The Spot Fat Removal Myth

louie377

What exercise gets rid of love-handles? What exercise gets rid of man-boobs?

Of all the bad bodybuilding myths, this is the one I hate the most because unscrupulous skamsters use this myth to convince uninformed people to spend millions of dollars on their useless machines. Just turn on the TV late at night and you are sure to hear ridiculous claims like "targets fat in the troublesome love handle region".

So how can you get rid of the unwanted fat on your stomach, hips, thighs, or chest? Cardio and Nutrition!
The body decides how it will distribute the fat over your body, all you can do to get rid of love-handles or man-boobs is to reduce your total body fat by doing more aerobic exercise and by eating less.

It is not possible to do spot-removal of fat despite the million dollar industry which tries to sell a gullible public one "love-handle remover" after another!

The myth that you can remove fat in focused areas by doing special exercises is not new

The vibrating belts of the '50s were promoted for fat removal around the mid-section. Its just not possible to focus fat removal on a particular area, surgery is the only way to do spot-removal of fat deposits. There are some drugs (like AZT) that cause the body to redistribute fat and focus it in the mid section but as far as I know, nobody has been able to do this in a desirable fashion.

Adusenka

wow, that's an eye opening post..

arewethereyet

the only way to spot reduce is with liposuction. Fat reduction comes from last on, first off. Just ask my baby belly!LOL my youngest is 23!

arewethereyet

I watched 2 ladies walk around the office park with those bands around their waists. They were walking slow......I wanted to yell "Take the stupid belt off and walk FASTER.......oh and MOVE your arms!!" :laugh: (reminded me of a Seinfeld episode!)

KeepOnMoving

I agree arewethereyet with "last on first off." My trouble spot is the hips and thighs. I loose from my waist line first, the lower, just diet and variety of exercises over a period of time is the only thing. My husband is just the opposite: small lower, bigger upper. He lost all fat on his buns and legs but has a long way to go on his belly.

dgroulx

Yes, that's true. There are many weight loss myths out there. Weight loss is a huge industry and everyone is trying to make a buck. Nothing you buy over the counter, or at a vitamin store, will make you lose. Exercising by lifting weights with my arms won't spot reduce my "wings". Weight is calories in - calories out. People want to believe in a miracle cure but there is none.

Also, people have delusions about the amount of calories you can eat. If you want to know, go to a site that computes your ideal weight. Then plug that weight into MFP. That is the amount of calories you will need to eat to be at your desired weight. Why not start eating that way now?

arewethereyet

Yes, that's true. There are many weight loss myths out there. Weight loss is a huge industry and everyone is trying to make a buck. Nothing you buy over the counter, or at a vitamin store, will make you lose. Exercising by lifting weights with my arms won't spot reduce my "wings". Weight is calories in - calories out. People want to believe in a miracle cure but there is none.

Also, people have delusions about the amount of calories you can eat. If you want to know, go to a site that computes your ideal weight. Then plug that weight into MFP. That is the amount of calories you will need to eat to be at your desired weight. Why not start eating that way now?

Hm so that is a good idea. I want to be 120 so if I put in 120 and maintence, then eventually I will be 120??? ding ding...light bulb!!

SHBoss1673

Yes, that's true. There are many weight loss myths out there. Weight loss is a huge industry and everyone is trying to make a buck. Nothing you buy over the counter, or at a vitamin store, will make you lose. Exercising by lifting weights with my arms won't spot reduce my "wings". Weight is calories in - calories out. People want to believe in a miracle cure but there is none.

Also, people have delusions about the amount of calories you can eat. If you want to know, go to a site that computes your ideal weight. Then plug that weight into MFP. That is the amount of calories you will need to eat to be at your desired weight. Why not start eating that way now?

Hm so that is a good idea. I want to be 120 so if I put in 120 and maintence, then eventually I will be 120??? ding ding...light bulb!!

well, it doesn't work quite that way, or to be more specific, it should work that way if you're relatively close, but remember, create too large a deficit for your body to handle, and the body will adjust it's calorie burn to account for it, which means even slower weight loss, sluggishness, decreased antibody output and decreased defense against disease, possible hair loss, bad skin, possible vitamin or mineral deficiency, decreased bone density ...etc. all the bad things that can come from malnutrition.

