How to Lose Face Fat: Simple Tips to Lose Weight From Face
Simple and effective ways to lose face fat and get rid of face puffiness.
Losing weight can be difficult in itself, let alone targeting weight loss in a specific area of your body.
Extra fat in the face, or what some would refer to as a “double chin” or “chubby cheeks,” can be extremely frustrating.
While there is no magic fix or easy way to get a slimmer face or chiseled jawline, having a healthy lifestyle and following a healthy diet is essential to make your face slimmer.
Changing your lifestyle will not only reduce unwanted fullness in your face, but it will also improve your overall health.
Fortunately, there are some strategies that can help you slim down in your face.
In this article, we’ll discuss 11 different tips to target fat loss in your face to help you achieve a lean face and define your cheekbones.
Let’s begin!’
How To Lose Face Fat
Most of the time, when you gain weight in your face, it’s a result of inflammation, excess fat accumulation, or an overall weight gain.
Unfortunately, some of us are more prone to weight gain in our faces.
This is often because of genetic conditions, bone structure, a flabby jawline, and lack of exercise. Sometimes, a fuller face can also be the result of a poor diet.
A highly processed diet can cause fluid retention, puffiness, swelling, and is the enemy of healthy skin.
So, are there any tried and true ways to get a thinner, slimmer face and rid yourself of excess face fat?
While it may be difficult to target a specific area in the face, there are natural ways to achieve a slimmer face.
Before you break your bank account on botox injections and ‘facial liposuction,’ let’s discuss some natural ways to lose weight from your face, prevent puffiness, and slim down.
How To Lose Weight in Your Face – 11 Simple Ways
1. Do facial exercises
Who knew facial exercises were legit? There are actually studies that have been scientifically proven to help you with losing weight in the face and achieving a slim face.
According to one review from 2014, published in the Journal of Clinical & Diagnostic Research, experts suggested that facial exercises can help tone and strengthen the facial muscles. However, this study didn’t directly mention face fat (1).
Nevertheless, it appears promising that face exercises can work to improve your facial appearance and reduce extra weight and fat stores in unwanted spots.
In addition to research, many trainers swear by targetting your face during exercises to tone facial muscles and prevent sagging skin.
Saggy face skin comes with age as the elasticity of your skin decreases and collagen production slows down.
Facial exercises can also help with tightening skin in the face.
A popular simple exercise recommended for facial slimming and tightening skin is called ‘the cheek squeeze.’
This involves making a fish face over and over again. Simply hold your head back with your chin facing up. Suck your cheeks in as much as you can for five seconds. Repeat up to 15 times for best results.
Doing facial exercises such as ‘the cheek squeeze’ can help with building muscle tone, improving the elasticity of your skin, and tightening the skin in your face and cheeks.
You can also roll your eyes to improve skin elasticity and reduce facial fullness. (no, not at your friends!) Using a jade roller over your face and eyes can reduce puffiness and inflammation, which may result in a firming appearance.
One study set out to establish the relationship between facial muscle exercises and overall facial rejuvenation. The study found that using a device called Pao may increase facial muscle thickness and may result in overall facial rejuvenation (2).
It’s important to note that research is lacking on the effectiveness of facial exercises to slim a chubby face. We can make more appropriate recommendations as more studies come out.
If you’re curious about more exercises to target your unwanted double chin or define your jawline, consult with a personal trainer or someone who specializes in facial exercises.
2. Add cardio to your routine
As mentioned earlier, one of the leading causes of extra fat in the face or a double chin is overall weight gain and excess body fat.
If you’re overweight, losing weight through regular exercise can lead to fat loss, resulting in both a slim face and a healthier body.
Any type of physical activity, including cardio exercises that keep your heart rate up, will result in calories being burned. A combination of cardio workouts and strength training is the best way to lose body fat and slim your face.
Cardio promotes excess fat loss and has been proven to help women with obesity experience fat loss at a higher rate.
Cardio exercises can also help with inflammation and help you get rid of water retention. This can reduce facial puffiness as well.
