The extra fat that protrudes over jeans and rests at the sides of the waist is also referred to as “love handles.” Often referred to as a muffin top, this fat may be challenging to shed, but it is achievable with the correct diet, regular exercise, and other lifestyle adjustments. Love handles aren’t great, despite their adorable names. There are many ways to get rid of love handles.
Many attempt to work this particular region by doing countless side crunches and other abdominal exercises that work the muscles called obliques, which run down the sides of the body. But this isn’t a practical method for losing love handles. You must alter your food, workout routine, and way of life if you want to lose love handles permanently.
Tips For Getting Rid Of Love Handles
1. Don’t Consume Added Sugar
When attempting to reduce body fat in any region, eating a healthy diet is one of the ways to get rid of love handles. Eliminating added sugar is among the most effective methods to purify your diet. Sports drinks, sodas, sweets, pastries, and other meals and beverages have added sugar. The natural sugar included in healthful meals like whole fruit is not covered by this definition.
Overeating added sugar not only increases the risk of heart disease, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and other health problems, but it also increases body fat, especially around the abdomen. Fructose is a simple sugar in sweeteners such as table sugar, honey, and agave nectar.
Fructose, particularly from sweetened drinks, has been linked to an increase in belly fat, according to research. Furthermore, the majority of meals high in sugar are low in nutrients but high in calories. Reducing the quantity of added sugar in your diet may aid in the reduction of love handles and other body fat.
2. Include Healthy Fats To Your Diet
Snacking on heart-healthy fats such as nuts, seeds, avocados, olive oil, and fatty fish will help reduce the size of your waist. Healthy fats taste great and also make you feel full, which reduces the amount of calories you eat during the day.
In one study including over 7,000 individuals, it was shown that those eating a high-fat Mediterranean diet supplemented with olive oil lost more weight and developed less belly fat than those following a low-fat diet.
You may reduce body fat by substituting diets high in healthy fats for those low in nutrients. This might be as easy as sprinkling your food with a few delicious avocado pieces. Indeed, research found that those who eat avocados often weigh less and have smaller waistlines than those who don’t. You may lose weight by including healthy fats in your diet, even if they are heavy in calories.
3. Consumer More Fiber
You may be able to know how to get rid of love handles by including foods high in soluble fiber in your everyday diet. Foods such as beans, almonds, cereals, vegetables, and fruits contain soluble fiber.
Due to its ability to slow down digestion and reduce sensations of hunger, it helps you feel fuller for longer. It has been shown that fiber’s ability to prolong sensations of fullness helps individuals eat fewer calories throughout the day, which results in weight reduction.
According to one study, patients lost an average of 3.7% of their visceral fat—a dangerous kind of abdominal fat—over five years when they increased their daily intake of soluble fiber by only 10 grams. Additionally, whole foods high in soluble fiber are often also high in nutrients. Additionally, they benefit the beneficial microorganisms in your stomach that promote wellness.
4. Move As Much As You Can
One of the best ways to get rid of love handles is to find easy ways to burn more calories throughout the day. Many individuals have desk occupations that require them to sit for long periods, and they also lead sedentary lives. Long hours of sitting have been linked to negative health and weight changes, according to studies.
In one research, 276 participants’ waist sizes increased by 0.05 inches (0.13 cm) for every 15 minutes of sedentary activity. The definition of sedentary activity was lying down or sitting. For weight reduction, even something as easy as setting a timer to get up and go to the water cooler every half hour may have a significant impact. Getting a pedometer is a terrific method to keep track of your daily steps and determine how active you are.
5. Avoid Stress
Your physical and emotional health is negatively impacted by stress, and it may even lead to belly fat accumulation. This is true because stress causes the hormone cortisol to be produced. Your adrenal glands release cortisol, sometimes referred to as the “stress hormone,” when you are under stress.
Even though this is a typical function, extended stress and excessive cortisol exposure may have unfavorable side effects such as headaches, anxiety, stomach problems, and weight gain. Increased cortisol levels have been associated with weight gain in several studies, particularly in the middle. Concentrate on practices like yoga and meditation that have been demonstrated to lower cortisol levels to minimize stress and avoid belly obesity.
6. Lift Weights
You may eliminate your love handles by exercising in any way, but including weight training in your regimen may be extremely helpful. It’s common to use the words resistance training, strength training, and weight training interchangeably. They’re all about strengthening your muscles by tightening them against opposition.
