I’ve been dieting, and slowly but surely the flab is coming off. Except on my face for some reason. Are there any exercise I can do to encourage my double chin to go away?
Spot reduction is a myth. There’s nothing you can do to lose fat in specific areas. Just keep up the good work and it’ll go eventually.
I can tell pretty easily if my husband is gaining or losing weight by monitoring his chin(s). If he gains weight, it shows up there. If he loses weight, the extra chin is gone, without him devoting any particular effort to it. You can’t try to lose weight in a particular area, as AClockworkMelon said.
Right. Exercising just strengthens the muscles nearby, leaving the layer of fat on top. So unless you want a football player neck, I’d just stick with the overall plan.
There is one exercise that will reduce your double chin; place both hands on the dinner table, and push. Repeat whenever your plate is half empty.
Oh. Poop. I’d assumed that I was losing on my stomach, butt and legs due to exercise.
So, do you know why it is that the fat that came last (double chin) isn’t the first to go?
If we knew the answer to that, I suspect we’d have a far greater understanding of life, the universe and everything than we do now. But seriously, I’m not sure if anyone really knows why the body sends fat to be stored in specific areas. I’m sure someone will come along to prove me wrong, but I think in men fat tends to go to the stomach first while in women it goes to the butt first. Of course none of that has anything to do with your chins. But you say that you’re noticing results. That’s good, it means you’re doing something right. Just keep it up and eventually you will be left with one chin.
Edit: Also, diets don’t really work in the longterm. I mean, it’s great to eat healthier and say “no” to food when you’re not hungry. But the real key to weight loss is exercise. I was heavier in my teens than I am now. I still eat like a pig but I’m far more active and it shows. I wish you luck.
It’s really rather funny that we missed this article, posting on these forums. But I’m new here; I’m sure it happens all the time.
:smack:
I’d disagree with that. Diets don’t really work long term because they’re seen by the dieter as something you do until you’ve lost weight, then they resume their old eating habits and get fat again. Exercise also isn’t that great because you need to do a lot of exercise to burn off the calories. The real key to losing weight and keeping it off is to make a complete lifestyle change that involves both more exercise and better eating habits. Not a “diet” but a change in your long term eating habits.
Someone else has made the point on these boards, and I agree with it, the best thing about exercise in terms of losing weight is that you are not eating while you do it. When I go for a 30k bike ride it is generally instead of sitting in front of a computer snacking.
Losing weight isn’t a result of exercise (you can easily eat more than you can exercise away) but of changes in your eating habits. If exercise helps you change your eating habits (and it does for me) then including exercise in your life is critical to weight loss.
But don’t think that exercise alone is going to keep you thin. Food in your mouth is the major component of weight loss and gain. Knowing what helps you take control of your food is critical. For many of us, that includes exercise.
I’ve tried eating while on my bike. It went okay until the coffee.
You are a little off in your assumptions - here’s the bottom line:
Calories in < calories burned = lose weight
Exercise increases calories burned, so, if calories in remains constant and one increases exercise then one loses weight.
By the same token, if someone does not exercise but reduces calories in below their (even sedentary) calories burned then one loses weight.
On the other side of that same token, if someone increases exercise but also increases calories in above the amount of calories burned then one does NOT lose weight.
Simple arithmetic.
Right, but do dieters just want to “lose weight”, or do they want to lose fat? Weight loss can include muscle or water loss, but that’s not exactly the goal.
Further, because exercise increases muscle mass, it increases the calories burned part of the equation. If you diet without exercising at all, your body will also burn off muscle as well as fat, thus reducing the calories burned part of the equation. Of course, being fit and having good muscle tone also makes it easy to exercise more and burn more calories.
I don’t think AClockworkMelon meant that exercise somehow lets you eat whatever you want no matter what. Exercise is important not just for the number of calories burned in a workout (which often seems like not all that much, given the effort) but the long-term effects of routine working out on metabolism and general health.
The real key is that if you do something to lose weight (whatever it is, diet, exercise, or both), and it works, if you then stop doing it, the weight will come back. If you want to keep weight off for an extended time, or for your entire life, then you need to change your lifestyle for an extended time, or for your entire life.
I’d just be happy with losing my third and fourth chins, let alone the double.
I read once that the order of fat burn goes from importance of body parts.
Limbs first
Torso second
Head last
So basically you’ll notice fat/weight loss on the limbs first, then the body will eventually lose the fat, and finally the head.
Right. I didn’t mean that you can eat whatever you want or that diets don’t have a use. I meant that exercise, by far, should be the focus of any weight-loss regimen.
No, it really shouldn’t. You will get more results, and more sustainable results, by dealing with diet first, and exercise second. Diet has a much bigger impact on weight loss than exercise.
:: air-popping some popcorn, spritzing lightly with olive oil, pulling up a chair ::
- eats a handful of popcorn *
:: goes muttering off to find some REAL butter, dammit, comes back to watch this one continue ::