If You Clicked On Any Specific Area For Fat Loss You Must Read This Page First. Otherwise You Will Not Fully Understand The Specific Area Of Fat Loss You Want To Learn About!
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FAT REMOVAL IN GENERAL
"The Way It 'Really' Works"
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It is a 'must' to understand this page about 'fat removal in general' before even beginning to tackle fat removal at specific parts of the body!
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-----The misunderstanding about fat removal that exists in peoples' minds almost everywhere boggles the mind. And why? Because an understanding as to how fat is removed from the body is so basic that even a child could understand it.
-----It's a shame, because most people desperately try to remove fat...and quite uniformly they are pretty much all doing it the wrong way, even people who think they know how to do it, even people who understand some of what I am about to tell you.
-----I shake my head pitifully in frustration, because the basics of how to go about removing fat are so simple...
-----...Yet, why are billions of dollars and inordinate amounts of peoples' time routinely spent on an inordinate amount of oftentimes monetarily motivated quick fixes and gimmicks which are routinely being promoted throughout society. Such nonsense 'programs' or pills or pieces of equipment or exercise routines or otherwise could not possibly effectively work because they are based on unfounded ideas totally alien to the basic and well documented physiological principles upon which the body works.
-----Oftentimes such 'dishonest' and 'fraudulent' promotions are motivated by virtue of greedy people, or otherwise well intentioned people, who simply know no better and are evidently ignorant as to how the body really works.
-----For example, on the more honest but ignorant side of it all, just think of the person with a fat belly who decides to do sit-ups, let's say five to six times a week, and for who knows how long and how many times--numbering sometimes in the hundreds of sit-ups--desperately trying to get rid of the fat. I cannot tell you how often I see this occurrence in gyms, with even personal fitness trainers instructing their clients to do so, while they, as trainers, should know better.
-----...Plainly put, sit-ups to get rid of localized abdominal fat simply does not work. And why? Because it violates a well established principle as to how the body physiology works when it comes to the addition or removal of fat to the body. This brings me to the very important basic understanding which I have been leading to and which I will now explain...
Localized exercise does not get rid of localized fat!
-----...And why is this so? Simple. Because via our inherited genes--which have been genetically handed down to us over millions upon millions of years--fat is added to and lost from the body in a certain pre-determined order. This is true for just about all people, although there are exceptions. If you inherited arms and legs...which I assume you did...and a head and torso, and if you call yourself a human being...which I assume you do if you're able to be reading this...well then, this is the way it's going to be! And there's no getting around millions upon millions of years of genetic inheritance:
-----Genes are very powerful and intended to work hand in hand along with the influences of the environment. But try to 'cross' your genes and get around them...and you're likely to lose every time!
-----...And it's no different when it comes to the addition or removal of fat to the body.
-----The way it works, let's say , hypothetically and for purposes of discussion only, a very, very thin person--skinny legs, skinny arms, skinny torso, thinned out face--begins to stuff his or her mouth with food, and over time progressively puts on weight, which would almost totally be in the form of fat (assuming there is no weight training at the same time).
-----With this scenario, you would note that at the beginning of the weight gain the first fat to be put on would be located at the mid-section of the body. Specifically, for the majority of men, that would mean the 'belly' and 'love handles'...and for most women the fat would first go onto the 'hips,' 'butt' and/or the 'upper thighs.'
-----There are variations to all this however. I see a number of women who , like men, put the 'first fat' on the belly instead of the hips, butt and/or thighs. But with almost all people, men and women alike, you can safely say that the 'first fat' usually goes onto the mid-section of the body--belly, hips, butt and/or thighs.
-----As more weight, and in turn, as more fat is added to the body...and although it is always continuing to be added primarily to the mid-section of the body as noted above...an increasing percentage of fat begins to accumulate on the upper torso--the chest in particular--and then upon the neck and face.
-----Now remember, by the same token--and this is important--at the beginning of this 'first fat' accumulation the fat doesn't all just simply go to the mid-section of the body and nowhere else. And when it's done accumulating on the mid-section, it doesn't just suddenly stop accumulating there, and then next, go on to the chest.
-----...The fact is, fat accumulation is always being placed upon all parts of the body, and not in toto to just one part first, only next, when it's finished accumulating there, to continue accumulating in toto somewhere else.
