Can't Lose That Belly No Matter What? You Might Be Using the Wrong Approach From the Start

Not all belly fat is the same. This article explains 4 common types of protruding belly — diastasis recti, poor posture, visceral fat, and subcutaneous fat — along with targeted solutions including CoolSculpting cryolipolysis.

In recent years, more and more people have been coming to the clinic for "abdominal contour concerns." Some are not overweight, yet their lower belly always seems to protrude; others exercise intensely and control their diet, losing weight overall, but their waist and abdomen remain loose and saggy.

When people realize that simply "eating less and exercising more" is unlikely to change their local contour, they want to know — do those aesthetic medicine technologies that claim to achieve "localized fat reduction" actually work?

From a medical aesthetics standpoint, there are indeed ways to make the abdomen flatter and the contour more defined. But the boundaries are also very clear — it does not work for every type of "belly."

First, you need to identify which type of "belly" you have before knowing whether these approaches can help.

4 Common Types of "Belly"

1. Caused by Diastasis Recti

This condition is most commonly seen after pregnancy and childbirth, but it does not only occur in postpartum women.

Normally, the left and right rectus abdominis muscles are connected by a layer of connective tissue along the midline of the abdomen, working together to maintain abdominal wall tension and support. During pregnancy, as the uterus continues to enlarge, the abdominal wall is stretched over a prolonged period, and the midline tissue may become widened and thinned, causing the distance between the two sides of the rectus abdominis to increase.