Some regular exercises that make good cardio exercises you can include are dancing, jogging, biking, and running.
3. Stay hydrated
Dehydration can result in water retention.
Consider hydrating with a glass of water first thing when you wake up in the morning. Continue to drink water throughout the day as an easy way to minimize excess fluid accumulation and swelling.
Drinking water can also lead to less snacking on junk food, resulting in weight loss and an overall slimming effect, including loss of facial fat.
In fact, one small study found that drinking water before a meal led to a decreased overall number of calories eaten during the meal (3).
Drinking water may also boost your metabolism and increase the number of calories you burn throughout the day.
4. Limit alcohol consumption
Alcohol is generally considered to be full of empty calories. Most alcoholic drinks are high in calories but provide little to no nutrients.
Although an occasional glass of wine typically will not derail your fitness goals, overdoing alcohol intake can cause puffiness, bloating, and weight gain.
This could all contribute to unwanted facial fat.
It can also lead to excess abdominal fat accumulation, or what we know as a ‘beer belly.’
Excess visceral fat is known to be a risk factor for many chronic diseases and adverse health conditions.
Plus, if we make it a habit to pour our drinks with a heavy hand, it could lead to liver dysfunction that can disrupt our hormones. This can lead to dry skin, wrinkles, and facial puffiness.
An easy way to be sure alcohol consumption is not the culprit of your double chin is to limit your intake to one drink per day for women and two drinks per day for men.
When you do drink alcoholic beverages, consider trying low-calorie mixers and opt for a glass of wine instead of high-calorie beverages.
5. Limit refined carbs
Refined carbohydrates are among the worst foods for those of us looking to shed unwanted facial fat. Avoiding them is an easy to way quickly shed facial fat.
Not only do refined carbs have little nutritional value, but they are also easy to indulge in and can be very calorie-dense.
Unlike whole grains, refined carbohydrates have been processed so much that most beneficial nutrients have been removed.
Refined carbs like crackers, pasta, sweets, and chips are all culprits of weight gain and increased fat storage in unwanted areas, specifically belly fat.
They also can cause blood sugar spikes which can lead to overeating and inconsistent blood sugar levels.
At this time, there is no direct correlation between intake of refined carbs and excess facial fat.
However, it’s always a healthier option to include more whole grains to promote overall weight loss, indirectly leading to facial fat loss.
6. Get more sleep
Getting the right amount of sleep at night is vital for our overall health.
Moreover, it is vital for a healthy overall weight, which could indirectly contribute to the loss of facial fat.
It is recommended that adults get at least 6-8 hours of good quality sleep per night to support a healthy weight and facial fat loss.
It also helps reduce stress. When you aren’t getting enough sleep, your body stays under stress. When we are under chronic stress, cortisol, also known as the stress hormone, is released.
High levels of cortisol circulating in our body can lead to unwanted side effects, including cravings for sugar, weight gain, and fatigue.
Studies have also shown that high cortisol levels can increase appetite and alter metabolism, resulting in increased fat storage (4).
If you have high stress levels, you’ll also find it difficult to improve the elasticity of your skin.
7. Watch your sodium intake
The Standard American Diet (SAD) is filled with high sodium snacks, processed junk foods.
Excess sodium intake can lead to bloating, swelling, and fluid retention, resulting in facial puffiness.
Although it can be temporary, your face may seem to remain puffy all the time if your high-sodium diet cycle isn’t broken.
Sodium naturally attracts water. This is the reason behind excess water accumulation when we eat salty snacks and meals.
A good rule of thumb is to limit your daily sodium intake to less than 2000mg.
8. Add more fiber to your diet
Incorporating enough fiber into your diet is one of the best ways to maintain a healthy weight and slim down. Unsurprisingly, it’s also one of the most popular suggestions to lose cheek fat and begin slimming your face.
Fiber is found in plant foods. It cannot be broken down by our body and promotes a healthy GI function, satiety, and weight loss.
