How can I get rid of a double chin?

If you have the true “double chin” it generally means you are carrying excess fat under the chin near the throat area. The fat tends to sag down creating a wrinkle, hence the term “double chin”. In this case, all you need to do is lose weight by consuming fewer calories than you. That is, maintain a calorie deficit by moving more, eating less or doing any combination of the two. No matter what you read, no exercise alone can fix this problem. When you gain fat, you gain it everywhere, and each person gains more in certain places than others. Unfortunately, just as you can’t control where you store fat, you also can’t control where you lose it. In other words, you can’t spot reduce so no exercise can target losing fat from a particular area. You can only decrease your fat stores overall by eating fewer calories than you burn. Continue this process until the fat layer around the chin and neck area reduces to the point where the “double chin” disappears. As you maintain a calorie deficit, body fat will leave from whatever area your body was genetically programmed to draw it from. As a rule of thumb, the last place fat was put on is the first place off when dieting. The other option is to surgically remove the fat pad under the chin or liposuction.

A double chin also results from losing fat in the neck area, and the skin that was stretched by the previous increase in fat stores doesn’t resume its original size and shape because of age-related decline in elastin. Elastin is a protein in connective tissue that allows tissues in the body to resume their shape after stretching or contracting. Elastin helps skin return to its original position when pushed or pinched. As we age, elastin significantly declines leading to loose, wrinkly skin. The other reason a double chin forms is from simply having loose skin due to a number of reasons, including genetics. There is no cure for either of these “double chin” causes except cosmetic surgery that removes the loose skin.