Softtummy:
I often see people talking about how if you gain weight really quickly it tends to go to your gut, as opposed to a slower gain which distributes the weight more evenly. It's been really difficult for me to find any information backing up or refuting these claims.
What does everyone here think of this? If you have any insight/experience with rapid and gradual gains, I'd love to hear about it.
I often see people talking about how if you gain weight really quickly it tends to go to your gut, as opposed to a slower gain which distributes the weight more evenly. It's been really difficult for me to find any information backing up or refuting these claims.
What does everyone here think of this? If you have any insight/experience with rapid and gradual gains, I'd love to hear about it.
All of this is incorrect.
Your gain speeds have nothing to do with your fat distribution. What influences your fat distribution are your genetics, hormones, any health issues (like lymphedema), diet, and activity level.
That said, if you rapidly gain, you may end up with a prominent belly. This has nothing to do with the speed and everything to do with what you did to gain.
First off, some of that belly is not fat. Some of it is food weight and constipation from abusing your GI tract. You'll also experience a good deal of bloat too.
Secondly, people who put on a lot of weight quickly tend to eat foods high in unhealthy fats. All of this can lead to sizeable visceral fat gains. This person likely isn't exercising either. And since the body burns visceral fat before it burns subcutaneous fat, the belly will stick out more prominently than if it was mostly subcutaneous fat.
With all this in mind, your belly will appear bigger since it juts out. It doesn't mean your fat gains favor your belly. If you are naturally pear-shaped or all your weight goes to your tits, no amount of rapid gains will change this. And once you take a gaining break, you'll notice your belly will go down in size even if the scale doesn't.
11 months