Tuesday Tip: Targeted Fat loss

Tuesday Tip: Targeted Fat loss 🎯

Almost all of us struggle with localized areas of stubborn fat that just won’t seem to shift. We often have a desire to eliminate those areas for either aesthetic or health reasons – this is known as spot reduction.

Sadly there is no such thing as spot reduction – or losing fat in specific chosen areas e.g. you can’t target only belly fat, or just thigh fat. The only way to lose fat in those areas is to lose fat overall, via a calorie deficit. Those areas will eventually lose fat but it may take much longer and requires greater overall fat loss.

Various studies in 2017, 2018 and 2019 review concluded that spot reduction is not possible, that abdominal exercises for example do not significantly reduce belly fat, and that HIIT doesn’t lead to a reduction in leg or belly fat. All it does is work the muscles underneath (which means if you do lose fat they’ll look more ‘toned’ but it doesn’t reduce the fat itself).

Fat distribution is largely determined by genetics (and hormones to a degree) and cannot be changed through exercise or diet alone. This means that individuals with uneven fat distribution will struggle to lose fat in specific areas. So, if you feel you are already at a fat level/bodyweight you’re happy with overall but just want to get rid of stubborn areas of fat, you will need to lose more body fat. This however will require a greater effort, work and greater sacrifices and sometimes this may not be worth the trade off. So you have to decide – is having a slightly smaller belly, thighs, arms etc worth the sacrifice you’ll have to make in calories? If the answer is yes then go for it! If the answer is no then stop trying to target those areas with exercise as it’s not achieving anything and instead just embrace those areas!

Happy Tuesday 🤗xx