Unfortunately, subcutaneous fat is harder to lose. Subcutaneous fat is more visible, but it takes more effort to lose because of the function it serves in your body. If you have too much subcutaneous fat, this can increase the amount of WAT in your body.
Visceral fat is actually easier to lose than subcutaneous fat. This is because it metabolizes quicker and your body can get rid of it as sweat or pee. If you start regularly exercising and eating a healthy diet, you should start to see results in two to three months.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The first place men typically lose weight is the belly, while women tend to lose weight all over, but hold onto weight in their thighs and hips, Dr. Block explains.
Doing targeted exercises like crunches is great for toning abdominal muscles, but losing both subcutaneous and visceral fat is the first step to unearthing your abs. According to the American Council on Exercise (ACE), you'll need to lower your body fat to about 14 to 20 percent for women and 6 to 13 percent for men.
The best way to reduce visceral fat is through losing weight and diet. Visceral fat responds better to diet and exercise than fat on the hips. Regular exercise can also stop visceral fat from coming back. Another option is medication, but studies show this is not as effective in reducing visceral fat as exercise.
One reason belly fat is so hard to lose is that it's considered an “active fat.” Unlike some fatty tissue that simply sits “dormant,” belly fat releases hormones that can have an impact on your health — and your ability to lose weight, especially in the waist and abdomen areas.
The first stage of weight loss is when you tend to lose the most weight and begin to notice changes in your appearance and how your clothes fit. It usually happens within the first 4–6 weeks ( 1 ). Most of the weight loss in this stage comes from carb stores, protein, and water — and to a lesser extent, body fat.
When the calories you burn equal the calories you eat, you reach a plateau. To lose more weight, you need to either increase your physical activity or decrease the calories you eat.
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.
Fat burning typically begins after approximately 12 hours of fasting and escalates between 16 and 24 hours of fasting.
It's possible to gain muscle and reduce body fat without actually seeing a change in your weight. This happens when you lose body fat while gaining muscle. Your weight may stay the same, even as you lose inches, a sign that you're moving in the right direction.
And you can't just focus on losing belly fat alone; getting shredded requires losing total body fat - to see more abdominal definition usually requires a lower body fat percentage - around 15% or less for men and 20% or less for women. This overall process can take many months, if not years.
“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.
“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.
Losing stubborn belly fat is often one of the hardest and last areas to see improvement for many dieters. Losing belly fat and getting a flat stomach is done through achieving a caloric deficit by eating less, exercising more, and doing that for at least 6-12 weeks.
Men lose weight faster than women. New research suggests men also garner more health benefits than women when they lose weight, too. A study in the journal Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism detailed the weight loss results of more than 2,200 overweight adults in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.
While everyone loses weight differently, dropping as little as 3 to 5 pounds can show up on your face first, Eboli says.
Water can be really helpful for weight loss. It is 100% calorie-free, helps you burn more calories and may even suppress your appetite if consumed before meals. The benefits are even greater when you replace sugary beverages with water. It is a very easy way to cut back on sugar and calories.