How to Lose Face Fat? 5 Methods to Target Face Fat

Written by: Muhammad Bilal Haider
Expertise: PhD in Food Science and Nutrition
Experience: 4 Years
I am a graduate with a Bachelor’s and Masters in Food Science & Technology, from the National Institute of Food Science & Technology (NIFSAT). Currently, I'm pursuing my Ph.D. from Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA. I'm also working as a Graduate Teaching Assistant in the Department of Food Science & Nutrition.
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Reviewed by: Franco Cuevas, MD
Expertise: Doctor of Medicine
Experience: 5 Years
Franco Gabriel Cuevas is a physician who graduated from the National University of Cordoba, Argentina. His focus is on writing medical content to improve the access of physicians to medical information relevant to daily practice. He has participated in some research projects and has a special joy in writing and medical knowledge.
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Posted 1 year ago

How to Lose Face Fat? – Overview

Do you have the feeling that your face is too full or puffy, despite your best efforts to maintain a healthy weight? If this is the case, you are not alone. Weight gain is a prevalent issue in today’s society, and many people struggle with it. However, there are steps you can take to slim down your cheeks and create a more defined jawline.

Facial Fat and Underlying Causes

To start getting rid of facial fat, you need to know why it builds up in the first place. By figuring out these causes, people can take the right and most effective steps to target the causes and help them lose weight within that area of the body.

Face fat, typically known as” facial adiposity,” is the amount of fat in the face, which can be perceived as weight in the face. Weight gain has been linked to various health outcomes such as respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, blood pressure, diabetes, arthritis, oxidative stress, mental health, hormones, and immune function. [1]

Several factors contribute to excess fat in the face, such as genetics, aging, and hormonal changes. Loss of collagen and elastin as we age can cause sagging and volume loss in the face, contributing to the appearance of facial fat. [2] Hormonal changes during puberty or menopause can also affect the distribution of fat. [3] Also, poor diet, lack of sleep and physical activity, and poor lifestyle can be the cause of facial fat, as they are the leading cause of overall body obesity.

Spot reduction, which is a myth, involves focusing on one particular area of your body to lose fat. There is no set method for concentrating weight loss on a single area of the body. If you want to lose excess facial fat, you must first lose overall body weight. Your face will naturally lose fat and slim down once you begin to lose weight overall.

When you lose weight, you’ll naturally lose fat from your face as well. A body mass index (BMI) greater than 25 represents a chance the person is overweight, and if it is greater than 30, obesity should be a concern. [4]

Incorporating a healthy diet and consistent exercise into your routine to lose body fat may be more effective than concentrating solely on facial exercises or massages. Fortunately, numerous strategies can support long-term weight loss while also making your face appear slimmer. Here are some effective ways to lose face fat and prevent future fat gain.

How to Lose Face Fat

How to Lose Face Fat – 5 ways

1. How to Lose Face Fat with Exercise?

Cardio Exercises

Aerobic exercise also referred to as cardio exercise, may be highly helpful for weight loss. Cardio raises your heart rate, which speeds up your metabolism and helps you lose weight all over, including on your face. According to a 2019 study, participating in a 12-week aerobic exercise program led to significant decreases in fat mass and waist circumference and an increase in lean body mass in 24 overweight women. [5]

Cardio exercises can be done by individuals at a low, moderate, or high intensity. According to some studies, doing cardio workouts at a higher intensity several times a week promotes fat loss. For instance, another case study examined the impact of various exercise intensities on postmenopausal women’s body fat. For a full year, all participants engaged in workouts of moderate to high intensity. In comparison to those who worked out for 150 minutes per week, those who worked out for 300 minutes per week burned more fat. [6]

These studies suggest that cardio exercise is particularly effective at burning fat, even though they did not directly measure facial fat loss. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services states that to notice noticeable changes in your weight, you should engage in 2.5 to 5 hours of moderate-intensity exercise or 1.25 to 2.5 hours of high-intensity aerobic activity each week. [7]

Finding a cardio workout you truly enjoy will increase your likelihood of engaging in it frequently and maintaining it over time. Running, biking, swimming, walking, dancing, jogging, and cycling are some common examples of cardio.

Facial Toning Exercises:

How to Loose Face Fat

How to Lose Face Fat – Facial Toning Exercises

While overall weight loss is crucial, targeted facial exercises can help strengthen and tone your facial muscles, making your face appear slimmer. It gives your face a new shape and makes your features look better. It also gets more blood to the face and strengthens the muscles there.

According to studies, doing facial exercises once a day for around 30 minutes will greatly improve the appearance of your face, reduce puffiness, and combat the aging process. [8, 9] Another study showed that doing exercises for the facial muscles twice a day for eight weeks helped make the muscles thicker and the face look younger [10].

Chewing gum has also been shown to strengthen the jaw muscles, giving you a more toned jawline and possibly making a double chin look less noticeable. [11]

There are no studies that look at the link between facial exercises and loss of facial fat. Still, facial exercises may help a person look more toned as they lose weight, more research needs to be done to find out how these exercises might affect facial fat in people.

2. Balanced Diet to Lose Face Fat

A healthy, balanced diet can assist you in losing weight as well as facial fat. You can reduce face fat and lose weight by eating a healthy, balanced diet. Some evidence supports a focus on whole foods, fruits and vegetables, plant-based fats and proteins, legumes, whole grains, and nuts.

