Is belly fat really the last to go?

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  • tladame
    tladame Posts: 465 Member
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    Unfortunately for me, it is....It is the absolute LAST place that I lose weight. :( And the FIRST place that I put it on! Booo!

    Me too! :mad: I have done Jillian Michaels' 6-Week Six-Pack workout off and on, and it does target your midsection (while incorporating cardio / HIIT). They say abs "are made in the kitchen", but I haven't yet figured out which foods to eliminate. I see a few people here have given some suggestions...worth investigating!
  • popprincess72317
    popprincess72317 Posts: 6 Member
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    From what I have read, yes. I wish it was the first to go in my case.
  • myfitnessnmhoy
    myfitnessnmhoy Posts: 2,105 Member
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    Whats the best advice anyone can give as to what to do as you lose weight? i mean i have 2 kids and don;t want to be left with a massive apron once i lose weight, any suggestions on the best toning exercises?

    Weights. You want to tone and improve some muscle. It's almost impossible to go all "Body By Atlas" without a calorie surplus and massive amounts of hard work. You'll only be working to retain muscle so you burn proportionally more fat.

    Core work. Planks, squats, etc.
  • Beatrix0810
    Beatrix0810 Posts: 138
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    Try laying of the alcohol for 30 days. Alcohol makes it hard for the body to metabolize fat. It processes the alcohol (and sugars and carbs) in your beverage before anything else in your body because the body views alcohol as a toxin and wants to get it to the liver ASAP to filter it out. When it does that, it just goes ahead and stores whatver else is in your body as fat and is SO HARD to get rid of. My trainer told me (as he was KILLING ME with ab excercises yesterday) "whoever told you that doing more ab excercises is the fastest way to get a six pack doesn't know what they're talking about. Putting down the beer bottle is the best way to get a six pack." So, I am acutally not drinking alcohol for 30 days to see if it helps. I took before pics and will take pics again in 25 days. I'll be sure to post!

    Anyway, that's my advice. Lay off the booze for a while and I bet you see a difference.
  • burtonf
    burtonf Posts: 2
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    Always the last place for me to go too and I am reliably informed the older you get the longer it takes to shift, oh well I suppose we are all in it to win so persevere we must!
  • Carolyn_79
    Carolyn_79 Posts: 935 Member
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    Definitely the last for me as well. I have another 10 pounds until I reach my goal weight so it'll be interesting to see how that 10 pounds affects my belly. I'm doing cardio and weight training so hopefully 10 will be enough but I'll readjust my goal if need be.
  • MrsFolk
    MrsFolk Posts: 205
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    That where I lose fat first (thank goodness!) The only area on me that doesn't budge is my hips (39") They aren't going anywhere!
  • cara4fit
    cara4fit Posts: 111 Member
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    In general, weight-training and effective core exercises like Pilates help firm up the area, but it really comes down to diet and cardio to lose the fat. Weight loss, especially in the tummy is at least 80% diet. Sure, we burn calories when we engage in solid exercise and training, but the saying "one can always out-eat one's workout" is very true. Spot-reducing is a myth - the fat does come off from all over, like layers of an onion. This is why the areas that are leaner to begin with show loss first, while the areas that have more fat take a lot longer.
    For women there are special considerations - the after-effects of pregnancy and menopause. With the former, people vary in the elasticity of their tissues. Some women snap back within a reasonable amount of time on a getting-back-in-shape program, while others are left with permanent muscle separation that only surgery(the tummy tuck) can fix, even after losing the baby weight. At menopause, due to the hormonal shift, weight that previously was more evenly distributed shifts to the mid-section and even hips in some cases, making one appear larger than one is, even with no increase in body weight, although weight gain is extremely common at this time. It can be VERY difficult to get rid of, due to the fact that the body is now making estrogen in fat cells, so it's increasing the fat cells in the most convenient place(the belly)to do so. One has to be stricter with diet and work harder to counteract this, and weight-training becomes even more important than ever.
  • _beautiful_disaster_
    _beautiful_disaster_ Posts: 182
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    i really hope not :(
  • jerbear1962
    jerbear1962 Posts: 1,157 Member
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    Everything I've read about two places are the last places to lose fat...one being the belly the other being the booty. The belly because of how it's made up, the booty because of less blood flow. Personally I've had a real hard time over the years losing the belly.
  • blair_bear
    blair_bear Posts: 165
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    I always lose it there first. My thighs are the last to go!