Realistically, the idea is to eat enough to "trick" your body into thinking it's still eating maintenance, by eating a deficit that's small enough that the body will efficiently pull the difference from fat stores. Eat too much food and the body won't need to pull from fat stores, eat too little, and the body can't pull enough from fat stores, so if you're 190 and eating like a person who is 120, odds are you're not going to lose weight the way you think you should. You'll still lose, quite a bit at the beginning probably, but as your body settles into the new calorie amount (which can take weeks or even months), it will be slower than it would otherwise be, and some of those calories will come from the wrong tissue types (I.E. lean tissue loss and bone density)

arewethereyet

Yes, that's true. There are many weight loss myths out there. Weight loss is a huge industry and everyone is trying to make a buck. Nothing you buy over the counter, or at a vitamin store, will make you lose. Exercising by lifting weights with my arms won't spot reduce my "wings". Weight is calories in - calories out. People want to believe in a miracle cure but there is none.

Also, people have delusions about the amount of calories you can eat. If you want to know, go to a site that computes your ideal weight. Then plug that weight into MFP. That is the amount of calories you will need to eat to be at your desired weight. Why not start eating that way now?

Hm so that is a good idea. I want to be 120 so if I put in 120 and maintence, then eventually I will be 120??? ding ding...light bulb!!

well, it doesn't work quite that way, or to be more specific, it should work that way if you're relatively close, but remember, create too large a deficit for your body to handle, and the body will adjust it's calorie burn to account for it, which means even slower weight loss, sluggishness, decreased antibody output and decreased defense against disease, possible hair loss, bad skin, possible vitamin or mineral deficiency, decreased bone density ...etc. all the bad things that can come from malnutrition.

Realistically, the idea is to eat enough to "trick" your body into thinking it's still eating maintenance, by eating a deficit that's small enough that the body will efficiently pull the difference from fat stores. Eat too much food and the body won't need to pull from fat stores, eat too little, and the body can't pull enough from fat stores, so if you're 190 and eating like a person who is 120, odds are you're not going to lose weight the way you think you should. You'll still lose, quite a bit at the beginning probably, but as your body settles into the new calorie amount (which can take weeks or even months), it will be slower than it would otherwise be, and some of those calories will come from the wrong tissue types (I.E. lean tissue loss and bone density)

makes sense. I looked it up and 120 maint is 1698........I will not lose weight on this. Period, I know my body. I have spent the last 4 months eating a bit over maint to get my body used to food again. I was on low cals for too long and my body got used to it and functioned quite well on 1450 a day or so......no loss.

So I am trying something new. I am on maint cals and exercising each day. so my deficit will be my exercse cals. lets see how this works!

SHBoss1673

makes sense. I looked it up and 120 maint is 1698........I will not lose weight on this. Period, I know my body. I have spent the last 4 months eating a bit over maint to get my body used to food again. I was on low cals for too long and my body got used to it and functioned quite well on 1450 a day or so......no loss.

So I am trying something new. I am on maint cals and exercising each day. so my deficit will be my exercse cals. lets see how this works!

that should work. I don't see why not, as long as you're not talking about huge exercise volumes that create giant deficits, I know you don't have that far to go so it should be a good option for you (IMHO).

BullDozier

I agree with the OP. It's too bad myths like this are continued with certain adds on this side, such as the one with the well know "fitness" expert asking the question "what spot can I help you reduce?"

TateFTW

makes sense. I looked it up and 120 maint is 1698........I will not lose weight on this. Period, I know my body. I have spent the last 4 months eating a bit over maint to get my body used to food again. I was on low cals for too long and my body got used to it and functioned quite well on 1450 a day or so......no loss.

So I am trying something new. I am on maint cals and exercising each day. so my deficit will be my exercse cals. lets see how this works!

that should work. I don't see why not, as long as you're not talking about huge exercise volumes that create giant deficits, I know you don't have that far to go so it should be a good option for you (IMHO).

Exactly, the only worry is still creating to much of a deficit. I'm a football coach who also hits the gym, HARD. I've been known to burn upwards of 8-900 cals in a day, which would result in too much deficit resulting in muscle loss. I just use MFP as designed, adding my exercise and eating within 1-200 cals of my suggested number.

arewethereyet

makes sense. I looked it up and 120 maint is 1698........I will not lose weight on this. Period, I know my body. I have spent the last 4 months eating a bit over maint to get my body used to food again. I was on low cals for too long and my body got used to it and functioned quite well on 1450 a day or so......no loss.

So I am trying something new. I am on maint cals and exercising each day. so my deficit will be my exercse cals. lets see how this works!

that should work. I don't see why not, as long as you're not talking about huge exercise volumes that create giant deficits, I know you don't have that far to go so it should be a good option for you (IMHO).

Oh my burnrate is 200-400 a day.......after reducing by what I normally would do in that hour anyway. If I do have a day when I walk a 5k or play at the beach 6 hrs, I eat more.......believe me! LOL