tight in every area of my body except my stomach. It's completely flat and hard but I can't get the cut ab definition no matter how much I work out and do crunches. I think maybe I need to lose about 10 more pounds or so but no matter how much I lower my calorie intake my weight doesn't go much lower than 145lb, its like my body refuses to lose anymore weight than that. Another thing is when I tighten up and flex my body there is almost no room to pinch skin in any area of my body except for my ab area. I can grab a lot of skin there (which I assume is fat not burned off yet) but even so my stomach is flat.

Any suggestions here? For the past two weeks or so I lowered my calorie intake even more, where I only take in about 1200-1400 calories and this is while running 3 miles a day and lifting about 4 days a week. I still, no matter what, will not drop below 145. It won't budge. And it's very hard to work out as intense as I usually do with that low calorie intake so that's not helping.

 

[EFFORT]

Might be that your abs weren't properly trained with progressivly heavy weights, so there's not much to show even at a low weight. But to really know the answer I'll need a picture.

 

[Quiksilver]

You need to eat more dude. 1200-1400 calories = starvation. What does the body do when it's starving? It stores bodyfat. Where does it store bodyfat first? Your abdomen.

 

[HardTimes]

Might be that your abs weren't properly trained with progressivly heavy weights, so there's not much to show even at a low weight. But to really know the answer I'll need a picture.

I only do cruches, 80 a day, 4 sets of 20. I don't ab train with weights. Is that the problem?

 

[HardTimes]

You need to eat more dude. 1200-1400 calories = starvation. What does the body do when it's starving? It stores bodyfat. Where does it store bodyfat first? Your abdomen.

How much should I be eating if I'm trying to get cut? I don't want to eat enough to maintain. I want to eat to lose.

 

[EFFORT]

Its hard to really know since we don't know your training history. What does working out heavily mean for you? What sort of routine were you following? What does gaining A LOT of strength mean? (and you also gained it while going from 165 to 145?) What did your previous routine look like? Were you lifting weights? What did your diet look like?

If i had to guess (i could be wrong so don't be offended) i'd say you haven't followed a basic strength training routine with a sound diet for a year, which is the reason your having ab issues.