Limit added sugars to five to ten percent of daily calories. Half of each meal should consist of fruits and vegetables (not potatoes). Beans, fruits, whole grains, and vegetables are the best sources of carbohydrates. Monounsaturated fats, such as avocados and olive oil, and omega-3 fatty acids, such as cold-water fish, flaxseeds, and nuts, are healthy dietary choices. [12]

  • Refined carbohydrates should be avoided. However, its effect on facial fat has not been studied yet. But it has supposed to increase the overall weight. One study of 277 women found that refined carbs increased obesity risk and belly fat. [13] However, replacing refined carbohydrates with whole grains may aid in overall weight loss, which may also help in the reduction of facial fat. [14]
  • Limit your sodium intake. Sodium is most often found in table salt, but it’s also included in a lot of pre-packaged and processed foods. Salty diets make the body retain water. [15] Water retention makes different parts of the body, [16] including the face, swell up and look puffy. It may make your face look fat. A low sodium intake will reduce water retention, and as the body releases more water, the lighter it becomes, making the face appear slimmer.
  • Eat more fiber. Increasing fiber intake is a popular tip for losing fat. Your body doesn’t absorb plant fiber. It moves slowly through your digestive tract, keeping you full and satisfied. This reduces appetite and cravings. [17] In one study of 345 overweight and obese people, higher fiber intake helped them lose weight and stick to a low-calorie diet. [18] Fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, whole grains, and legumes contain fiber. 25–38 grams of fiber per day from these foods is ideal [19]
  • Hydrate yourself. When trying to reduce overall fat, drinking plenty of water may be even more influential than usual. Studies show that drinking water can help you feel full and lose weight. [20] In fact, a small study found that drinking water before a meal greatly reduces the number of calories eaten during meals. [21]
  • Limit Alcohol Consumption. Alcohol contains lots of calories. [22] Alcohol consumption on a regular basis can result in facial fat. Additionally, some studies imply that alcohol may affect the levels of specific hormones that affect appetite and hunger. For instance, it might lower leptin levels, which is a hormone that encourages feelings of satiety. [23]

3. Healthy Sleeping Habits

Catching up on sleep is an essential component of any weight loss plan. It may also aid in facial fat loss. Sleep deprivation can cause metabolic changes, leading to higher levels of weight gain, cortisol, and increased food intake. [24-26] Therefore, getting enough sleep could assist you in reducing the amount of facial fat that you have. Keep a regular bedtime and sleep an average of 8 hours every night. [27]

4. Stress Management

Stress can make you want to eat and drink more and make it harder to stay active, all of which can lead to weight gain. Yoga and meditation are two ways to deal with stress that may be useful. But if you’re consistently stressed out to the breaking point, it might be time to consult a mental health expert. They can help you identify stressors and find ways to manage them. [28]

5. Surgical Methods

There are several surgical methods to reduce facial fat, including:

  • Buccal fat removal: Buccal fat removal is a cosmetic surgery that gets rid of the fat pads in the cheeks. These fat pads can make the lower cheeks look round or chubby, which some people may not like. During the surgery, the doctor will make small cuts inside the mouth and remove the fat pads. This will make the cheeks look more sculpted and defined. [29, 30]
  • Facial liposuction: It is used to improve the facial contour. Using a syringe with either a large-gauge needle or a small cannula is the easiest way to get rid of fat underneath the chin and the top of the neck. However, the procedure essentially entails aspirating localized fat deposits from the chin’s undersurface using the vacuum created within the syringe.[31]
  • Facial fat grafting: Facial grafting is a surgical procedure that restores volume to the face and improves skin tone and texture by taking healthy skin or fat from another part of the body and transplanting it there. A common method for facial rejuvenation is autologous fat transfer. [32]

Choosing the proper treatment method requires careful consideration and should only be done after speaking with a highly qualified and experienced plastic surgeon.

Conclusion

Face fat loss requires patience and consistency. In addition to having a plan and setting attainable objectives, it is essential to be patient and kind to yourself throughout the process. Maintaining a healthy diet, an exercise routine, and facial exercises and massages on a regular basis will help you achieve your desired results over time.

References

  1. de Jager, S., Coetzee, N., & Coetzee, V. (2018). Facial Adiposity, Attractiveness, and Health: A Review.Frontiers in psychology,9, 2562. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02562
  2. Pessa JE. An algorithm of facial aging: verification of Lambros’s theory by three-dimensional stereolithography, with reference to the pathogenesis of midfacial aging, scleral show, and the lateral suborbital trough deformity. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2000 Aug;106(2):479-88; discussion 489-90. doi: 10.1097/00006534-200008000-00040. PMID: 10946949.
  3. Roemmich JN, Rogol AD. Hormonal changes during puberty and their relationship to fat distribution. Am J Hum Biol. 1999;11(2):209-224. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1520-6300(1999)11:2<209::AID-AJHB9>3.0.CO;2-G. PMID: 11533945.
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  6. Friedenreich CM, Neilson HK, O’Reilly R, et al. Effects of a High vs Moderate Volume of Aerobic Exercise on Adiposity Outcomes in Postmenopausal Women:A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA Oncol.2015;1(6):766–776. doi:10.1001/jamaoncol.2015.2239
  7. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2nd edition. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; 2018. https://health.gov/paguidelines/second-edition/pdf/Physical_Activity_Guidelines_2nd_edition.pdf
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