Jiggly fat is called subcutaneous fat, the soft, pinchable fat located just under your skin that makes up most of your body fat, unlike the firm, deeper visceral fat that surrounds your organs. It's found in areas like the abdomen, hips, thighs, and arms and serves as insulation and energy storage, with excess amounts linked to health issues.
The fat is within organs and under muscles rather than right under the skin. This is bad. As you lose wight, the inner fat burns away and the fat that's left is the under skin variety, which is jiggly. This just means you have a slightly "healthier" fat deposit and that you are making progress.
Pinchable versus Pressable: “Subcutaneous fat” is the pinchable, squishy fat right between your skin and muscle that helps keep you warm, cushions you against shock, and stores extra calories. “Visceral fat” stores calories too, but isn't as pinchable because it is located in and around your organs.
Soft and jiggly = good Hard and not jiggly = BAD It was hard because the fat cell was packed to its absolute limit. No offense but on a brisket you have to cut off the hard fat because it won't render. The soft fat melts like butter.
Cortisol belly looks like excess fat concentrated in the abdominal area, often described as an "apple shape," where your belly protrudes due to deep visceral fat (around organs) and superficial fat, sometimes with slim limbs and face, accompanied by stress-related symptoms like bloating, fatigue, cravings, and potentially wide purple stretch marks or a fatty hump between the shoulder blades, even if you aren't generally overweight. It's not a diagnosis but a term for stress-induced abdominal fat.
To get rid of excess cortisol, focus on stress reduction through mindfulness, deep breathing, and quality sleep, alongside a balanced diet rich in whole foods, omega-3s, magnesium, and B vitamins, while limiting sugar, processed items, and caffeine; regular, moderate exercise and connecting with nature also significantly help manage stress and lower cortisol levels.
A hormonal belly typically appears as accumulated fat around your waist, typically towards your lower waist. There are a few tell-tale signs that this excess weight is due to hormonal causes: You're only gaining weight around your abdomen. Women typically gain weight on their butts, hips and thighs.
The best way to lose subcutaneous fat is by maintaining a healthy lifestyle. You can lower your subcutaneous fat level by focusing on a fat-burning diet and exercise plan. In addition, getting enough sleep and keeping stress at bay are important for losing subcutaneous fat.
The 3-3-3 rule for weight loss is a simple, habit-based method focusing on three key areas: 3 balanced meals a day, 3 bottles (or ~1.5L) of water by 3 PM, and 3 hours of physical activity per week, aiming for consistency over complex diets. It simplifies fat loss by establishing rhythm through consistent eating, adequate hydration to support metabolism, and regular movement, promoting sustainable health without intense calorie counting or restrictive rules, says Five Diamond Fitness and Wellness, Joon Medical Wellness & Aesthetics, and EatingWell.
Whether you're overweight or not, carrying excess belly fat is linked to several serious health problems such as: heart and circulatory problems. high blood pressure and stroke. insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.
Reducing belly fat
You need to limit your calories and eat a healthy meal plan that includes vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, nuts, lean meats, poultry, and fish. It's also important to get regular exercise.
The “whoosh effect” is a term used to describe a sudden drop in body weight after a weight loss plateau, a period when weight loss has slowed or stalled. You might suddenly: See a jump in weight loss on the scale. Notice visible body fat loss. Feel like your clothes are looser.
The lipedema fat itself is not smooth but feels like gelatin with small pea-sized nodules like foam balls in a bag. The excess fat growth on the buttocks, hips and legs gives a distorted pear shape to the body where the lower body is clearly out of proportion to the upper body (Figure 2).
A waist-to-hip ratio above 0.85 in females and 0.90 in males indicates abdominal obesity. Body mass index (BMI): BMI measures your body fat based on your height and weight. A BMI of 30 or more indicates you may have overweight and could have a higher level of visceral fat.
Losing belly fat and getting a flat stomach is done through achieving a caloric deficit by eating less, exercising more, and doing that for at least 6-12 weeks. The more stubborn your belly fat is, the more strict and consistent you need to be with your diet and exercises regimen throughout that period.
Exercise plays a key role here. Incorporating strength training, especially exercises targeting the core, can significantly improve muscle tone. Think along the lines of planks, crunches, or leg raises. These moves not only strengthen your muscles but also help tighten the skin around your midsection.
Adele's significant weight loss wasn't from a quick fix but a two-year journey combining intense strength training, Pilates, hiking, boxing, and cardio, alongside major lifestyle changes focused on managing anxiety, not restrictive diets like the Sirtfood Diet, with workouts happening multiple times daily for mental and physical strength. Her routine included morning weights, afternoon hikes or boxing, and evening cardio, emphasizing getting stronger, which naturally led to fat loss and improved well-being.
Daily: The most common form of intermittent fasting is a daily fast for 12 to 16 hours. For a 16-hour fast, this would result in an 8-hour feeding window during a 24-hour period. A “16:8” fast might look like eating breakfast at 11am and finishing dinner by 7pm.
People naturally lose muscle after 40, especially women after menopause. Because muscle burns more calories than fat, this can slow down your metabolism and make it harder to shake those stubborn pounds.
Hard fat raises LDL cholesterol, increasing the risk of heart disease and stroke. Soft fat can lower LDL cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke. Exercise increases hard fat, improving metabolism and calorie burning.
The best exercises to lose belly fat before bed include planks, leg raises, bicycle crunches, Russian twists, glute bridges, side planks, and reverse crunches. These exercises are designed to be gentle yet effective, targeting your core muscles without interfering with your sleep.
Understanding Why the Belly Becomes Jiggly
A jiggly belly often develops when the skin and muscles lose firmness. Common causes include: Loss of collagen and elastin, making the skin looser. Separated or weakened abdominal muscles after pregnancy.
Many women notice an increase in belly fat as they get older even if they don't gain weight. This is likely due to a lower level of estrogen because estrogen seems to have an effect on where fat is located in the body. Genes can contribute to an individual's chances of being overweight or obese too.
Cortisol belly simply looks like abdominal fat, and there is no way to identify it by appearance. More important than its appearance is what cortisol belly can do to your health.
Here are 9 signs your hormones may be out of whack: