I have heard from online sources and people I have talked to about weight loss that when someone starts losing weight, they lose it first from their face, then their legs, and so on....and the stomach is the last to go.

This may sound silly, but is there any truth to this?

Typically (and this is a big overgeneralization), the weight comes off in reverse order of how you put it on. People have different distribution patterns. Someone who had always gained weight in the hips, but put on a bit more on the stomach toward their top weight, will likely lose more of the stomach fat before the hip fat, but someone who has always tended to gain in the stomach might struggle more losing there.

It also depends a bit on the type of stomach fat you're talking about and how you're going about weight loss. Visceral fat, the "hidden" fat that surrounds organs in the abdomen, tends to be fairly responsive to vigorous exercise, so if you're incorporating vigorous exercise into your plan, you might see more of a reduction in the stomach area than if you were not.

There are a lot of variables and no "hard and fast" rules. In any case, if you're losing and you're overweight or obese, that's a GOOD thing, regardless of where it is coming from.

Definitely different for different people, and even different for the same person with different periods of weight loss.

I'm losing my ta tas, but the gut is persisting with amazing determination, darn it. If this keeps up I'm gonna be one weird looking flat-chested, pot-bellied chick!

I've lost like Amanda suggests...in reverse order of the way I put it on.

I think weight comes off the face first largely due to water. Many of us thin out in the face first.

With my gain, there at the end, it was almost like my body had run out of places to store fat so it stored it all in the rear end. My rear shrunk dramatically right off the bat. The fat went to my thighs way back in high school, and I think it's going to come off there dead last.

Mine is coming off in reverse order.... Hopefully it keeps going in that order, too.

And:

I actually tend not to have the same pattern of weight loss/gain each time. It's one of the reasons I learned not to buy or keep "too-small clothes" for motivation. When I got small enough to fit into them, the didn't (or no longer) fit well. A pair of jeans that fit perfectly at a specific weight, woudln't fit right when I returned to that weight.

There's not a lot you can do about your pattern of weight loss, so it's best just not to stress over it - it will come off as it comes off, where it comes off - and it's all good in the long-run.

This time, I've unfortunately, lost more weight in my bust than anywhere else (if I had my choice, it would be the last to go), so it's actually making me seem far more disproportionate, but it will eventually even out.

I've just been trying to treat it like one of those grab bags that I used to love as a kid. YOu dont know what kind of fun thing you are gonna pull out and somehow that makes things even more fun! So I have recently stopped losing as much in the waist/boobies/hips area but my face is suddenly thinner and my arm are getting slimmer and my hands and feet are slimmer. So, instead of getting annoyed that what isnt changing, I choose to be excited about what IS changing! My slimmer face makes me look better in pictures, my feet can fit into cuter shoes, I can wear rings that I couldnt get on before and sleeveless dresses!
I lost first in the boobage department too but, hey, now I look less "slutty" in my lower cut shirts. It's all good! =0)

I'm with My Michelle- I always lose my boobs first. I'm only 28, but boy, do they sag when I first start losing, lol! I think the reverse order thing does apply also, because my belly was my first problem area and is the hardest to lose.

It's biology.

When you lose fat, you start to lose it in places that don't really matter. Facial fat, breast fat, upper body fat, and eventually, the fat around the abdomen (essential fat protecting your vital organs).

It's why women who over exercise stop menstruating (why get pregnant during a famine?) and breastfeeding women who don't eat enough lose their milk. Biology protects us.

Except that it does not work this way for every woman. I lose weight around my middle first, for example, and as my weight loss progresses, I lose from everywhere else and continue to lose from my middle at the same time.

True, bodies are different. I lose slower in the upper body myself. But for most people, it works that way

From my personal experience this is true. I have only lost 18 pounds and I am getting compliments all the time about how much my face in thinning out. The same when I started re-gaining weight last year. So I would say "Yes"

Definitely true for me - I know that when my face looks fat & my upper body is "puffy", I am in the obese category. Until that point, I can typically hide my weight gain pretty well.

I always say that I gain weight from the inside out, and lose it from the outside in! Even now at my goal weight, the areas where I want/need to lose fat are around my middle (tummy, rear & thighs), which is typical for most women.

Having said that, it isn't like you won't lose weight all over - it just seems to be most noticable in some places vs. others.

mandalinn82 said it very well. I, personally, do tend to lose around the stomach first as that's where I carry most my weight. I look like an egg on stilts.

I lose lasts in my boobs, which makes me sad cause I have humongous knockers.

That reminded me of my mom.. She always would say she looked like "a tomato on toothpicks!"

Of course, her weight was due to several health problems and the drugs that she was on to stay alive. But, you made me smile and remember her today! THANKS!