My fat distribution changes when I'm on prednisone. When I'm on prednisone, my appetite increases like crazy and I usually gain about 10 pounds, but when I'm coming off of it, my appetite disappears and I usually lose the weight and sometimes more than what I started with.

I always gain love handles, my cheeks get round, and my abdomen bulges out.

Now I usually have my body return to normal when I lose the weight coming off prednisone, but this last time I started to lift while coming off prednisone (something I've never done) and so because of that, I made sure I was bulking and put on a little more weight.

I was the heaviest I was at 173ish and I'm not at 161. My ribs are extremely visible and when I put my forearm on the table and roll it, you can hear the bones attached at the elbow rolling on the table.

My question is, do you think that I need to continue losing weight till I lose the pouch on the front of my abs and love handles and once I do that, I can put weight back on with normal weight distribution?

Basically do the love handles and anterior portion of abs maintain the fat because I haven't lost enough fat and then once I do, I'll go back to normal distribution when gaining weight or will I always have this distribution of fat now?

Fat distribution patterns change as a consequence of corticosteroid use. It's called Cushing syndrome, chronic stress hormones elevate blood sugar levels and promote storage of adipose near the core to "protect" organs. Cushing syndrome is the stereotypical presentation of abdominal fat deposition and moon face or fat cheeks and just one of the many undesirable effects associated with chronic corticosteroid use. Obviously individuals with adrenal issues can also suffer from this syndrome. Essentially once your blood steroid levels return to normal your body will hopefully resume a normal distribution pattern but you may need to reduce body fat levels to get rid of what has been deposited