Love handles are those collections of excess fat that hang on the sides of your waistline. No woman seems to love these handles, and if you have them, you most likely do not want them. Women are predisposed to carry more fat around the hips and thighs and also the love handle area. It is impossible to spot reduce fat on specific body parts. It takes hard work and commitment through balancing your diet and exercise to reduce overall body weight and eliminate the appearance of love handles.
Lose Your Love Handles
Step 1
A balanced diet provides the necessary nutrients needed to maintain a strong and healthy body. To lose love handles, create a negative energy balance by taking in fewer calories than you expend. Use a nutrition log to track your daily intake and calorie totals. To lose 1 pound each week, cut your caloric intake by 500 calories a day for seven days to create a calorie deficit of 3,500 calories, which is equivalent to 1 pound.
Step 2
Engage in consistent cardiovascular exercise and total-body strength training. Cardiovascular exercise such as running, walking and swimming burns calories and trims fat. Strength training is responsible for increasing lean muscle mass and raising your basal metabolic rate. According to the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines, to achieve health benefits such as weight loss, which go beyond health maintenance, you need five hours of moderate cardiovascular activity per week or two and a half hours of intense cardiovascular activity per week. The guidelines also recommend a minimum of two total-body strength-training sessions per week.
Step 3
Perform exercises designed to strengthen the core muscles. On three days or more per week, do Pilates or calisthenics-based exercises that target your internal obliques, external obliques, transversus abdominis and rectus abdominis. Include isometric exercises such as plank holds and side planks. Also include multiple muscle group exercises such as pushups and burpees, which combine squats, pushups and vertical jumps into one exercise.
Step 4
Train consistently. Your results will not happen overnight and you need to remain committed to healthy eating and exercising regularly in order to see results. Some exercise is better than no exercise at all. If you are short on time, break up your workouts into 10-minute segments throughout the day. Allow at least 48 hours of recovery between working out the same muscle groups.
Tips and Warnings
- Consume lean proteins such as egg whites and skinless chicken breasts to feel full and avoid splurging on unhealthy snacks.
- Receive clearance from your health care provider prior to starting an exercise program.
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