Spot reduction is one of the biggest myths when it comes to the entire fitness industry. You cannot choose where you lose body fat.
You must simply lose fat from around your entire body through a sustained calorie deficit if you have an unsightly or stubborn area.
As somebody who lost over 100lb of fat, my stubborn areas were my lower abs around the belly button and love handles. Sometimes I would seem almost shredded elsewhere with the exception of these two sites.
Unfortunately, as much as we want our unattractive, disproportionately fatty areas to disappear, there is no way we can go about meaningful spot reduction without losing all the fat around it.
There are no two ways about it.
Despite spot reduction not being grounded in truth, where you store excess body fat can tell you much about your endocrine health.
Spot Reduction & Excess Body Fat
We would all like to lose excess body fat, but for the purpose of this article we will go into what our fat stores mean as we can’t perform spot reduction.
By understanding where our bodies store fat, we may begin to address our diets and lifestyles in a way that would best reflect any deficiencies.
Your stubborn belly fat and stubborn fat deposits such as love handles and man boobs can tell you a lot about the state of your hormones.
Let’s go over which each stubborn fat deposit can mean:
Lower Abdomen Fat
Stubborn belly fat held in the lower abdomen — most common site — can mean a few things:
You can take supplements such as Ashwagandha, L-Theanine, and Magnesium to help you combat high stress.
Insulin resistance can be approached with low-carb and diet models based around fasting.
Fat loss is the best way to combat low testosterone levels.
Man Boobs
Stubborn fat deposits in the nipple area or the dreaded man boobs are commonly found in men who tend to like the odd beer or 10.
- High Estrogen Levels
More often than not, the development of gynaecomastia or fat deposits in the chest are a result of high estrogen for a variety of reasons, including high aromatization (process by which testosterone is converted to estrogen), xenoestrogen/phytoestrogen consumption, and excessive fat deposits.
Love Handles
Love handles are one of my personal stubborn fat deposits. To be honest, before I addressed my unhealthy lifestyle, I had large fat deposits in all of the stubborn areas — meaning that my endocrine system was in a dreadful state.
However, love handles tend to be a symptom of:
- insulin resistance
- low testosterone
- high estrogen
- high cortisol
Sometimes, stressful environments can’t be avoided, but addressing all other areas of your health should be a priority.
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Spot Reduction Conclusion
The only spot reduction that is possible without invasive surgical procedures is to lose as much fat as possible.
As a formerly obese person, I would still have stubborn pockets of fat on my lower abdomen and love handles despite having visible abs.
Lose as much fat as possible without interventions before choosing to opt for a medical route.
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