Blog

8

2

I'm thinking of doing an experiment to see if I can rapidly lose belly fat ("bad" fat) and gain more fat around my hips and thighs ("good" fat). I've always been a small-hipped girl, and I most easily gain weight in my stomach and arms (very attractive) while barely gaining anything below my waist. I'm not overweight, and am rather envious of voluptuous, curvy women who seem to have fat in all the right places.

Yesterday I read Melissa's review of "Why Women Need Fat" (http://www.huntgatherlove.com/content/why-women-need-fat), and it got me thinking that perhaps a large reason why I have the fat distribution I have is because of a diet high in vegetable oils for most of my life. I'd even say it overrules genetics for the most part, because my mother was very curvy for the first few decades of her life (despite having a small frame, like myself), when she ate much closer to a paleo diet than what she raised me on. She then developed fat distribution similar to mine when her diet got SAD.

So, I'm thinking that if I semi-crash diet for the next month or so (IF and low carb seem to melt fat off of me) and lose most of the belly fat I have, and then I up my calories but focus on a balanced omega-3/6 ratio and whole, paleo foods, I will be able to get closer the supposed ideal 0.7 waist-to-hip ratio - my current waist-to-hip ratio is about 0.79. I gain belly fat easily, but that's always been on SAD, and I lose belly fat easily when I do some combo of IF and low-carb. I've never tried gaining weight with paleo foods only. My hope is that not only will I have a more pleasing appearance, but having the right fat will contribute to having the right hormones circulating around.

Does this sound like it will work? Does anyone have any experience with anything like this? I'm interested to in any tips for focusing fat loss on "bad" fat, and focusing weight gain on "good" fat. Thanks in advance for any input, and sorry this was so long!

Update: For everyone interested, I started a blog to conduct this experiment, share my research, and track my results: http://pointsevenratio.wordpress.com/

flag
I've no idea if this will work, I do like the premise though. I have been wondering about doing the same but in order to reduce PUFA to a bare minimum. – Scotty Von Porkchop Feb 24 2012 at 17:19
1 
 Interested to read the answers to this as I have the same problem. However unlike you I find belly fat is he last to go - I lose from my already slim hips first. Even more so post-2 pregnancies. – Sandpiper Feb 24 2012 at 23:27
Seems like a good experiment to me. – Ralph Furley Feb 25 2012 at 15:54
Totally interested in this. Please keep us informed of your progress killerbee! – Stefanie Mar 2 2012 at 5:40
Also very interested in this. I have non-existent hips and back side but belly fat always last to go - look like a tube!! – queen of the stone age Mar 2 2012 at 17:00

6 Answers

1

No experience doing this intentionally, but I've noticed nothing puts the fat on my lower body like butter and cream...even when I'm actually eating less overall because these are so filling. However, take this with a large grain of salt because that is my fat distribution pattern anyway.

link|flag
Interesting! Eating lots of fat seems to do nothing but make me lose my appetite, and I don't really gain weight. I was raised on low-fat things (I drank several cups of skim milk a day growing up) and processed foods, so I wonder if this somehow affects how I'm prone to distribute fat, and how easily I gain certain types of fat. Can I ask how you generally ate growing up? Did you eat lots fatty animal products? – killerbee Feb 24 2012 at 18:33
Hmmm. I do remember drinking a lot of milk and eating a lot of cheese, but not much meat, since I wasn't a fan as a kid. Lots of eggs though. We mostly ate cheap foods, and when and where I grew up that meant home-grown vegetables, and whole grain products, nuts, and dried fruits through our food co-op. We definitely didn't eat sugar, except for special occasions. – Lindsay Feb 24 2012 at 22:23
0

A lowish carb high fat diet should help, keep pufa oils low and fokus on mufas and safas.

link|flag
0

In general it is hard to pick and choose where we want fat. However I like the idea of avoiding vegetable oils. It might work.

link|flag
0

Estrogen is what puts fat in your behind (and your boobs), testosteron is what gives a more male fat-distribution, i.e. fat in your belly area. If you've always been kind of flat-chested that would be an indication of comparatively low estrogen.

Plus these hormones also decide which fat leaves you last, so without at least checking hormones your efforts may be in vain.

link|flag
I'd say that I definitely have lower estrogen relative to androgens, since I am pretty small up top (which is very surprising because my mom was most definitely not flat at all), but I think part of what I'm wondering is if that can be altered through diet and lifestyle changes. – killerbee Feb 25 2012 at 14:19
It's more complicated than hormone levels I think. Genetics play a big part - for instance I'm flat-chested and have a flat stomach and small waist, but curvy hips and a big ass (all my family is shaped like this more or less). Most busty women I know gain easily in the stomach and have slimmer hips, rather than being truly 'hourglass' (tho there are a few of these as well). I think going paleo changed my hormones quite a bit (for the better- I was having issues with my period, and with acne) but my weight distribution has always been the same. – animalcule Feb 25 2012 at 16:49
Not sure I agree with this. I have no hips or backside but have always suffered from estrogen dominance which has given me all sorts of abdominal problems. When the estrogen is high the boobs get bigger (and painful) but nothing happens in the hip area and post hysterectomy the fat has all settled round the middle (tend to be pretty skinny otherwise). – queen of the stone age Mar 2 2012 at 17:03
@queen - from things I have been reading over the past week, I'd say it's more a disruption of the hormone balance that leads to changes in fat distribution, and it's not totally predictable, so it makes sense that estrogen dominance didn't result in an hour-glass figure for you. And I also take back my first response to this answer - I don't have a clue what balance my hormones are in (I should probably get lab work at some point), but I'm pretty sure it's not what it should be. – killerbee Mar 2 2012 at 17:24
0

I recently experienced this phenomenon. I lost about 15 lbs all over while I was working on a farm for 6 months. This period of time was very healing for my body because I ate very nourishing paleo foods, moved around constantly, and was in the sun for most of the day. Unfortunately I had to transition to a sedentary office job (more money, yay! wait...why do I feel like shit all the time??) when that internship was over, and I put on about 10 lbs. HOWEVER, I notice that most of the weight has gone to my hips/thighs/butt and my breasts. I feel that I have much more of an hourglass figure than I used to when I was overweight in high school and college. I'd like to think that this is a product of a healthier endocrine system.

link|flag
0

Twins studies have shown that genetics play a large role in where fat is stored in the body. I think Gary Taubes has mentioned that in his books/lectures.

Anyway, good luck with your experimenting!

link|flag

Your Answer

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.