here is the secret that 90% of people at the gym don't know.. working your abs does not cause your stomach to lose fat! i have a friend who tried that and i told him exactly this and he argued with me, so essentially it is pointless to teach people who don't grasp fitness
the bottom line is this.. as men we typically store excess fat in our stomach. so the solution to losing that excess fat is to LOSE TOTAL BODY FAT. and you do that via diet first