-----What I'm saying here is that fat accumulation takes its turn accumulating more so in one area than another, and that as the fat progressively continues to accumulate, those specific areas of 'primary fat accumulation' keep shifting, again, from one area to another, and the shifting from one area to another does so according to a genetically predetermined order.
-----...Like I said, the first area wherein the fat primarily accumulates is that of the mid-section, only to shift its area of emphasis secondly to the upper torso, and then thirdly, to go on to accumulate primarily within both the upper and lower extremeties.
-----...In other words there is a definite genetically predetermined 'order' to the location and rate of accumulation of body fat!
-----But then again remember, while the fat eventually does begin to accumulate primarily more so on the arms and legs, it is nevertheless still continuing to accumulate in the mid-section and upper torso, although in proportionally lesser amounts than it did so previously.
-----The fact is, as fat continues to accumulate on the body after it's finally come to take its toll on the arms and legs, the whole body becomes quite obese, and it appears to blow up uniformly all over, almost like the inflating of a balloon! This then is the really obese person who might be over 250 or 300 pounds. Their torso is huge, their face is usually puffed up like the balloon, and their extremeties are usually undulating with gads of fat.
-----Before my transformation at the age of 48 I was close to the 250 pounds, and I looked pretty much like I described above as you can see from my 'before' photo to the left.
-----All the above having been said, I would now add that...
-----...the order of fat accumulation doesn't necessarily work exactly the same for everybody, but it does so generally.
-----For example, you might have someone who first develops the usual fat accumulation within the mid-section, but then, upon the addition of more fat to the body, the fat might secondarily accumulate proportionately more so on the face than it does so on the upper torso, on the chest.
-----...But mind you, even those people who do vary from the average when it comes to the order of fat accumulation...they will still have a 'set' or definite order of fat accumulation that is genetically predetermined. Specifically, they would have their 'own' genetically predetermined order, but it would still be a 'set' order, 'genetically set' specifically for them.
-----Through mere observation, you can see numerous examples of people in different stages of fat accumulation practically everywhere...
-----...such as the very thin, middle-aged man with his belly ballooning out, almost like an early pregnancy.
-----...or the person wherein his or her entire torso is totally fat, yet with both arms and legs still thin. As a matter of fact, if such a person were to put his or her arms through a cut-out in a wall, an observor on the other side of the wall might think the arms to be those of a thin individual.
-----Okay, So What About The Reverse Process? When Fat Is Lost From The Body, Is It Lost In A Certain Order?
-----As you might already have guessed, the order for fat loss is genetically predetermined to be just the opposite as is the order for fat accumulation.
-----Take for example the very obese 300 to 400 pound person, with fat all over the body, as described above. Proportionally, the greater percentage of fat will first be seen to be lost from the extremeties, both the arms and the legs, with proportionally less fat being lost from the torso--the face, the neck, the chest, the abdomen, the butt and the thighs.
-----However, as fat continues to be lost from the body, the extremeties becoming thinner and thinner, the emphasis for fat loss by then will have begun to be turned toward the face and neck, and the chest areas. But as those areas in turn continue to lose fat--while the arms and legs are also still continuing to lose fat--once again it will reqadily be seen that a proportionally greater amount of fat than previously lost will have begun to be removed from the mid-section of the body (generally speaking, in the man more so from the belly and in the woman more so from the hips and thighs...like it or not that's just the way it works!)
-----...In other words, with regard to the mid-section, on the average, the belly fat, for example, will have begun to be lost more so than previously. On the other hand, however, I would say that experience has taught me that this order for fat loss is not necessarily always so strict. After all, via my experience over the years in working with people who are very obese or even relatively overweight, I have found that one of the first things they tell me--both men and women alike-- as they make their first headway into the program is: "Hey, doc what do ya know...my pants have suddenly become much looser!"
