Stored Fat

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9/5/11 1:45 P

I have noticed that my ring was a little looser on my hand than it used to be, my chest seems to be shrinking a tiny bit, and my calves are starting to look really rockin', but my belly is still as jiggly as ever, and my hips aren't looking so great yet either. I'm thinking of adding more core exercises to my program to try to target my mid-section. We'll see how that goes.

Posts: 11,189
9/5/11 11:20 A

It figures out what part bothers you the most and makes sure that part stays fat.



Seriously, though, there's some connection to the more crucial body functions. Women tend to collect fat in the hips and thighs because that's the easiest area for the body to access during pregnancy. Evolutionarily, it's vital to have fat where you need it to keep the reproductive system running and nourish a fetus. That's part of the reason also that women tend to get more belly fat after menopause (and men always tend to carry fat in the belly rather than lower)-- if you're not going to get pregnant, you shift the fat stores to the belly where it's easier for your own body to access it to nourish you if there's a famine. The face and hands thin out first because there's no real need for much fat there. It doesn't help you survive, so your body doesn't mind letting it go.

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9/5/11 10:21 A

Generally the body seems to stick to first on, last off.

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9/5/11 9:02 A

The short answer is this: All fat cells have receptors on their outside surface that respond to different hormones to either make it easy to take in fat or easy to release fat. These receptors also tend to become more or less sensitive to the hormone as you get older, too. Typically, the fat cells in the belly (for men) and hips (in women) tend to be more sensitive to things that make them store fat than the fat cells in the face, chest and arms. Everyone is a little different in this. You can't 'spot' lose fat, but you can exercise the muscles in those trouble areas to hopefully tone things more.

I am a good example of this. My wedding ring won't even stay on my finger anymore and I have the face of a thin man, but I still have a pretty good pot belly!

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9/5/11 8:45 A

How does the body determine which fat cells it uses up first. For example, I always lose weight in my face and chest before losing in the waist and hips where I really need to lose the weight.