Whenever someone asks me about belly-fat and "those last few pounds", and how to lose them, it ALWAYS reminds me of a conversation I had years ago. Me and a group of friends were sitting on an outdoor deck after a Summer rain. Someone asked, "Franny, why are those last few pounds of belly fat, so stubborn. I seem to be losing weight everywhere except around my waist - Why?”
I said, look out over the deck, it has just stopped raining, and the ground is now WET, and as you can see, WATER has pooled to form PUDDLES of all sizes. Also, notice the POND across the street...it has swelled to accommodate the newly deposited rain-WATER. Eventually, the SUN will appear and ALL the WATER will begin to evaporate. Our BODY-FAT is a lot like the rain water; hear me out...
The important thing to understand is that after a soaking rain storm, and as the sun appears, all the rain water will immediately begin to evaporate - at the SAME rate. However, to the naked-eye, it doesn’t seem that way because although the ground dries very quickly, it may take until mid-day for the SMALLER PUDDLES to dry-up and be gone. The LARGER PUDDLES are shrinking too, yet it may actually take a full day or two for them to be dried-up and gone. Lastly, the POND across the street won't change much at all after only one day of sunshine"...but, I assure you, it's shrinking too.
Again, our own "Body-fat" is a lot like the WET streets, the PUDDLES, and the POND. Much like the thin layer of water that covers the landscape, we all have a thin layer of fat accumulated underneath our skin over most of our bodies. It’s called “Subcutaneous-Fat” (which simply means "under the skin"). We also store body-fat in larger quantities all around the body - kind of like PUDDLES. Doctors call this “Depot Fat”. For women, FAT tends to gather in the biggest amounts on their hips, butt, and thighs. For men, it tends to gather on around their middle and lower back. These areas are our body's "Pond". The classic "Pond" on men of course, is what they jokingly refer to as their "beer belly". For women, their Pond is usually their butt or thighs.
As we lose fat from exercise or reduced-calorie eating, the fat-loss in our body is like the evaporating water in the pond. Unfortunately, although the water is evaporating, it’s not until the shore-line recedes, that we notice a water-level drop. Make sense?
Male Bodybuilders can relate to this concept from their own experiences with contest-dieting. Their Abs are the last area of their body to experience total leanness. This is because they begin their fat-loss diets with the most amount of fat (usually) around their middle. Conversely, Female Bodybuilders would agree that it’s usually their butt and upper-thighs that are the last to experience razor-sharp leanness.
Therefore, if you are exercising and eating to lose fat, but seeing results only in some areas of your body and not others - DO NOT GET DISCOURAGED. Your belly-fat (or butt-fat) is NOT being stubborn at all. It’s losing fat as fast as the rest of your body. It just seems like a slow poke because it’s a “Pond”, not a “wet street”, or “puddle”. Our bodies burn fat like the sun evaporates water on the town, a little at a time, but, ALL at the same time. Make sense?
The last important thing to remember regarding your efforts to shed that belly-fat is that performing extra abs exercises WILL NOT help. Remember, you can NOT spot reduce body-fat around your waist by exercising that area - that myth died long ago."
Please share this with your friends, this explanation will help them keep their sanity during their own efforts to rid themselves of "those last few pounds".