As against areas such as legs, face and arms, our stomach and abdominal regions possess beta cells that makes it difficult to reduce the fats easily and lose weight in these areas. However, as per research, belly fat is the most difficult to lose as the fat there is so much harder to break down.
Mostly, losing weight is an internal process. You will first lose hard fat that surrounds your organs like liver, kidneys and then you will start to lose soft fat like waistline and thigh fat. The fat loss from around the organs makes you leaner and stronger.
Belly fat! It's so easy to put on and so hard to get rid of. This fat causes so many health problems and it is something you should not ignore.
For most people looking to lose weight, lugging belly fat remains to be a top complaint. It can also feel like the type of body fat which takes the longest time, and in fact, may be the hardest to go. Hence, often referred to as 'stubborn' belly fat.
So, when you lose weight you'll typically see more initial weight loss from the fat cells with beta receptors while the fat cells with alpha receptors like those in the abdomen area will be slower to respond causing the weight loss in that area to be slower.
A recently published study shows that you breathe out the fat, or your lungs expel around 84% of the fat as carbon dioxide. Therefore, you're breathing away those pounds. For example, if you lose 10 kg of fat, about 8.4 kg of fat comes out through your lungs, and only 1.6 kilograms turn into water.
The two main stages of weight loss are rapid weight loss and slow weight loss. In the first stage, you'll drop weight at a rapid rate. Most of the weight loss in this stage is from protein, carbs, and water. In the second stage, you'll lose weight more slowly, but most of the pounds you shed will come from fat.
While everyone loses weight differently, dropping as little as 3 to 5 pounds can show up on your face first, Eboli says.
Excess visceral fat can pose serious health risks, but when you embark on a healthy diet and exercise plan, this fat is often the first to disappear. This means you're likely to notice weight loss in your abdominal area first. Too much visceral fat can make your belly protrude.
In terms of how your body looks, “it usually takes 4 weeks for your friends to notice weight loss, and 6–8 weeks for you to notice,” says Ramsey Bergeron, a certified personal trainer. “Your friends who don't see you every day are much more likely to see a change than someone you're around all the time,” he adds.
“Generally speaking, it's safe to lose 0.5% total body fat per week, or 2% body fat per month.” An easier way to measure it at home is approximately 1 to 2 pounds a week, depending on your starting weight. Also, fat loss is different from overall weight loss.
If you are on a low-carb diet, it will help you lose weight as there will be water loss from glycogen in the muscles. But in this case, fat will not burn. Also, if you are doing cardio, you may lose weight quickly but burning belly fat might take time.
"By the time you hit 10 pounds, your jeans will feel differently, absolutely," Blum says. "Just a little looser. Theoretically, 10 pounds is considered one size." Once you get past that first couple pounds where you might not be able to tell, Blum says, you really do start to lose body fat.
If you have a double chin despite being skinny, your body just happens to genetically store extra fat around the jawline. There's really nothing unusual about it, but it does present a challenge in that your chin fat is much harder to target through diet and exercise alone.
The rule of thumb, Fernstrom says, is that losing 8 to 10 pounds translates to going down one size.
“Obesity incidence starts increasing in one's twenties and peaks at 40 to 59, and then decreases slightly after age 60,” says Craig Primack, MD, an obesity medicine physician at the Scottsdale Weight Loss Center in Arizona.
In addition to an oily appearance, your urine might also have a milky white color. This is due to the presence of fat and protein in lymph fluid.
In humans. Ordinarily, the body responds to reduced energy intake by burning fat reserves and consuming muscle and other tissues. Specifically, the body burns fat after first exhausting the contents of the digestive tract along with glycogen reserves stored in liver cells and after significant protein loss.
Skin laxity can change after losing about 30 pounds, says Desai. “If you notice changes in larger areas of the body, like arms, abdomens, thighs, and buttocks, you may get that change in the face as well.”
To make your face look more attractive, you'd need to lower your BMI by about 2.5 points. That means a woman and man of average height would need to lose about 14 pounds and 18 pounds, respectively, the study found.
Your face skin might start sagging.
Premature drooping of the jawline (a.k.a. jowls) is one of the most common issues. When you drop pounds, you're also shedding the components that make your skin plump, like subcutaneous fat, collagen, and elastin, says Dr. Gohara.
Your Metabolism Will Slow Down to Store Fat
The more you work out or manage your calorie intake to lose weight, the more your metabolism wants to compensate by slowing down to maintain your current weight, this is called metabolic compensation. It kicks in to preserve and store fat for future energy.