Tips to Help Get Rid of Love Handles

Now that the temperature is heating up, you find that you are shirtless more often or wearing a bathing suit at least once per week.  In addition to noticing that it is hot outside, you notice in the mirror that your love handles still exist.  What gives?  You have been working out at the gym regularly and have been doing endless amounts of sit-ups and crunches to help eliminate the love handles.

The name implies they are “lovely,” but love handles are merely an extension of the side of your midsection at the oblique area on your body.  Love handles add length around your waist line, which has an association with heart disease.  Mostly know for aesthetics, love handles may have you staring at that mirror more than you should and obsessing on how to eliminate them.  Listed below are effective ways for reducing love handles on the side of your mid-section.

Tips to Help Get Rid of Love Handles

• Reduce your Daily Calories. A general rule of thumb is that a pound of fat is equivalent to 3,500 calories either through diet or through physical activity.  If you shred 100 calories every day for an entire year, you would shred off 10 pounds of fat [1].  Why does this matter?  Eliminating your love handles does not happen with a magic wand, it happens through a lifestyle managed with physical activity and diet.  When you cut 10 pounds off your body over the entire year, you are likely shredding fat from your mid-section, which is where your love handles reside.  How many different ways can you eliminate 100 calories from your daily intake?
• Explosive Exercise. This is commonly referred to power workouts.  Any type of exercise in which you need to explode through your movement is considered power exercise.  One of the best workouts for eliminating love handles is to perform box jumps.  Box jumps require jumping up against gravity again and again until your desired set is met [2].  Try four sets of 20 box jumps using the height you feel safe using on the box.  When you rest between sets, stay standing up and make sure to keep your form with each jump.
• Cardio. Aside from diet, cardio exercise is the most important way one can eliminate love handles.  A very common myth is to perform sit-ups until the love handles disappear, but actually cardio and a proper diet will help aid in this.  Aim to complete at least 30 minutes of cardio every day for at least five days per week.  Give it a good two or three months before evaluating your love handle results.  Be sure to exercise at least at a moderate intensity and some cardio exercises that are perfect for eliminating your love handles include brisk-fast walking, jogging, running, cycling, fast-paced elliptical, or a step machine/stair climbs.  Out of all of these, cycling may be most conducive for eliminating love handles.
• Sleep. Avoiding sleep or not having enough sleep could have you feeling tired throughout the day, which could mean you skip out on a workout or you not working hard enough when at the gym.  In addition, the lack of sleep could have your mind craving sweet foods; this is often a result of improper hormone balance and is common among those who are sleep deprived.  Lastly, when you are tired, your body secretes cortisol in the blood in higher amounts, which could also have you feeling even more tired and craving more food when you may not be hungry [3].
• Alcohol. This is the most common theme for many who are regular drinkers.  Love handles appear much quicker with a habit of one drink per night (the recommended “dose” of alcohol).  Alcohol slows the breakdown of fat at rest and it promotes the storage of fat in the subcutaneous area around the body.  In addition, alcohol tends to store fat in the mid-section of the body, hence the term “beer belly.”  This could be the single most-effective method for eliminating your love handles.

Your Challenge

If love handles affect you and your lifestyle, no need to worry, help is here.  Simple lifestyle modifications including a reasonable diet, cardio exercise, plenty of sleep, and avoiding alcohol will help cut back on your love handles.  Over this summer, challenge yourself to sleep 7-9 hours daily, eat reasonably portioned food, avoid alcohol and sugary drinks, and try switching your exercise routine to include more cardio and power exercises.  These small lifestyle changes will have your love handles reduced and ready for the rest of the summer.

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