It promotes weight loss by increasing feelings of fullness, helping reduce cravings, and decreasing overall appetite.
High-fiber foods include various fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and nuts.
An easy way to know just how much fiber to eat is to aim for 25-35 grams of fiber per day from whole food sources.
9. Cut back on processed foods
As mentioned earlier, the Standard American Diet is packed with processed foods. The intake of processed foods may lead to an increased risk for chronic disease, obesity, and weight gain.
Processed foods are typically high in fat, refined carbs, and sodium. They also are lacking in the nutrient department.
Processed beverages, including sugary drinks, are another common culprit of weight gain, which can very well lead to unwanted fat accumulation in the facial part of your body.
Always include a diet rich in whole foods and healthy fats rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids have been proven to reduce inflammation throughout the body.
Examples of foods high in omega-3s include salmon and walnuts.
You’ll also want to include a lean protein and plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables.
Many processed foods will often result in inflammation that can worsen facial swelling.
Other healthier anti-inflammatory foods are turmeric, fatty fish, cauliflower, and berries.
10. Take up face yoga
Did you know facial yoga was a thing? Yeah, we didn’t either!
However, after some digging, it is, in fact, a thing that many swear by!
Facial yoga is based on traditional yoga and is an easy way to prevent wrinkles by firming and tightening skin in the face.
Proponents of face yoga believe that the regular activities associated with facial yoga can help tone, smooth, and soothe the skin of the face and neck.
While it may not be a magic exercise to get a chiseled jawline or cheekbones, it certainly is a more natural way of tightening skin without using a filler or botox.
Facial yoga typically involves facial stretches aimed at preventing wrinkles and sagging skin.
These movements help to tone, firm, strengthen, and slim the muscles of the face.
11. Splash cold water on your face
If you notice your face looks puffy after waking up in the morning, you’re not alone!
Many of us struggle with a puffy face in the morning because our skin cells regenerate overnight.
Splashing your face with cold water first thing is an easy way to reduce the appearance of a fuller face.
After you wash your face with warm water, splash cold water on your face to reduce inflammation and close your pores.
The Bottom Line on Losing Face Fat
Many people struggle with an unwanted fuller face. Thankfully, there are plenty of strategies that can help you get a slimmer face and lose face fat.
Consider trying some home remedies mentioned above. They provide natural solutions without costing thousands.
They are also free of unwanted side effects often associated with surgical procedures or injections to get a lean face.
Switching up your diet, avoiding empty calories, adding healthy regular activities to your routine, and adjusting some of your daily habits are all effective ways to boost fat loss, which may help slim down your face.
Consider your chipmunk-like cheeks a thing of the past!
As always, for a customized workout or diet plan to rid yourself of stubborn fat, consult with a personal trainer or registered dietitian.
Sources:
- D’souza, Raina et al. “Enhancing facial aesthetics with muscle retraining exercises-a review.” Journal of clinical and diagnostic research : JCDR vol. 8,8 (2014): ZE09-11. doi:10.7860/JCDR/2014/9792.4753
- Hwang UJ, Kwon OY, Jung SH, Ahn SH, Gwak GT. Effect of a Facial Muscle Exercise Device on Facial Rejuvenation. Aesthet Surg J. 2018 Apr 6;38(5):463-476. doi: 10.1093/asj/sjx238. PMID: 29365050; PMCID: PMC5888959.
- Dennis EA, Dengo AL, Comber DL, Flack KD, Savla J, Davy KP, Davy BM. Water consumption increases weight loss during a hypocaloric diet intervention in middle-aged and older adults. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2010 Feb;18(2):300-7. doi: 10.1038/oby.2009.235. Epub 2009 Aug 6. PMID: 19661958; PMCID: PMC2859815.
- Hirotsu, Camila et al. “Interactions between sleep, stress, and metabolism: From physiological to pathological conditions.” Sleep science (Sao Paulo, Brazil) vol. 8,3 (2015): 143-52. doi:10.1016/j.slsci.2015.09.002