1. Healthy Diet
The most important factor in shedding your love handles is diet. Avoid the fried foods and fatty foods. Focus on green vegetables and whole-grain carbs. Avoid processed sugars, although natural sugars (like those found in fruits) are essential to healthy eating. About 12 calories per pound of lean body weight is adequate, and the calories should come largely from lean proteins. As for simple carbs, eat them when:
1. They accompany other proteins like cottage cheese, meal replacement shakes and the like or
2. Immediately after a workout when they're beneficial for spiking insulin levels and promoting muscle growth. Try to eat about 1.5 grams of protein for every pound of your body weight, and focus keeping the fats low.
2. Cardiovascular Exercise
Increasing your cardiovascular expenditure is key to losing the love handles. The love handles are nothing more than stored fat, and the only way to reduce fat is to burn more calories than you eat. We dealt with the eating in part one, so now it's time to burn. Perform at least 30-45 minutes of cardio four to five times a week. For an added bonus, turn your weight-lifting workout into a circuit-style workout, limiting the rest between sets and turning the calorie expenditures up another notch.
3. Drink More Water
Drink at least eight cups (64 ounces) of water each day. Not only does evidence suggest that drinking adequate water can lessen your appetite, but it also makes your body much more efficient at rebuilding itself and flushing out the "bad" stuff ... including the waste produced when your body makes energy out of fat.
4. Eat More Often
When cutting fat, switch to eating six small meals a day instead of three larger ones to help boost your metabolism. Simply take your total calories for the day (12 calories per pound of body weight, as mentioned above) and divide it by six. Divided that by six meals, and eat that number of calories every three or four hours. This helps keep portions under control and helps you "feel" full throughout the day.
5. Try Twisting Floor Crunches
Lie on the floor with your legs bent at 45-degrees and your feet at shoulder-width flat on the floor. With one hand behind your head and your elbow pointed outward, place your other arm perpendicular to your body on the floor. Keep your eyes on the ceiling above you, and contract your abs until your stomach is completely flexed. As you come up, slowly twist your outstretched elbow toward the opposite knee. Concentrate on keeping your hips flat on the floor. Slowly return to the starting position, but be sure to keep your abs contracted throughout. Switch arms and repeat on the other side.
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