Why Haven’t I Seen Results From Working Out And Eating Right?

Nature is many things—beautiful, wondrous, and miraculous—but it isn’t always fair. Though a mountain of literature extolling the aesthetic benefits of eating “clean” and exercising religiously exists, it’s often far from accurate. Certainly, eating well and working out is important; it can help you maintain a healthy weight, keep your skin looking younger and healthier, and ward off a number of illnesses. What it can’t do, however, is reliably create the “perfect” body… Not unless you go to time-consuming and sometimes unhealthy extremes, at any rate.

If you’ve been eating right and exercising for months now and you’re still not the proud owner of a perfectly flat, toned stomach, we invite you to set your burden of self-reproach aside: It’s not your fault. You have, in all probability, been sold more than a few falsehoods about the power of “healthy living” to sculpt the human body. You probably believe you can “blast away belly fat” with “five easy exercises” or “superfoods.” Alas, while catch phrases like these make for great buzzy headlines, they disguise a far more mundane reality: It’s actually impossible to spot-reduce fat.

 Why Is It Impossible To Completely Banish Belly Fat With Diet And Exercise?

When you expend energy via exercise, your body burns fat stores from around your entire body, not specifically from the region you think you’re “targeting.” In practice, what this means is that the fat your body is burning when you do those 200 crunches may actually be sourced primarily from your legs, arms, or chest, leaving an island of belly fat securely in place.

Where fat is stored depends on your particular metabolism, hormones, and genetic makeup: Some people are genetically programmed to store their “emergency fat” around their midsections and therefore retain a small spare tire and love handles even when they’re otherwise slim. (This adaptation was actually advantageous thousands of years ago: Shorter limbs and thicker trunks create better heat retention, which was essential during the Ice Age.) Similarly, some people are programmed to store fat in their thighs and buttocks.

In practical terms, you therefore cannot change your bodily composition via diet and exercise alone. You can achieve a healthy weight, but you cannot get rid of your lingering fat stores unless you take up extreme dieting—which is, for a whole host of health reasons, not recommended. The only solution to stubborn belly fat that won’t harm your body is, to put it plainly, cosmetic surgery. Don’t let that phrase intimidate you, however; if you’re not keen on the idea of liposuction, there are a range of non-invasive procedures available today that permanently destroy belly fat, such as CoolSculpting. CoolSculpting uses highly specialized technology to literally freeze fat cells below the skin, causing them to become damaged and be excreted by the body. It’s quick, easy, and often painless.

If you’re curious to find out more, why not book a consultation with us? We’ll be happy to guide you through choosing an affordable non-surgical solution to banish the belly fat that diet and exercise never will. Please contact us at Dreyfuss Plastic Surgery for a consultation today.