Is Your Skin Soft or Firm? It Might Be About Fat Density!
First, let's clarify: while muscles feel firm when tensed, they remain soft when relaxed—just ask your lean friends to prove it.
If your skin feels hard, don't immediately assume it's muscular legs or arms—it could simply be dense fat.
Wait, isn't fat supposed to be soft? Not necessarily. Fat isn't a single mass but a collection of individual fat cells.
From adulthood onward, the number of fat cells in our bodies rarely changes.
So, if you're concerned about your skin feeling firm, don't jump to conclusions about muscular legs or arms—it might just be dense fat.
Wait, isn't fat supposed to be soft? Not necessarily. Fat isn't a single lump of tissue—it's made up of individual fat cells.
From adulthood onward, the number of fat cells in our bodies rarely changes. With the same number of cells, their volume can expand dozens of times over. Typically, weight gain occurs because fat cells increase in size.
Soft fat usually means fewer fat cells but larger ones. Think of a ball pit: not many balls, but each is huge, so the whole pit looks loose and saggy.
Hard fat typically involves more fat cells—like a sandbox. Lots of sand, but packed tightly together, making it feel relatively firm when you grab it.
How to reduce soft fat? How to reduce hard fat?
Now that we know fat comes in soft and hard varieties, should we tailor our approach based on these characteristics?
dbq, Jiǔ isn't going to get into all that.
After all, whether it's soft fat or hard fat, they're both fundamentally fat. Since they're all fat, why overcomplicate things? Just lose it!
For beginners, approach fat loss by understanding its functions:
Fat serves five primary roles:
1: Energy supply. One gram of fat provides 9 calories, making it a vital energy source.
2: Facilitates absorption of fat-soluble vitamins.
3: Maintains body temperature and protects organs. Think of penguins—their plump bodies help them withstand the cold.
4: Increases satiety. Fat stays in the stomach longer, reducing hunger.
5: Enhances food flavor.
4: Enhances satiety. Fat stays longer in the stomach, delaying hunger. Therefore, weight loss shouldn't eliminate fat entirely, or you'll get hungry quickly.
5: Improves food flavor.
Considering these functions, points 2, 3, 4, and 5 don't directly reduce fat, leaving more room to manipulate function 1.
To reduce body fat, consider using fat as an energy source to burn it off.
However, a challenge arises: fat is the body's stored energy reserve, and even when utilized, only limited amounts are typically burned. How can we increase fat utilization?
How to burn more fat?
This question resembles the protagonist's mission in the movie "The Billionaire": spending 1 billion yuan as quickly as possible.
But once you actually have a billion, you realize everything outside is so cheap!
Fat works the same way. Since 1g of fat equals 9 calories, even if you run for an hour every day, you can only burn a few dozen grams of fat at most—and that's under ideal conditions.
But what if you spend money while simultaneously investing to earn more (eating more)? Your 100 million might actually grow...
To burn more fat, you must not only "spend" but also learn to "lose money."
Translated into fat terms:
Eating is like earning money. To lose money, you should reduce your investment (eat less) or choose poor projects (opt for low-calorie foods).
Exercise is like spending money. To burn it faster, you should buy more (exercise more).
However, exercise burns far fewer calories than food intake—after all, it's "cheap." A single soda cracker has 29 calories; eating ten of them can be completely offset by a half-hour run.
Thus, diet often outweighs exercise. The weight loss adage "30% exercise, 70% diet" captures this principle—the simplest, most direct approach to shedding pounds.
Yet this view isn't entirely accurate. Factors like metabolic compensation, nutritional balance, hormones, genetics, illness, and gut microbiome must also be considered.
Taking all this into account, Jiuhui recommends this approach:
【1】Maintain a calorie deficit of 300–500 calories
Carbohydrates:Protein:Fat = 5:3:2
Experienced individuals can use our official account's calorie calculator. Those unfamiliar with calorie tracking may refer to the weight loss meal principles from nutrition doctors:
【2】Maintain 3–5 workouts per week, combining cardio with strength training.
Beginners should aim for 3 days weekly; those with fitness experience can target 4–5 days.
Each session should last about 40 minutes. Running, aerobics, swimming, HIIT, weightlifting—any activity works. There's no single best option; what suits you best and keeps you consistent yields the best results.
【3】Don't obsess over constant weight loss—maintenance matters too.
Not knowing where the journey ends is far scarier than knowing it's long. Fat loss demands both dietary discipline and physical effort, posing a major test for mind and body.