how does the body “decide” where to store fat, or where to burn fat from?
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The “decision” is primarily genetic, but can also be influenced by changing hormones (whether natural or intentional) and lifestyle.
You have fat cells distributed throughout different areas of your body. The location of those cells is determined by your genetics, and you’ll gain weight in the areas where you have more fat cells.
The number of fat cells is relatively fluid before/during in adolescence and becomes “fixed” once you’re an adult. This is why childhood obesity is such a big deal. If you end up with a fixed number of cells that is too high it’s much harder to lose weight later in life.
Within a normal range your body will just enlarge its existing fat cells, but If you gain a lot of weight your body will grow new fat cells next to the existing ones. This is why it’s much harder to stay at a healthy weight if you were previously obese.
There’s no natural means of destroying fat cells, they just shrink when you lose weight. They can be destroyed by certain procedures and one very dangerous drug, but otherwise you’re stuck with them.
The biggest difference in fat storage is generally seen between men and women. Women start with extra fat cells around their hips, buttocks, and thighs to protect their reproductive system, as well as additional fat cells in their breasts. This means women will gain weight in those areas first; it’s extremely rare to see a pre-menopausal woman with a potbelly who doesn’t also have a lot of excess fat on the aforementioned areas.
Men don’t need fat cells to protect their reproductive organs, so they don’t start with extra cells in those areas. This results in greater variability in the areas where weight is gained, but the most common area is the lower abdomen and flanks. It’s very common to see men with a potbelly and no butt.
The difference in fat storage between men and women is less noticeable in old age, as both sexes stop producing as many hormones after menopause/andropause. This is why you see older women with a potbelly and older men with fat on their chest.
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That’s a very rough description of how fat storage works. When it comes to losing fat, your body is generally following a “first in, last out” policy where you’ll hold onto the fat you’ve had for the longest, while losing more recently gained fat. This is why it’s often very difficult for men to totally get rid of a potbelly and hard for women to lose fat on their hips/thighs.
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