    This! I'm on the hourglass side of pear shaped, and my stomach is always how small changes happen first. Thighs and upper arms - super tough for me. It depends on your build! That's part of the fun though, finding out!

    ditto. For me it's my hips that tend to hold onto the weight longest.
  • bohonomad
    bohonomad Posts: 171 Member
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    I was googling that a while ago and there were a bunch of sites that said basically wherever you hold the most fat is the last to go. which is sooo dumb but it seems to be kind of true for me, my arms and belly have stayed the same (I've lost like an inch off my lower belly). I HATE my big fat arms and everything has one down inches but my arms have stayed exactly the same, even with light weight lifting.
  • AlsDonkBoxSquat
    AlsDonkBoxSquat Posts: 6,128 Member
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    It depends on your shape and genetic problem areas. My last to go in on my *kitten* and upper thighs.
  • mjsamee
    mjsamee Posts: 215 Member
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    It depends on the person, but in general for people who tend to carry the majority of their fat in the belly area, yes it's usually the last place to clear. Some people carry their fat in their lower body (butt/hips/thighs) and those people tend to lose the fat last in those areas. It's just the way it is.

    As far as speeding it up, there's no magic mid-section shrinker. You have to continue on the path of healthy eating at a calorie deficit, hopefully doing some exercise, and you will burn the fat off your body.

    THIS! I am so boney from the waist up( minus the batwing arms..uggg) but the stomach kangaroo pouch is not budging!! I have lost all over but my bottom half is not keeping up with the top!!
  • christiangandy
    christiangandy Posts: 48 Member
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    from a genetic point of view....

    MEN gather it round the upper body more than lower, and women, lower body more than upper body...

    when it come to losing fat, it will go at an even rate all over the body, when losing fat it will first be noticeable around the face, and hands and feet etc, as these are the places with the most surface blood circulation.......

    the love handles have the least blood circulation and therefore the most likely place for fat to collect....therefore the last place it will go from,

    just keep on keeping on, and it will go eventually, you cannot spot reduce without lipo, and if you concentrate on sit-ups for example, all it will do is grow the muscle in the area, which will burn more calories, and reduce OVERALL body fat, that will eventually lead to fat loss in those areas .....hope this helps

    Christian
  • Kenzietea2
    Kenzietea2 Posts: 1,132 Member
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    You lose fat at the same rate on your entire body. If it takes longer for your belly fat to go down it just means you carry more fat there.
  • My1985Freckles
    My1985Freckles Posts: 1,039 Member
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    I always lose it there first. My thighs are the last to go!

    This!
  • Parsosa
    Parsosa Posts: 22
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    I have actually heard that you loose weight in the reverse order that you put it on. I gained it in my breasts first then butt then stomach so for me it should be the first to go if that is true. We will wait to see though.
  • hubkal
    hubkal Posts: 125 Member
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    Yep! I have been on my weight loss journey for awhile now. My legs, with the exception of the very top and my face have lost the most as far as looks go, but my inches seem to show different. My last sweat camp class instructor took measurements before the class and I lost .5 inches in 6 weeks on every area measured BUT my lower stomach, there I lost 3 inches! But it is still lose and jiggly! My legs are tone and you can see the muscle in my arms and legs so nicely! The other big exception is the back of my arms, they still swing in the wind even though my arms are very musclular. I think that is genetic...sad, but genetic!~
  • carld256
    carld256 Posts: 855 Member
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    Fat is burned all over. Honestly, it is just a myth/misconception.

    Yes, fat is burned all over, but it's not stored evenly. Men store more fat in their abdomens than anywhere else, so there's just more to get rid of. I've lost a lot of fat in my face, arms, legs, back and stomach, but my belly is still relatively big because there's so much fat stored there.

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