Dieting and exercise generally don't let you choose where you'll start losing weight first, but there are specific types of diets which will have more noticeable results around the waistline first--if your weight is caused by specific problems.
Low Carb
Diets like The South Beach Diet and Atkins New Diet Revolution advertise you'll lose weight in the abdomen and belly area first when following their eating plans, and this is true for most people.
Many overweight people today have a specific type of problem: the bulk of their fat is carried around the mid-section of their body, even though they may have little to no fat in other areas such as on the face, arms or legs. According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, this type of body fat is often caused by excessive consumption of simple starches and sugary foods, and it's most commonly seen with diabetics and people who are pre-dispositioned to have diabetes in the future.
When the bulk of your body fat is carried around the waistline in this manner though, low carb diets such as Atkins and South Beach can actually provide simple ways to start losing it quickly.
By following the steps of these diets closely, you'll not only start losing weight fast but you'll notice the weight seems to melt off of your waistline the fastest.
Atkins and The South Beach Diet are similar in their approaches to helping you lose weight. They both have three phases that are designed to accomplish important goals in your weight loss process. The details of each phase varies slightly between the two, as does the specific foods you're supposed to eat and avoid, but the approaches are quite similar.
Phase One of the diet is designed to help you lessen sugar cravings while giving you a quick jump on your weight loss. By cutting out cravings for sugar and simple starch foods, you're able to make more healthy eating choices that will help you maintain appropriate weight levels for life.
The second stage of a low carb diet is designed to help you continue losing weight at slower and healthier levels until you've reached your specific goals.
The last stage of both diets is known as a maintenance phase. At this point you've either lost all the extra body fat you needed to--or you're within about 10 pounds of your desired weight. By this point you've learned the ins and outs of how your body responds to specific foods, and you've adjusted to providing healthy alternatives that won't make you gain back all the weight you've lost.
So while you may have started on this type of diet to lose weight quickly around the waistline, if you've followed it through to the final phase you've completely changed your entire outlook on food, eating and weight management for life.
