I hope I’m not alone in saying this, but don’t we all have areas of our bodies that we are working on changing? For most, that’s the stomach area. For others, it could be the lower body. Now, wouldn’t it be nice if there were certain exercises or foods to eat that could cure us of our abdominal fat or fat pockets on our thighs?

Sadly, as much as someone would want you to believe you can easily target a specific body part, also known as spot treating or targeted fat loss, that is simply not the case. Spot reducing and spot treating is the belief that you can correct certain parts on the body. To find out exactly what spot treating fat is, how it works and better alternatives, read the below.

What exactly is spot treating fat?

Put simply, spot treating is the concept of losing weight in one area of our body while maintaining the weight everywhere else. It is a way of perfecting a part of the body without affecting the whole. The thing is, that could never happen. You could never target or impact a specific area with exercise or diet and not have it affect the whole body.

People are increasingly believing in this false notion with the help of social media and fitness influencers claiming that they have been able to lose weight in certain areas of their body and retain the rest. Influencers will show how they reduce body fat in problem areas like their lower bellies and triceps by showing products that they’ve used—leading to more sales for them.

Does spot treating fat work?

Fact: Our bodies work as a whole and not as individual parts. Although it might seem to work temporarily, spot treating is not sustainable. Meaning, fat cells will get bigger and if you don’t address the underlying cause, the fat will only return. When it comes to exercise, you don’t get to choose which area affects your body.

What are better alternatives to spot treating fat?

Basically, understanding why you have fat in certain areas of your body is the key to losing it. For example, hormone imbalances can directly impact where you store fat. People with high stress can have fat stored in the abdominal area. The best thing you can do is identify the cause of the excess fat and work to treat and balance it.

And not to mention, nutrition should be high on your list if you are looking to target fat. Adding muscle can also help as more muscles will help you burn more calories when you’re at rest, making it easier to keep the weight off with an improved metabolism.

Got it, and the best exercises for burning fat?

Repeat after me: You must burn a lot of calories to burn off fat. More calories burned could help with the fat from your body, in all areas. Fitness experts suggest burpees, barbell squats, mountain climbers, jump roping, and Turkish getups.

The best way to burn calories? A solid cardio routine.

Also, a food scale and counting macros helped me on my weight loss journey, maybe it can help you as well.