-----So, the order for fat loss is not always so strict. But then again, people do not usually wear tight pants around their forearms nor around the circumference of their chest. If such were the case, and they'd worn some such type of tight bands around their forearms or chest, they'd likely have said, "Hey doc, the bands around my forearms and chest...they became looser before the belt around my waist"!-----
-----...So, fact is, whether or not right from the beginning, fat is removed from the abdomen, or from the butt or thighs-- and even though this usually has more so to do with the fact that most people are usually more aware of fat loss from the belly than from the extremeties and upper torso in general...and even though it seems to have to do more so with the fact that 'belly fat,' or loss of it, is often what seems to get peoples' attention first...the fact is, whatever the case may be, the order for fat loss specifically designed for them will have been genetically set...and there is no getting around that!
-----So, even though there's no getting around the specificity of the order of fat loss for any given individual, there are nevertheless certain variations in the order of fat loss from person to person. For example, I've found some people who seem to gain weight more or less evenly throughout the entire torso, whether one considers the chest and upper torso or the mid-section...and they lose fat the same way, uniformly.
-----...Again, scenarios like this are the variations of only certain people, not the majority. But variations or not, their fat loss is still genetically predetermined for them. They will always gain and lose fat pretty much the same way.
---- On the other hand, I would add that 'aging' has its own effects on these matters. Fact is, I have noticed the general tendency that as people age, the order for fat loss and accumulation is more likely seen to change from the norms. There are specific reasons for these 'aging' variations, one such important reason having to do with the changing 'nature' of fat as one ages.
-----...Not wanting to complicate matters at this time, have patience, I will get to the reasoning behind variations like these elsewhere in this web site, most assuredly (variations which I've personally discovered and theorized about, but only after many years of observation). After all, at this point I do not want to suggest that the basic and simple principles we have been discussing (as to the general order of fat accumulation and removal) are more complicated than they really are. Suffice it to say, as I said above, there are variations from the norm, and for the time being we'll just have leave it at that.
-----If you're serious about changing, you'll continue reading various other portions of this web site,and you'll find many of the answers you're looking for, but they will not be 'quick fixes.' Too much too soon will not be understood, and the information will be worthless. I will not allow that to happen. If you cannot understand what I am saying, my web site is not for you.
-----I'm only interested in people who will take these things that I am saying seriously, and who want to be successful. The others, hopefully they'll be weeded out...for there's no sense boggling their minds with information that will be useless to them by virtue of how they think and what they value.
-----Remember, thinking properly and taking these ideas seriously and valuing them and understanding them are all part of what it takes to succeed, and without which thought process, no matter the information on this web site, it will not help such people, not the way I'm talking about.
-----If you understand what I've said, you'll understand the broad concept of what I mean. I need say no more on this matter.
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-----Getting back to the main point I've been making, I'll summarize by saying:
There is a genetically predetermined order for the accumulation and removal of fat for a particular person--and for the majority of persons, whether they be male or female, that order is often found to be quite similar from one person to another, but with variations.
-----I might note here, because it is commonplace to hear complaints about refractory areas of fat loss, that when it comes to the upper extremeties--much more so in women than in men--the fact is, even after most of the fat has been removed from the upper extremeties, a very stubborn or refractory area for fat removal is that of the upper posterior aspect of the upper extremeties--the back of the upper arms!
-----...The way it works, as people become fatter, and especially as they become older, there is a decided tendancy for this area of fat to wrinkle with age and in general, to hang loosely. Sometimes with younger woman the fat is 'firmer' and it doesn't 'hang' so much (via the effects of gravity), but the excess, refractory area of fat located within the back part of the upper arms is nevertheless still seen to remain. [For more on this see the section about 'The Firness and Looseness Of Fat.']
-----Additionally, other refractory areas of fat loss often occur within the area of the upper thighs of women, and this despite their legs having even become thinner. And furthermore, some women the lower legs and ankles are seen to be their specific areasn refractory to fat (a circumstance which, once again, is a genetically predetermined variation specific, especially to certain women).
-----...Perhaps you might have seen women built like this:
-------fatty butt with or without fatty upper thighs right on down to the ankles and secondary to the refractory nature of fat loss in these areas despite their continuing loss of overall body fat (and weight). From waist up these woman often appear to be very thin... and sometimes, with continued weight loss, they might even appear to be too thin, and quite frail, and all this even as their legs continue to remain fat! As noted above, this is once again none other than another example of a variation from the majority as to the genetically predetermined order for fat loss. [That something can be done about offsetting this variation would shock most women who have just about given up being able to do anything about it. That's the good part, but then again, I didn't say it would be easy to do.]
-----I might add that with men, disturbingly refractory areas for fat loss appear to be the belly, and to lesser degree, the 'love handles.' Some men, no matter how 'thin' they appear to become...they still have their pot belly and love handles! But, as you'll see, I've found there are ways of getting around this, not necessarily easy to do mind you (remember, no quick fixes here), but nevertheless, at least these methods I've learned can work, as they have done so for me when I made my 'Total Body Transformation' at the age of 48.
At any rate, by this time you should have gotten the idea. Fat is clearly accumulated and lost in a given genetically pre-determined order as per each individual, and there is simply no getting around this.
Everyday Practicalities As To The 'Specificity' For Fat Loss For Any Given Individual
-----And now for a most significant point, now that you understand what I mean by there being an 'order' for fat loss...and that is:
-----...No matter how you go about losing weight, losing fat, by whatever means, whether from exercise or whatever form of exercise you use, or from dieting or whatever diet you are on, or from whatever diet pills or otherwise you might have tried...the fat will still be lost in that same genetically predetermined order which is specific for you.
-----So, what does this mean? Simple. It means, let's say, if you are an overweight women at the point (as described above) wherein your upper and lower torso are fat, but your extremeties are not, in order for you to lose a significant amount of fat on your butt or thighs, you are first going to have to lose fat from your upper torso and face!
-----And if you are a man in a similar situation as described above with an overall fatty torso--fat pot belly and chest, neck and face--but all you simply want to do is to get rid of your pot belly, you are still first going to have to remove the fat from your upper body, neck and face before you can even think of significantly making a dent in your pot belly.
-----Like it or not, this is the way it works. And there is no getting around the underlying genetics!
'Truth' And The Immutable Principles for Fat Loss
-----Perhaps you don't like these immutable principles. Well, all I can is "...Be my guest. Continue along the paths you've taken or which you are currently on, with quick fixes and all kinds of 'programs' based on fallacious premises and which don't work...and in so doing enjoy the simplicities of your methods, but remember, along with them be prepared to get used to your continued failures!"
-----On the other hand with 'truth,' as I've presented it and will continue to do so as sincerely as I can, at least you stand a chance of succeeding. Actually, with a good understanding of what I am presenting, it's more than just a chance. It's a good likelihood you will make some good progress.
-----...And don't forget, it's not as if I haven't told you up front, 'truth' sometimes appears to be more difficult than the 'quick fix' or unfounded program or whatnot, but in the long run 'quick fixes' and unfounded programs do not work...while 'truth' can and does eventually work, as long as you understand and follow the guiding principles.
-----After all, would you rather not know the truth about what you're doing from day to day in the gym or dieting or whatever and spend your life 'spinning your wheels,' endlessly and frustratingly trying to lose weight in certain areas and never, for your entire life, never being able to do so?
-----...Or would you rather learn the 'truth' as best it can be presented and figured out, how it all really works, how it has been scientifically figured out or logically reasoned out to work, so that even if it seems at first sight more difficult than you had anticipated, like I said, at least it's got a chance of working!
-----Remember, your gullibility and desire to get what you naively think are fast, guaranteed results is a perfect target for the unscrupulous who would rather tell you what you want to hear and take your money...rather than really try to help you.
-----At this point I would point out, take note of 'The Whole Is Greater Than The Sum Of Its Parts.' If you haven't read this topic yet, read it now. And if you have read it, carefully think about what it means and assimilate it into what I've been saying here about the principles of fat accumulation and fat loss. The fact is, they tie in together.
-----...After all, all this business about fat loss...it clearly has a great deal to do with the entire body working together as a unit. Just review what I've said above.
-----The processes resulting in changes in the accumulation and loss of fat are not specific to only certain 'parts' of the body, and not others.
-----...These processes 'interrelate' the accumulation and loss of fat throughout the entire body as a unit, as a 'whole.'
-----...Once this is understood along with all the other interrelated ideas I am and will be and have been presenting, being able to lose fat should become a much simpler matter than you might have otherwise thought, and a definite possibility to do so...and a circumstance wherein the fat should remain off one's body as long as the proper lifestyle principles continue to be followed!
