Abs are Made in the Kitchen
Growing up, as I was navigating my ever-changing body, and chasing the elusive “dream bod” my mom, wise as she is would remind me so many times I can still hear it echoing in the kitchen of my childhood: “Abs are made in the kitchen.”
As a little girl, I didn’t fully understand it. Back then, I thought she was telling me how to get a flat stomach. But as I’ve grown up and become responsible for nourishing myself, and my own family, and (at times) chasing wellness through punishment instead of nourishment, I realized she was offering me something far deeper, because she didn’t just say this mantra. She lived it.
To my dismay, as a kiddo, we were the family that never had chips on hand, but there were always fresh cut vegetables on the island, ready to eat, every day when we got home from school. You see, my mom fed us in a way that made food feel grounding, simple, whole, and joyful. She understood that what we eat becomes who we are, not just our bodies, but our energy, our moods, our hormones, our resilience.
As I began feeding myself in adulthood, I had to learn the hard way what she seemed to know intuitively: that our “abs”, our core, our strength, our health, are built long before we ever step foot in a gym. They’re built through the small, consistent choices we make in our kitchens and in our everyday rhythms.
And so, my loves, I want to pass this mantra on to you, not as pressure, not as perfectionism, not as a standard for your bodies, but as a compass for nourishment and self-trust.
Let me tell you what it really means…
The Sugar Story I Had to Learn the Hard Way
Growing up, I had no idea how much sugar hid in the foods marketed to us as “healthy.” I didn’t know the average American eats 17 teaspoons of added sugar a day, or that sugar sneaks into bread, yogurt, sauces, dressings, coffee drinks, almost everything.
It took me reading, The Body Book by Cameron Diaz to learn how sugar consumption in America has gone from an average of 5lbs per year in the 1820s to 150lbs per year in the 2000s. This was a major wakeup call.
When blood sugar spikes over and over, your body learns to store fat instead of burn it. It messes with your energy, your hormones, your skin, your sleep, your mood. When I was younger, I blamed myself, I thought I just needed to work out harder.
But the truth was simpler: I needed to feed myself better.
The Stress We Carry in Our Middles
There was another lesson waiting for me too, one I didn’t learn until motherhood: cortisol, the body’s stress hormone.
Life is full of beautiful demands, work, relationships, motherhood, goals, responsibilities, and when stress becomes our baseline, cortisol rises. And when cortisol rises, your body protects you the only way it knows how: “Store fat in the abdomen. We’re under threat.”
Even if you’re eating well. Even if you’re working out. I learned this after pregnancies, late nights, early mornings, and all the mental loads mothers carry.
I had to soften. Slow down. Breathe. I had to learn that rest is nourishment too.
Ultra-Processed Foods: The Silent Saboteurs
And then there are the foods that aren’t really foods at all, ultra-processed foods, which make up nearly 60% of the American diet.
UPFs are engineered to override your natural hunger cues and confuse your body into wanting more: more sugar, more salt, more crunch. They inflame. They disrupt digestion. They spike blood sugar. They drain energy. They create stress inside the body even when life itself is fine.
For years, I tried to out-exercise them. You can’t. My mom knew this, in fact she used to tell me “I was better off eating cardboard” than white bread when I consistently begged her to buy it for me at the store instead of yucky wheat bread or whole grain breads.
And now I finally understand too.
Eat Earth Food First
So here’s what I want you to remember when you hear me repeat her mantra: Eat earth food first (thanks, Lindsay for this one!)
Eat the foods your body recognizes—foods grown, picked, raised, caught. Foods with one ingredient. Foods that come straight from mother nature herself, meaning up from the ground, down from a tree, or once had a heartbeat: Fruits, Vegetables, Whole grains, Nuts and seeds, Legumes, Eggs, Fish, Humanely raised meats.
Single-ingredient foods aren’t just “healthy.” They’re instructions that tell your body exactly what to do: They nourish your hormones, balance your blood sugar, support your mood, help you sleep better, and build your energy from the inside out.
And hey, listen, you don’t have to be perfect… I certainly am not, I still enjoy treats, celebrations, and a good ol’ bag of Flaming Hot Cheetos from time to time. Food is joy and connection and culture and comfort, I’m not denying that….
BUT when you anchor your life in whole foods, everything else begins to regulate, your digestion, your cravings, your emotions, your energy, your metabolism…your core.
This is the heart of the mantra.
This is what my mom always meant.
And this is what I want you, reading this, to inherit.
The Truth Beneath the Mantra
“Abs are made in the kitchen” has nothing to do with six-packs and everything to do with self-respect.
It means:
Feed yourself well.
Trust your body.
Choose foods that love you back.
Honor your hormones and your hunger.
Slow down enough to listen to yourself.
It means strength begins with nourishment, not punishment.
My mom passed this wisdom to me through every home-cooked meal, every packed lunch, every gentle nudge toward real food. And I’m passing it to you in the same spirit, not as pressure, but as protection. Not as a rule, but as a gift.
Your body is a temple, you are a miracle, treat your body like it deserves. Feed it with love. And remember:
Abs are made in the kitchen, but so is strength, balance, connection, joy, and the kind of health that lasts a lifetime.
