So when it comes to getting rid of stubborn belly fat, I’ve got some good news and some bad news.

Here’s the bad news:

You cannot spot reduce body fat.

In other words, despite what mainstream diet and exercise advice tries to tell you, it’s not possible to pick and choose where fat comes off your body.

Where fat comes off your body, and in what order, is largely determined by your genetics.

Some people’s body fat is distributed pretty evenly from head to toe.

Some people carry more on their lower body. Some people carry more on their upper body. And so on.

Fair or not, some people don’t gain much weight on their belly. Instead, they gain it on their arms and legs.

You don’t get to pick and choose where fat packs on or comes on.

So what’s the good news in all this?

Simple. If you have more belly fat than you want, and you aren’t at a healthy weight, step one is to safely and sustainably get to a healthy weight.

See, losing enough weight will reduce fat over your entire body. Some areas may lose fat before others, but when you get to a healthy weight for you, everywhere on your body will probably have lost some fat (unless you’re, say, 10 or 15 pounds above your ideal weight – then you may or may not).

“Okay Cristy, what happens if I get to my healthy weight and I still have belly fat?”

If it’s fat, and not loose skin, there are things you can do. We talk about in them in the Code Red Maintenance coaching group.

Your genetics, and other factors like age, could make it more difficult to lose belly fat, but even so, you can probably see at least some improvement.

If it’s loose skin, there are also things you can do.

While there’s no exercise for the skin, you may, with the right maintenance strategies and a little time, be able to tighten up that loose skin.

I recommend a year of weight lifting, ONCE YOU REACH MAINTENANCE, to tighten up loose skin before considering skin removal surgery (unless loose skin becomes a health issue for you).

The bottom line, here, is that you cannot spot-reduce fat.

Exercise – which we don’t use for weight loss on Code Red – may tighten things up, and give the appearance of less fat, but it may not.

Safe, sustainable weight loss is your best opportunity to lose extra body fat if you’re above your ideal weight.

Have you created your free Code Red Lifestyle™ network account yet? If not, here’s how to get your account!

1) On your computer, create your account at www.CodeRedLifestyle.com/App.

2) If you want the network on a mobile device, go to the App Store or Google Play Store and search for Code Red Lifestyle.