How To Lose Weight In Your Face

It seems like all the weight you've gained in the last few months has gone directly to your face, making your face look much rounder than it used to. You might have also noticed that you have a bit of fat under your chin that's making you self-conscious.

Gaining weight is a part of life, and everyone does it. It can be particularly easy to gain weight and struggle to get it back off as you age. Since your face is the first thing you show the world, it can be easy to start searching for a quick fix to facial weight loss. But, weight loss is impossible to target in one area alone. Most of the time, you have to take a look at your overall health and find ways to make healthy changes to help you realize your goal of a slimmer face.

You can cut the gimmicks out of your life by learning a few proven ways to make your face look slimmer and more youthful. There are even a few tips for making facial massage and exercise work toward a slimmer facial appearance.

Take a look at your diet

There is no magic exercise that is suddenly going to make your cheeks and chin look thinner. So, you'll want to move toward a healthier diet. The key to losing weight is eating fewer calories than you burn in a day, according to Nourish by WebMD. This is called putting yourself in a caloric deficit. They note that reducing the number of calories you eat by 500 a day can create a caloric deficit and weight loss.

While cutting calories will make your face and body lose weight, it's important to realize that not all calories are created equal; ensure you're eating the right foods. The Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (OASH) states that a healthy diet contains whole fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy, proteins, and healthy oils. You should also limit your salt, sugar, and saturated fats intake. This doesn't mean you need to cut out the sweet stuff altogether; it just means eating high-calorie foods in moderation to keep a caloric deficit and promote a healthy lifestyle.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are several benefits to adults eating a healthy diet, like improving skin health, boosting immunity, and strengthening bones. It can also be beneficial in reducing your risk for cardiovascular issues, diabetes, and some cancers.

Add more cardiovascular activity to your week

A critical part of having a healthy lifestyle and creating a caloric deficit is getting moving to burn more calories. One way to reduce facial fat, according to Medical News Today, is to add more cardiovascular exercise to your workout routine. Current OASH guidelines recommend that an average adult get at least 150 minutes of cardiovascular exercise weekly. This can include anything from walking to running to swimming.

A 2015 research study in JAMA Oncology showed that doubling your cardiovascular routine to 300 minutes per week can lead to more significant fat loss for individuals. This can be extremely helpful for those looking to slim down their face. The study also noted, "These results suggest additional benefit of higher-volume aerobic exercise for adiposity outcomes and possibly a lower risk of postmenopausal breast cancer." While the study was small, only including 400 women, the benefits are hard to deny.

In addition to slimming down your face and body, cardiovascular exercise has many benefits for your heart, brain, and body. Cleveland Clinic points out cardiovascular activity improves blood pressure, heart rate, and cholesterol. It also increases blood flow to reduce the risk of stroke, among other things.

Try facial exercises to tighten facial muscles

Your face has muscles, just like the rest of your body. Medical intervention is required to remove fat from your face without diet and exercise; however, there are exercises that you can do to tighten the muscles within your face to make it look more toned. This has more to do with making your face look more youthful. According to Dr. Murad Alam, vice chair of dermatology at Northwestern University, in Today, "The purpose of the facial exercises seems to be to help to grow muscles under the fat pads such that, as you exercise them, they become larger in size and begin to perform some of the functions the fat pads were performing before to make your face look fuller." This is especially beneficial for older individuals looking to take a few years off their look. 

Your jaw and cheeks are the best areas to focus on for a more toned face. To work your jaw, Today suggests tilting your head back and extending your jaw. After holding it for 30 seconds, repeat several times. For cheeks, you can smile and make duck lips several times to work your cheek muscles.

Make face rolling part of your daily routine

Rolling your face doesn't make you lose weight, but it can pull fluid out of your face for a slimmer appearance. Cosmetic dermatologist Dr. Michele Green told NBC Select, "Face rollers are massage tools that temporarily boost circulation, tighten the skin and reduce puffiness." Several different face rollers and tools are available for you to try. Gua sha are flat, smooth tools made of rose quartz. You might also try a facial roller to massage swelling from your face.

To use this facial to brighten skin and reduce puffiness, add a bit of oil or moisturizer to your face, suggests Healthline. You can roll along your jawline from your chin to your ear or massage your forehead from the center to each side. The key is to move any swelling or puffiness away from the center of your face and toward your lymphatic system. However, this slimming effect is just temporary and must be continually done. 

The only surefire way to lose weight in your face is to eat a healthy diet and exercise. However, you can also add rolling and facial exercises to give your skin a less puffy, more youthful appearance.