When it comes to losing weight, not all body fat is created equal. Some problem areas might require more work than others, and you should set your expectations straight from the very beginning of your transformation journey.
Thinking that all fat tissue burns equally fast can lead to frustration and unnecessarily demanding routines. Instead, you’d want to approach each problem strategically and understand what it takes to lose weight effectively in certain body parts.
The most common problem areas
While being overweight is hard, having to deal with certain types of obesity can be even more frustrating. Abdominal fat for example, can pile up even on skinny people, and the same goes for chest fat, thighs fat and similar problem areas.
Belly fat
The most dangerous type of fat though, is visceral fat from the midsection.
But let’s backtrack for some context.
Having a large tummy is possible even without being necessarily overweight. There are certain genetic indicators, and body types that accumulate more fat around the abdomen than others, so it is entirely possible to have a beer belly and be otherwise skinny overall.
The fat around the abdomen is especially troublesome. It is divided between subcutaneous fat and visceral fat. And while subcutaneous can be seen and pinched, visceral surrounds the organs and is many times more dangerous.
Both of these tend to burn at a different rate.
We have compiled the most comprehensive guide on how to lose belly fat, but in order to set your expectations right here is a realistic forecast.
If you change certain nutritional habits and get enough rest, expect to lose abdominal fat slowly over the course of months. Adding exercise into the mix though, this process gets multiple times faster.
Expect to be losing few pounds per week (depending on your weight), and dropping 1-2 inches off your waist by combining regular exercise (3 times per week), high protein and high fiber diet, and adequate rest.
Working with resistance exercises as well as anaerobic ones will reduce the likelihood of relapsing some of that weight back over the following months.
Fat around the thighs
While fat around your thighs cannot lead to serious health conditions as belly fat can, it is still inconvenient and hard to get rid of.
The good news though, is that you can target this stubborn tissue more effectively than trying to target the abdominal area. You will still have to lose weight overall, but it’s far easier to sport reduce some of the fat accumulated around your legs.
The thighs have one of the largest muscle groups in your entire body, so you will have to consider doing some types of resistance moves to activate this area.
Squat variations can significantly reduce stubborn thigh fat, especially when combined with anaerobic exercises and intense cardio.
All things considered, this accumulated fat can burn at a much faster rate when compared with abdominal fat. You can completely reduce unwanted thigh fat tissue within less than a month.
Chest fat
Many men struggle with chest fat due to a variety of reasons. Sedentary lifestyle is considered to be the number one of those, but hormonal imbalance is often the reason as well.
Chest fat, though not as dangerous as belly fat, can still cause complications. If the fat tissue grows multiple times its size, and does so rather fast, the risk of breast cancer increases.
Men though, struggle with the aesthetic side of this. Nobody wants chest fat and man boobs, but spot reducing this specific area is very hard even for those who exercise often.
So instead of doing push-ups day in and day out, or looking for resistance workouts you can do at the gym, try tackling the hormonal issue first.
The excess fat around your chest is most likely there due to a slight decrease in testosterone. So if you reverse the process and increase your testosterone levels, your workout efforts will count even more.
The best combo to attack this area and burn more fat, is to drop some weight overall, strengthen your chest muscles with some compound resistance exercises, and change your diet in order to increase your testosterone.
The chest fat will disappear much faster than, say, belly fat, but you will still have some hard stubborn tissue left around the nipple. This will slowly reduce in size as well, mostly due to re-balancing the hormones.
Expect to have flat chest within one month of starting to work out and eating healthy.
General weight loss
All things considered, it’s much easier to lose weight overall than to spot reduce a specific body part. So if your goal is to simply drop few pounds and lose weight on the scale, good news- you will have an easier time doing so.
With enough sleep, hydration, and 5 meals throughout the day, you will instantly notice a difference.
Replacing refined foods with whole grain, lean meat and fruits and vegetables will allow you to drop 2 pounds even within the first week.
If you add anaerobic exercise to this, in the range of 20 minutes with regular intensity at the rate of two times per week, you will see another 1-2 pounds of weight loss.
Certain foods will definitely help you with this process and more intense exercise can amp the progress by making you lose up to 10 pounds even within the first week.
But the best course of action would be to go slow and approach this with one step at a time.
Try changing your diet habits first, and then simply do a series of stretching exercises the first week. Doing so, you will minimize the risk of injury and stop your body from accumulating extra weight. For starters, that’s all that matters.
Then, by the second week, you ca add certain foods within your menu, and increase the number of workout days within the week. By this time you will start losing belly fat, some of the thigh fat and your chest will look more defined.
The real progress happens with consistency and patience, and you can significantly transform your body in less than a month.