How to Get Rid of the Muffin Top: Exercises and Surgical Alternatives

A muffin top is not a bad or dangerous thing in and of itself. Still, excess abdominal fat can be a sign of more severe underlying health issues, not to mention aesthetic concerns.

A muffin top is the result of excess fat around your midsection. The slang term describes how fat 'spills' over the waistline, mimicking the silhouette of a breakfast muffin.

It's common to feel confused about how to lose a muffin top because two types of fat can cause it. Both have to be dealt with and require different solutions.

Subcutaneous fat, which lies beneath your skin, is likely responsible for an overflowing waistline. Visceral fat, while only 10 percent of the fat in most people's bodies, surrounds your organs with the function of protection.

Too much subcutaneous fat tends to result in more apparent changes, as this type of "fluffy fat" is easier to notice. Yet, excess visceral fat is associated with a more severe array of complications, such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease. 

Overall, the way to lose both types of fat and eliminate the muffin top is by making lifestyle changes and committing to them.

Getting Rid of a Muffin Top

The primary way to get rid of a muffin top is to lose belly fat.

Don't think you can achieve this by spot-reducing your body fat, which means you focus on slimming down a single body area. It isn't possible.

Your efforts in reducing belly fat will only be successful if you commit to a complete fat-loss routine, where diet and exercise are your main focus.

Changing Your Diet is Essential

Most people are genetically inclined to store excess fat within the abdomen. Therefore, it's best to eat low-calorie-dense foods to avoid contributing to a muffin top.

A good muffin-top diet is composed of leafy greens, lean proteins, and healthy fats. 

Low Calorie Foods to Lose a Muffin Top

Leafy Greens	Lean Proteins	Healthy Fats
Spinach	Chicken Breast	Avocado
Kale	Turkey	Olive Oil
Romain Lettuce	Fish (Salmon)	Nuts and Seeds
Swiss Chard	Lean Beef	Flaxseed
Arugula	Tofu	Chia Seeds

Foods such as white bread and fatty meat will cause you to gain weight quickly if you overeat. Carbs are not the enemy, but rather, simple carbs are. Opt for potatoes and rice over snack bars and french fries. In addition, aim to eat real fruits rather than dehydrated or juices.  

Beyond a healthy and wholesome protein-rich diet, the objective is to enter into a calorie deficit. This entails eating fewer calories than needed to maintain your current body weight. Over time, you will lose body fat, which reduces visceral and subcutaneous fat for a slimmer waistline.

Exercises to Remove a Muffin Top

Muffin top exercises for fat loss should help you enter a caloric deficit and build muscle.

Aim to combine intense cardio with strength training to reduce abdominal fat. Getting your heart rate elevated is the best way to burn calories. Strength training, meanwhile, also burns calories effectively but also helps build muscle. When your body is in a muscle-building state, it burns excess fat more effectively and provides a toned look. 

Some of the Best Muffin Top Workouts Include:

1. High-intensity interval training: HIIT workouts effectively burn calories and improve heart health.

2. Side plank with leg raise: Strengthen your core and obliques by balancing on one arm and lifting your top leg.

3. Spiderman crunch: Mimic Spiderman's climbing motion by bringing your knee toward your elbows when crunching.

4. Single-leg toe touches: Target your lower abs by reaching your toes with one leg raised. These are also called single-leg Romanian Deadlifts.

5. Twisting mountain climbers: Bend your knees towards your chest to elevate your heart rate and engage your core.

6. High knees: Rapidly lift your knees towards your chest as if doing an exaggerated march. This is also a great warm-up before your HIIT routines.

7. Leg raises: Lie on your back and lift your legs towards the ceiling to build core strength.

Plastic Surgery for Reducing a Muffin Top

Muffin top surgery is only viable for patients who have excess subcutaneous fat. Visceral fat cannot be treated with surgery because it is near essential organs that cannot run the risk of damage.

It is important to note that surgeries such as waist liposuction are only designed to target pockets of fat, not to help with weight loss.

Nonetheless, slimming down your waistline depends on the specific causes of one's muffin top. The leading causes are excess fat, skin, or both. Each of these issues requires a particular treatment for optimal results.

Waist Liposuction

Liposuction would be the ideal choice to address the issue if you have a muffin top because of excess fat.

Liposuction involves a surgeon placing an incision on the waistline and using a cannula to vacuum the excess fat.

Several variations of liposuction differ in how they prepare the fat for extraction. But, in principle, they all aim to create a narrower waist.

Waist liposuction tends to be performed under general anesthesia and can deliver results in one treatment. Muffin top lipo recovery usually lasts a few weeks, but with newer techniques like AirSculpt, downtime is just one to two days.

Tummy Tuck

Sometimes, your muffin top can be caused by weakened abdominal muscles.

Therefore, a tummy tuck, also known as an abdominoplasty, can remove excess fat and skin to create a smoother midsection.

A surgeon can reconnect the muscles with dissolvable sutures if your abdominal muscles have weakened and separated (diastasis recti). We should note that at AirSculpt, our version of the mini tummy tuck only tightens skin below the belly button and does not address weakened or separated muscles. 

Body Lift

If the main culprit behind your muffin top is excess loose skin, a body lift can create a smoother surface area.

Patients who have rapidly lost weight may have just burned the fat but are left with loose skin that drapes over, causing an 'apron belly.' These factors together cause a muffin top to form, even if you're well within your healthy body weight.

A body lift involves using a scalpel to remove excess skin and then pulling the remaining skin over the treated area to tighten it.

Nonsurgical Intervention to Reduce a Muffin Top

A snatched waist can also be somewhat achieved with nonsurgical intervention.

Procedures such as EmSculpt use electromagnetic stimulation to contract the muscles, burning fat and building muscle over several sessions.

While these results are much more subtle, frequent treatments over the years, coupled with diet and exercise, can help reduce a muffin top. Also, know that nonsurgical fat removal does not physically remove fat cells, so results tend to be fleeting by nature. 

AirSculpt®: The Better Solution in Salt Lake City

Waist AirSculpt® follows the same principles as any other body contouring process: remove fat and tighten skin. 

While that's possible with a combination of liposuction and body lifting, these invasive surgeries have several risks to consider.

Waist AirSculpt® is a minimally invasive fat removal process that doesn't use a scalpel, needle, stitches, or general anesthesia to provide patients with outstanding results. 

These results can be achieved in one session and with a recovery time that lasts at least three months, nearly halving the time it takes for traditional liposuction. Additionally, AirSculpt® procedures have a downtime of only 48 hours, allowing you to return to your responsibilities quickly.

AirSculpt® Benefits:

• We create a precise, symmetrical two-millimeter opening for fat removal using a biopsy punch instead of a scalpel. That means no large scarring!

• The automated movement of the mechanical cannula ensures precision and protects surrounding tissues. 

• The procedure avoids the use of general anesthesia, minimizing associated risks.

• You can opt for AirSculpt® +, an add-on treatment that uses Renuvion technology to tighten the skin with no additional entry points needed.

Schedule a Consultation With Us Today

At AirSculpt®, we truly believe that you should be able to make changes to your body without worrying about the risks linked to invasive surgeries. 

It's of utmost importance that in our Salt Lake City body contouring office, you're able to not only sculpt your body but sculpt your confidence as well. That's why we put great effort into using the most advanced technologies and hiring a staff that's more than capable of delivering stand-out, quality results.

For more information on how we can help you, call our Salt Lake office or the body sculpting center nearest you to schedule your free consultation.