Localized Exercise Does Not Get Rid Of Localized Fat! So What Can Be Done About It?
-----So, getting back now--as I discussed at the beginning of this section...getting back to the people in the gym with fat bellies and fat torsos and, let's say, with fat necks and fat faces, but who are primarily interested in getting rid of the fat on their bellies...well, as I said, I often see such people desperately trying to get rid of their fat bellies by doing seemingly endless amounts of sit-ups, while apparently getting practically nowhere. As you should now know, localized exercise like sit-ups to get rid of localized abdominal fat simply does not work!
-----No meaning to belabor a point, but for success to occur, to be successful at getting rid of the fat at any specific area of the body, whether it be the belly, upper thighs, face or neck or whatever, one would first have to know all about the principles discussed above as to the order of fat loss (and the variations from the norm) which are predetermined genetically and specifically for your body. This is the first thing you do. [Remember, this is a 'mind' thing.] Keep this thought in your mind. Never waver from it. No matter how rough the going gets. Or else, you fail.
-----And then, the next thing you do...you put this unwavering 'thought' in your mind into effect. You act on it. You are determined to act on it. There is no stopping you. You set your mind out to embark on a plan to lose fat in general, with no specific area in mind.
-----...And there are loads of such programs and methods, whether by diet to decrease fat and caloric intake, or on the other hand via exercise to burn calories and fat. And it doesn't much matter which exercises you do as long as the exercises are designed to burn the greatest amount of calories per given session, for it is the burning of calories that equates into the overall removal of fat throughout the body which, the removal of overall body fat, as we've discussed, is necessary so as to eventually be able to get to the loss of fat in the specific area or areas you're concerned about.
-----But, once again...and this is important...you do not actively concern yourself with ongoing thoughts in your mind that you're jogging or dieting or whatever to lose fat in the specific area in question. That thought...those thoughts...come later. Your first goal...the only ongoing thoughts within your mind is to lose the overall fat throughout all your body, because in the back of your mind you know this is the only way to get to those specific areas of fat you're concerned with.
-----Goal #1 is to attain an overall body fat loss. Goal #2 is the specific body part fat loss. But you cannot accomplish goal #2 without having first accomplished goal #1. Like it or not, there's no other way...but with determination and perseverance of mind--which this web site is ultimately all about--and with patience, the results are not only attainable, but rather quite mind boggling and amazing.
-----Who would think that to get rid of localized areas of fat, like on the belly, one of the most important exercises to be engaged in (along with other exercises) would be generalized calorie burning aerobic exercises (or endurance or weight training methods which, in some people, burn marked amounts of calories, sometimes even more so than aerobics, depending upon the nature of, and how, the exercises are performed).
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-----The point here is we're not talking about doing sit-ups or other forms of localized exercise to remove areas of localized fat, like on the belly!
[On the other hand, sometimes endurance or weight training burns even larger amount of calories than aerobic exercise, but that's another story to be talked about elsewhere.]
-----So, not meaning to belabor a point, but because of its marked significance and the commonplace misunderestandings in this regard, the 'key' to fat loss (and to specific areas of fat loss on the body) is to lose fat generally--overall--by whatever means practical, whether it be dieting or exercise or both, so that as the fat comes off in that genetically predetermined order specific for you, only then will you be able get to those specific areas of fat you'd like to lose.
-----However--and this is a big 'however'--there are methods and techniques I've discovered which could make fat loss in general, as well as fat loss in specific areas of the body, both easier and much more effective than otherwise.
-----...For example, there are things like 'toning' and 'building up of muscle mass' in areas of fat loss, and variations in the 'firmness' of fat, and in the nature of the skin--dry, wrinkled, hanging or not which can be affected by methods I will be discussing--all of which modalities (and more) I will also be discussing...modalities which markedly affect the appearance of your body as you age and as you become thinner and lose fat, and so on.
-----These modalities which I've been learning about--and much of which I've discovered and which are little known elsewhere in the world, if at all--can serve to help offset such things as the 'hanging' of skin and the 'hanging' or 'looseness' or lack of 'firmness' of the underlying fat, and other unaesthetic appearances that can come about as a result of fat loss and 'aging' (and with regard to fat loss, unaesthetic appearances which often depend upon the amount of fat loss and the rapidity with which the fat is lost).
