So it seems my genetics really suck because from my personal experience my body burns the belly fat last. Last year when I was cutting, I lost a lot of muscle but I did have a flat stomach in the end, however, I looked unhealthily skinny and didn't have any abs definition as I wanted. 

Is there any way I can make this work for me, so that I can have a flat belly with moderately defined abs (not the blocky type) without loosing too much muscle and becoming very thin? Do I need to workout more while on maintenance calories? How do I know when to stop cutting? 

I'm female, 24, about 57 kilos, 161 cm tall and have been training at the gym for 1.5 years.

If you lost a lot of muscle you cut the calories to much and to fast. Muscle helps with fat loss since muscle requires more calories to use and the fat burns off better that way.

You can, like every one else, make it work. You need to adjust your calories better. Slowly lower you calories by 100-200 calories a week for the cut so that your body adapts to the diet.

If you workout more while doing maintenance calories you will burn more calories which can result in you losing fat, but to much of it and you can lose muscle.

You know when to stop cutting when 1. You are losing weight way to fast or 2. You are happy with the result and dont need to lose any more.

Let me know if it helps or if you need more advice !

I have literally done as you said last year and it didn't work - I was consuming large ammounts of protein at the cost of less carbs and fats but burning the belly fat was still taking way too long and I lost a lot of muscle in the process, until I was able to have a flat stomach.

If you eat to much protein it turns into fat though because your body doesnt need all the extra protein, so dont go overboard. Carbs are fuel for your muscles and workouts so I would not go to low on that. Did you read my post and found any good advice ?

If you use Scotts Macro Calculator you'll see you want to be 250-500 calories below maintenance. You'll be taking more protien in to offset less carbs and fats but that will help you transfer calories to a safe point and help to hold on to more muslce. Cutting you are going to lose some muscle but the increase in protiens is what will keep it minimal. A safe point is losing no more than 2lbs a week, anymore and you're probably burning muscle. Unfortunately getting lean takes some time so you got to be patient especially since belly fat is usually the last to go.

Have you ever considered carb cycling? It helped me break through my last plateau. I was only effectively cutting on a low carb/high fat approach for about 6 weeks before I stalled. Once I started cycing (low carb high fat for 3 days, then on the 4th day I lowered fat 10gs and bumped carbs up 20-30gs) and saw a significant change. It continued to be a success for the rest of my cut which was aprox 10 weeks after that.

Also, I'm not sure how long you've been on a deficit but it might be a good idea to give yourself a break. If you have been eating below maintenance for too long your metabolism will adapt to this and your body will begin to burn less calories at rest and even during activity to keep the lights on, so to speak. If this is the case, I would suggest you take a break, start reverse dieting, and focus on some strength gains.

I too struggle with retaining most of my excess fat in my mid-section and around my hips. Plus I am short waisted which makes even 5 lbs look like a lot for me. I have found that for the most part, having a lower fat and moderate to high carb intake allows me to stay leaner even through a bulk.

I know it can be discouraging, but part of the fun in this lifestyle is taking in all of the science and learning how to best apply it to your unique physiology.

Looks like you got some good advice here Christine!!

Are you still trying to lose that fat? What is your workout split like? Are you doing any HIIT cardio or HIIT circuits?

Also, what are your current macros? The more info we have, the easier it will be for us to help :-)

The way I see it (and I have a similar issue, my belly and my love handles are the last to go), we're kinda screwed. It doesn't mean we're hopeless. I can still cut down to a point where I reduce my love handles and belly and keep a pretty good physique, but as soon as I go in a surplus they'll come back in.

I don't care much about the love handles because I have a pretty healthy upper back so it doesn't look that bad. However, we all care about abs. While it is true that one cannot spot-reduce fat in a long term significant way, it is also true that one can spot-grow muscle. One of the reasons I follow Scott is because of his ab-training videos. Those exercises are insane and have got me to put in more effort toward growing my abs rather than slimming myself down. My abs won't have super deep cuts as I would like, but they definitely show and happy with that. (they won't have cuts while on a bulk, and will start to hide towards the end of a bulk, but that's the reason we all cut, right? haha)

So train your core, train it like crazy. Overload it. It is also one of the muscle groups that recovers fastest because it is comprised of a bunch of tiny muscles which can very quickly recover. So work it a lot and work it really hard and you will notice your abs showing a bit more.

Hope that helps