Resistance training aids in the development of lean muscle and increases resting metabolic rate, whereas aerobic training usually burns more calories during an exercise. It has been shown that burning belly fat may be achieved with great success when strength training and aerobic exercise are combined.
A combination of resistance and aerobic exercise was shown to be more effective in reducing body weight and belly fat than either aerobic exercise or strength training alone in research involving 97 overweight and obese individuals. Resistance exercise also slightly increases your metabolism, which aids in calorie burning throughout the day.
7. Dedicate More Time To Cardio
Any exercise that causes a sustained increase in heart rate is considered cardiovascular or aerobic exercise. They are an answer to how to get rid of love handles. Aerobic exercises may help minimize love handles by burning calories and reducing extra fat on the body.
Running and spinning are two examples of high-intensity aerobic exercises that terrify a lot of individuals. On the other hand, there are many simple, low-impact aerobic exercises that are suitable for beginners.
Whether you’re new to the world of aerobic exercise, swimming, using an elliptical machine, or just taking brisk walks are great options. Experts advise engaging in moderate-intensity aerobic activity for at least 150 minutes per week. That comes to almost 20 minutes a day.
8. Stay Hydrated
For optimum health, you must ensure that your body is well-hydrated. Even though water is the ideal beverage, many individuals choose juice, tea, sports drinks, and other sweetened beverages when they’re thirsty. The combination of calories and sugar in sweetened drinks might lead to weight gain around the waist.
Research has shown that consuming more sugar-sweetened drinks is associated with weight gain, particularly around the abdomen. Furthermore, the influence of liquid calories on hunger is not as strong as that of solid food, which makes it simpler to consume excessive amounts of sugar and calories in one’s drinks. Drink plain or sparkling water, or unsweetened tea, to stay hydrated instead of sugar-filled drinks.
9. Cut Down Alcohol Intake
Reducing alcohol consumption is a simple method of cutting calories and losing weight. Overindulgence in alcohol consumption has been associated with obesity and an increase in body fat, particularly around the middle. Moderate to excessive alcohol use was associated with an increased incidence of central and total obesity in research including over 2,000 participants.
Alcohol also stimulates brain cells that control appetite, making you feel more hungry and maybe leading to overindulgence in calories. Furthermore, a lot of alcoholic drinks include a lot of calories and added sugar, which might make you gain weight. While moderate alcohol use has been associated with health advantages such as a lower risk of heart disease, excessive alcohol consumption is bad for your general health and may increase your waist size.
Reason For Love Handles
Despite various ways to get rid of love handles, they are mostly caused by fat buildup in certain body regions. When a person eats more calories than they expend, fat cells build up. Overindulgence in food may accumulate fat over time, particularly in the regions around the waist and hips of a person.
Although fat may build up anywhere on the body, some regions—like the abdomen, hips, and lower back—are more likely to store fat than others. Several variables may affect how body fat is distributed and lead to the formation of love handles, including:
Hormones: Chemical messengers called hormones control several body functions. Hormones that affect hunger, metabolism, and body fat distribution include leptin, insulin, sex hormones, and growth hormones. Hormone variations may be present in obese individuals, which might promote the buildup of body fat.
Stress and Inadequate Sleep: Lack of sleep for both cortisol levels may be impacted by stress and reliable sources. A glucocorticoid that increases hunger, alters metabolism, and makes the body retain extra fat is called cortisol.
Age: Given that people’s body composition varies with age, having love handles may become more likely in older age. Generally speaking, body fat will start to accumulate as muscle mass starts to decline. Body fat may gather as a consequence around the waist and hips.
Physical Inactivity: Love handles growth may be influenced by frequent exercise or a lack of it. A person may start to gain body fat if they do not burn more calories than they take in. A diet heavy in fats, sweets, and high-calorie meals may also contribute to the formation of fat in addition to inactivity.
FAQ
Q: Does jogging make love handles less?
A: Running and other aerobic workouts may help you shed fat on your whole body, including your love handles. Aim for at least 150 minutes a week of your favorite aerobic activity, such as cycling, dancing, or running, for the greatest results.
Q: Why is it so difficult to shed a love handle?
A: Even after months or years of an exercise regimen, the fat that has been deposited around your stomach (for males) usually takes the longest to go from your body. It’s challenging to shed those last few pounds. In women, the hips, buttocks, and thigh area are usually where the remaining few pounds of fat are kept.
Q: Can you lose love handles with squats?
A: Squats are a great full-body workout that improves general fat reduction, including love handles, and lower body strength.
