Expert's opinion
There are several factors that affect the appearance of excess facial fat. Plump fat pads in the right spots on your face have a lot to do with helping you appear youthful. As we age, fat pads may change and start to migrate, making us look older.[1]
However, if your face fat is too prominent, your face may look too round or bottom-heavy. Facial bloating can also make our faces look overfull or puffy.
Wondering how to lose face fat overnight? Here are a few tips to help your face look slimmer.
How To Lose Face Fat Overnight
Fat pads are an important part of our facial anatomy, and actually help us look more youthful. But many of us have excess fat in the wrong places, making us wish we could slim our face and neck. If you’re concerned about losing face fat, there are a few things you can do to help your face look slimmer.
- Stay hydrated.
- Try to get enough sleep.
- Reduce salt intake.
- Avoid excessive alcohol consumption.
- Do facial exercises.
- Avoid overeating before bed.
- Consider buccal fat pad reduction.
- Reduce overall body fat to shrink facial fat pads.
How To Lose Face Fat Overnight
Extra body fat can increase the size of fat cells in the face just like in other areas of the body. Although it’s not possible to shrink unwanted fat in one spot without addressing your overall body weight, there are a few ways you can help reduce the appearance of puffiness and bloating to help your face appear slimmer while you wait for longer-term results.
Hydrate
Although there aren’t many effective methods for how to lose face and neck fat overnight, drinking plenty of water can help your face look slimmer.
Dehydration can make your face look puffy because of water retention. Staying hydrated is a quick way to reduce bloating in many areas, including your face.
How much water you should drink depends on factors like your activity level and body weight. However, drinking enough water is beneficial for your overall health.
As a bonus, drinking enough water can help with weight loss and help your skin look great!
Get Enough Sleep
Sleep deprivation can show on your face.[2] For example, fatigue can cause fluid to build up in the tissues under your eyes, leading to dark bags under the eyes.
Getting a good night’s sleep can help your face look slimmer by relieving eye bags, improving circulation to your face, and enhancing your complexion.
Do Facial Exercises
Part of the problem with facial fat is that it doesn’t always sit where we want it. Facial muscle exercises can tone and strengthen facial muscles, helping to lift the tissues of the lower face and neck.
Effective facial exercises include movements for the lips, jaw, cheeks, tongue, and neck.
While performing facial muscle exercises can’t spot-reduce fat in your face, and won’t make a difference overnight, sticking with facial exercises may enhance the lines of your face and neck[3] over time.
Reduce Your Salt Intake
A high sodium intake can contribute to water retention, which causes bloating. Frequently, people with a high sodium intake eat a lot of processed foods, which also contributes to weight gain. And as previously mentioned, overall body fat factors directly into the appearance of face fat.
Reducing your salt intake by avoiding processed foods can help prevent fluid retention and slim the contours of your face by helping you stick to a healthy diet that will help you lose excess body fat.
Consider Buccal Fat Pad Reduction, Liposuction, and Filler
If you’re specifically worried about chubby cheeks or you want to know how to lose face fat in 24 hours, cosmetic procedures like buccal fat pad reduction[4] or neck liposuction are possible options.
Face fat reduction procedures are typically minimally invasive and have lasting results, but they’re not right for everyone. In some cases, you may get better results with procedures to firm and lift your skin, such as filler to strengthen the angle of the jaw, which can help your face and neck appear slimmer.
Avoid Drinking Too Much Alcohol
Alcohol consumption can cause dehydration, which as we’ve already discussed, can make you retain water and cause facial bloating. Excessive alcohol intake further contributes to a puffy face by making superficial blood vessels in the face swell.
Taking care not to drink too much will also help you lose weight since alcohol is high in calories and contributes directly to weight gain.
Avoid Overeating Before Bed
Many of us run low on willpower late in the day. Going to bed hungry can disrupt your sleep, but overeating right before bed tends to mean binging on salty, sugary, and starchy foods.
Overeating before bed can trigger inflammation and increase the appearance of fat in your face. Try to eat a balanced diet rich in healthy fats, plenty of protein, and whole grains to help you feel fuller and longer so you’re not tempted to eat too much before bed.
Can You Lose Fat From Just Your Face?
Unfortunately, it’s not possible to lose fat from one specific area of the body unless you’re considering surgical interventions. Lowering your overall body fat percentage will shrink fat stores in all areas of the body, including your face.
Interestingly, some research even indicates that face fat is strongly associated with abdominal fat,[5] and may even predict insulin resistance conditions like diabetes and prediabetes.
Sustainable weight loss strategies can help reduce fat throughout the body, including your face, and enhance health conditions that can cause bloating, puffiness, and swelling in the face and neck.
How To Prevent Facial Fat
Prevent Weight Gain With Cardio
Exercising regularly is key to maintaining a healthy weight as well as enhancing your cardiovascular health. Face fat has been associated with high blood pressure[6] and other indicators of poor health. Consistent cardio can help you reduce facial fat, fluid retention, and cardiovascular concerns that are associated with facial swelling.
Build Muscle to Lose Weight While You Sleep
If you want to lose fat overnight, building muscle can promote fat burning even while you rest! The more muscle mass you have, the higher your basal metabolic rate, and the more calories you burn while you’re sleeping.
It’s especially important for women to do regular weight-bearing exercise, which can help us avoid osteoporosis, balance issues, and adult-onset diabetes.
Fight Back Against Your Double Chin
When most people complain about facial fat, they’re mostly concerned about excess weight in the lower face and neck. There are a few things you can do to keep a double chin at bay.
- Stay hydrated to help reduce the appearance of your double chin.
- Consider talking to your doctor or qualified clinician about minimally invasive cosmetic treatments like Kybella injections to get rid of your double chin.
- Do facial exercises to help lift the muscles under your chin.
- Ask your provider if filler in the jaw or cheekbones could help lift the skin contributing to your double chin.
Control Your Calorie Intake
Crash dieting to lose weight fast typically leads to rebounding and even more weight gain later. A slow and steady approach to reducing your calorie intake by making small lifestyle changes is a better approach to sustainable weight loss.[7]
Mindful eating is a great first step to learning how to listen to your body’s cues, which will help you learn to limit portion sizes more naturally, rather than trying to force a drastic reduction in calorie intake right away.
Learning how to eat less can be an ongoing process with ups and downs. Be patient with yourself!
Conclusion
Although it’s not possible to lose fat from your face without addressing your overall body weight, there are a few things you can do to help your face look slimmer by reducing facial bloating and puffiness.
Staying hydrated can help improve skin tone and help you reach your weight loss goals. Avoid overeating salty processed foods and overdoing it on alcohol.
If you want immediate results, you can also consider cosmetic procedures that can sculpt the shape of your face.
Frequently Asked Questions
The only way to reduce fat stores in one specific area of the body is with surgery like liposuction or buccal fat pad reduction.
Probably. Losing body weight shrinks fat stores throughout your body. However, if you have persistent facial swelling, you may need to talk to your doctor about other health concerns.
Overeating, especially highly processed and high sodium foods, can cause inflammation and water retention that can cause bloating in many tissues, including your face.
Buccal fat pads are localized fat stores in the cheeks. These pads are important to a youthful appearance in the face. They can be surgically reduced, but it’s not the best recommendation for every face. In some cases, adding filler to the cheekbones or jawline is a better approach to create a more angular face without removing too much fat. Your doctor, dentist trained in cosmetic procedures, or other qualified clinician can help you decide what treatments are best for you!