Thoughts. I have one ab. It is round. LOL I haven't seen any of my belly muscles since high school. Even then, only four showed up. I think the rest were cutting class. Maybe they never came with me to the gymnasium. I hated team sports, and I was allergic to something in the mats used for gymnastics and yoga. So, whenever they let me choose, I did weightlifting. The gym teacher largely ignored me until he realized I really was taking it seriously.
So, to see my little four-pack, it took my teen metabolism, doing hills on my bicycle 4x/week for 20 minutes each session, a drastic reduction in carbs (but still not actually a low-carb diet) and 45 minutes of resistance training 5x/week.
When I showed my belly to my grandmother, she said my muscles were too big and my thighs were too thick. She recommended more stretching, more walking, and to stop picking up heavy things.
She idealized a soft, flat belly (from which one should not be able to pinch an inch), and thighs she could pass two fingers between. Heaps of praise for my flat ass. I idealized almost exactly what I had at the time. A tight upper abdomen, a soft lower belly, strong, well defined legs and shoulders, vaguely defined arms, man's some kind of shallowness somewhere. In my case, with no help from my hips or backside, my shape came from my chest.
These days, I'm just glad to be active, and more alive than dead. I do HIIT for cardio, Tabatas for resistance. I avoid most forms of sugar, most days. I drink lots of water. My body appears soft, but is actually very strong. I like what I see in the bathroom mirror when I exit the shower. A friend who likes to massage me is always surprised by the size and density of my muscles. My lovers like to hold me.
Excuse me. Its time for macadamias and walnuts in coconut milk. Breakfast of champions.