-----I will be getting to these methods--to be utilized along with the principles of the overall generalized removal of fat as discussed above--so as to enhance the overall results when it comes to the desire to remove fat in specific areas.
-----...You see, repeating this again for emphasis and clirification, when it comes to specific areas of the body, it's not just the localized fat that affects one's aesthetic appearance in those and related areas, but also, and significantly so, the attainment of an acceptable aesthetic appearance at these localized areas in question, has a great deal to do with these other methods which I'll be discussing...such as:
...the 'toning' and 'firming' of the underlying muscle, and in turn
...the 'smoothing out' of the overlying skin, or
...the replacement of fat by muscle, or
...the 'firmness' or 'looseness' of fat, and so on).
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Related Topics Of Concern:
Toning, Firming, Smoothing Of Skin, Replacement of Fat By Muscle, Cellulitis
-----I would point out at this time, before going on to the sections in this web site regarding more other and more detailed aspects of discussion on specific areas for fat loss, such as those of the upper arms, or thighs, or belly, or whatever, and so as to better be able to understand what I say in each of those sections, it is important not only to understand what I've said in this current section on "Fat Removal In General - The Way It Really Works," but I would also suggest one more bit of reading without which you will not fully understand the sections on specific areas of fat loss.
-----In short, I would first go to the sections summarizing some of the methods I've referred to above and which information I've discovered and learned to utilize when trying to remove fat in specific areas. Such methods, again, as noted immediately above, entail...
- ...the addition of muscle mass to replace fat loss in given areas of the body
- ...the methods of 'toning' and 'firming' given areas or parts of the body, what 'toning' and 'firming' really are and how do you go about doing them at whatever specific areas of the body you're concerned with in terms of losing fat, making the area look better, more pleasing, more aesthetic, etc. ['Toning' and 'firming' are terms commonly abused and misused, and which definitions I will clarify and set straight, including the often misunderstood term 'cellulitis.']
- ...the methods dealing with the 'firmness' or 'looseness' of fat, all which changes and are affected by 'aging' and how we age, by how and how rapidly we lose fat and from what areas we lose fat, by what we eat, by how we exercise and by which exercises do we do, and by how we think and feel
- ...and the 'smoothing out' and improving the appearance of the overlying skin in any given areas of the body with which one might be concerned
-----In closing this section, I once again come back to the persons commonly seen in gyms trying to lose fat from the abdomen and who is desperately doing hundreds and even thousands of sit-ups, naively thinking this is the proper way to do so, to lose their abdominal fat. In fact, what are they 'really' accomplishing since these methods do not result in any significant loss of abdominal fat?
...Actually, as noted in the section on "The Whole Is Greater Than The Sum Of Its Parts," they are doing many things, one of which is developing stronger abdominal muscles, but those stronger muscles are underneath the fat which still remains, unless other methods for fat loss are utilized such as dieting and various exercises, and so on...for example, and as pointed out above, by some type of exercise which burns many calaories.
-----So remember, and repeat to yourself over and over again until you feel it within every fiber of your existence:
-----...When it comes to exercise as one of your methods to lose overall body fat (so as to most effectively get to those specific areas of fat loss you're most concerned about)...the bottom line, it's the burning of calories that counts, whatever exercise you happen to choose, for it is the buring of these calories that ultimately results in the fat loss you want!
-----So, generally speaking, to lose abdominal fat, if you were to pick one (of many) exercises to do to be most effective, would you do sit-ups? At this point you would say, of course not. We already discussed that.
-----...So what exercise or type of exercise would be good to choose? Depending upon the person, it would be an exercise that burns the most calories. For one person it might be weight training, or endurance training for another. But for the average person it would be some type of aerobic exercise wherein the large muscles of the legs are being used, since usage of the large muscles of the body generally burns the most calories, such as jogging on a treadmill, climbing stairs on a stairmaster, or walking or whatever.
-----...There is a large selection of aerobic exercises to choose from. What is best for you depends upon your own body physiology and underlying status of health and disease and upon what you are trying to accomplish. All of this will be discussed throughout this web site as you continue reading.
