Which part of the body slims first and where is fat initially lost? This is a question that many people ask themselves when they want to lose weight, because often the intention is to lose weight in specific areas of the body, while others we would prefer to leave them as they are. For example, a woman would like to lose her belly but not her breasts. Or reduce your hips, but don’t lose weight on your face.

Well, first of all there are four variables that we can use as clues to understand where we will lose weight first.

WHICH PART OF THE BODY LOSS FIRST?
DEPENDS ON 4 FACTORS

• The first variable is genetic.

  We know that genes together with our hormonal profile determine the distribution of body fat in a certain way, which therefore varies from person to person, although we can talk about body categories or phenotypes that we roughly fall into. This makes us understand that, for example, if a parent or brother or sister of ours with body characteristics similar to ours has lost weight, from their weight loss we can also understand what will happen to us.
  If my mother and I have the same build and tendency to accumulate fat in some places, from how my mother lost weight I will understand where I will lose weight initially.

• The second variable in understanding where fat is initially lost is gender.

  It has been seen that men and women shed body fat initially in different areas. Men tend to lose weight on their torso and then their upper abdomen, arms and legs. In fact, when men gain weight they tend to gain more weight in the trunk area, but when they lose it, they lose it more easily than women in that area.

Women first lose more weight on their face, arms and lower legs, from mid-thigh down, and then tend to have the problem of “emptying” breasts. The last place women lose weight is around the hips and lower abdomen, it is thought for evolutionary reasons if they are fertile.
Unlike men, women who gain weight there will also lose it with greater effort for the same reasons.
If, on the other hand, they are in menopause, they will tend to lose less weight especially around the abdomen, which is also the area where they accumulate the most.

So there is a discrepancy between how men and women lose weight.
Men are more likely to lose fat where they accumulated it before.
Women less, because biologically that fat from below the navel to the hips plays an important role in procreation.

• The third variable is that of physical activity.

  A person who exercises is more likely to have more even fat loss, but more focused on the upper body. A woman of childbearing age who exercises will tend to lose less weight on her legs and more weight on her arms and abdomen. 

In short, if we want to lose weight throughout the body, doing physical activity allows us to shape ourselves, avoiding looking too thin in some places and less in others.

• Finally: the fourth variable depends on the type of fat we have accumulated.

  To understand this, let’s imagine that there is a type of fat that is more dangerous to health, which is concentrated around organs such as the liver and pancreas, and is therefore called visceral fat. Then there are two types of subcutaneous fat, one deeper and one more superficial. Those with more visceral fat will tend to lose it sooner. This typically happens in men, who tend to accumulate more visceral fat than under the skin.

  Another reason why weight loss is often more evident in them. On the contrary, subcutaneous fat is more resistant to weight loss: so much so that some people call it stubborn fat. That’s hard for both genders to miss. While diet is enough in the case of visceral fat, physical activity is essential in the case of subcutaneous fat.