Can you get rid of stubborn fat and cellulite? Is it possible?

Fortunately it is and I’m going to tell you how!

First of all, what is stubborn fat and what is cellulite?

Stubborn fat is just language for body fat that comes off further along in the fat loss process as opposed to in the early stages. When we’re losing fat, we lose it from everywhere on our body’s incrementally however, it does tend to favour a relative ‘top down’ cadence meaning, we lose from our chin and cheeks first and then fat loss works its way down the body, for example…your arms are typically going to appear visually leaner before your lower abdomen or hips, butt and thighs.

Cellulite is body fat just like any other fat however, it tends to push up against the skin and therefore it has more of a specific visual appearance. It usually shows up in the hips, butt and thighs and not really anywhere else…now for some folks, if they grab or apply pressure to the fat on their stomach it can appear to be cellulitey, but usually only when said pressure is applied.

On the other hand, cellulite in the hips, butt and thigh region can appear cellulite-like without that physical pressure, it’s almost as if this region is applying pressure in and of itself.

Typical fat distribution does differ between men and women generally speaking so for example, men tend to hold more fat around their belly and women tend to hold more around their hips, butt and thighs however, there are exceptions to this rule.

Some women have super lean hips, butts and thighs and hold more body fat in their stomach just like some men hold more fat in their lower bodies, however this is quite a bit more rare than women holding in and around their tummies…it’s not very common to see a man with a lean upper body while holding a fair bit of body fat in the hips, butt and thighs.

It’s worth mentioning that there is a difference between cellulite and loose skin, they are not the same thing, for example, post weight loss sometimes the skin just doesn’t bounce back quite like you’d hope in certain individuals, especially when there is a large amount of weight loss at play.

There’s also a difference between cellulite and stretch marks, for example, I don’t have any cellulite, however I do have stretch marks on my hips/love handle area because I used to be 65 lbs heavier than I am now and it stretched my skin…it is what it is.

People who lift weights can actually also get stretch marks due to muscle gain and the skin stretching as a result. A few common areas are where the chest, shoulder and armpit meet (I’ve got a few here), the rear deltoid and lat tie in and the biceps can often have some stretch marks as well.

Stretch marks are very common in both muscle gain and weight loss and of course the more muscle one gains and/or the more fat one loses, the higher the likelihood for stretch marks.

Now these quote unquote ‘stubborn areas’ in both men and women are close to reproductive organs because the human body is friggin’ amazing and it favours body fat in areas that serve survival the most. Also, it wouldn’t be all that functional to be super lean around your hips, butt and thighs while holding 30 lbs of body fat in your forearms or shins, reason being is that these areas need to be super mobile in order for us to live our lives i.e. hunt, forage, run, walk, throw things etc. however…

We do hold some body fat basically everywhere…even in our feet, hands and fingers if we accumulate enough fat from overeating to a large enough degree, at a certain point it’s just gotta go somewhere!

Folks will often say, ‘no matter what I do, I just can’t lose the last bit of fat around my belly button’ or ‘no matter what I do, I just can’t get rid of the cellulite on my butt and thighs’ and the solution to this is super simple, somewhat sobering and it can often be difficult to implement, but totally doable…

And that solution is, to keep going, meaning…

If you’re still holding fat around your lower abdomen or your hips, butt and thighs (cellulite included) it just means that you need to continue on with your calorie deficit, which as you know is a must for fat loss, fat loss cannot occur without a calorie deficit i.e. taking in less energy than you’re using.

Everyone can get lean enough to rid their bodies of quote unquote ‘stubborn fat’ and cellulite, it’s just a matter of whether you want to implement what’s required to get that lean and by the way, I’m not saying that you should or need to get that lean, it may not be worth it to you.

If it is important to you and you do want to get rid of that fat, you just need to keep getting leaner, ya gotta keep going, because when you get lean enough even the body fat around your belly button will disappear, just like when you get lean enough even the body fat on your hips, butt and thighs will go away…it’s not a matter of if, it’s just a matter of how lean you need to get in order for that to occur!

But again, the lifestyle trade-offs necessary to get that lean may not be worth it to you and the only person that can make that calculation is in fact, you. 

Perspective wise, stubborn fat is a super relative term because of the fact that people have varying goals, for example…

Stubborn fat to Judy from down the street might be going from 25% body fat to 22% whereas to Amy it might be going from 18% to 16%...stubborn fat is a very relative concept and you might even find that your perspective on what you consider lean or the body composition that you like to hang out at changes over time, for example…

What I consider lean for myself right now is a lot different than what I considered lean when I first started my fitness journey because this is a process and priorities and lifestyle factors are forever shifting and changing…the same goes for your perspectives alongside that, for example…

You may have a friend that feels out of shape and their body composition is your ultimate goal after photo or…

Perhaps you have another friend that has your current body composition as their long term goal and you’re like, ‘I want to take things way further than this!’

It’s all relative and you can think about it like money. What’s expensive…?

How much does an expensive couch cost?

Some folks may say that anything over a couple hundred bucks is expensive and other folks might be willing to spend $20,000 on a couch.

Expensive is an entirely relative term just like stubborn fat is, the same goes for what you consider to be lean or fit or strong or good looking etc.

So, no matter what you consider to be stubborn fat, if you’d like to get rid of it, the answer is to keep going and if you’ve hit a plateau meaning, you’re not losing any more fat, you need to either lower your calorie intake further, increase your movement or both.

As far as how to decrease your calorie intake in a way that doesn’t have you feel hungry 24/7 is going to depend on way too many factors to cover in this article and it’s highly specific to the individual, but having said that…

When you do this effectively, it’s only a matter of time until you get as lean as ya wanna get!