Love handles. This endearing term is not so endearing to those who have them – men or women. They actually refer to bulges of fat around the midsection that no one wants. They were probably originally called “love handles” because partners may have grabbed onto them during moments of physical intimacy. But they are hardly attractive to the person who has them. And both men and women do have them – count on it. These love handles are the result of the body’s need to store fat, and that fat is right underneath the skin – it’s called subcutaneous fat. Which brings us to the first important part of this discussion – FAT.
Let’s Talk Fat
Everyone has a body mass index. This is the ratio of one’s weight to one’s height, and it is used to determine the amount of body fat a person has. Anyone can google the formula for this and figure out their own. A healthy body mass index is anywhere from 15 to 18, even up to 24, but definitely no higher.
Fat is important in overall health – in both positive and negative ways. It’s positive when used as an energy reserve. When not, fats cells accumulate in all parts of the body and cause excess weight gain, not a good thing, no matter what the body forms.
There are two types of fat – subcutaneous and visceral. And there’s a big difference.
Subcutaneous Fat
Subcutaneous fat sits right below the skin, and it has some important purposes to fulfill.
First, it protects muscles and bones from injury, acting like a cushion. And it also provides good mobility during physical activities.
Second, it helps the body regulate its temperature. When it’s cold outside, fat helps to trap internal body heat and keep it there.
Third, it serves as a reserve source of energy. For example, when someone is exercising and uses up more calories than they have, the extra energy is pulled up from fat cells. This is also the case when someone is dieting. They use more calories than they are taking in, and fat is used as a reserve. That’s why they lose weight and reduce body fat.
Visceral Fat – The Fat You Don’t Want
Visceral is deep fat that surrounds vital organs and disrupts normal functions of those organs. It can cause what is known as metabolic syndrome – a series of disorders including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic diseases such as COPD. Visceral fat accumulation is dangerous, and those who store fat of this type put their lives at risk.
But this article is about love handles, and those come from subcutaneous fat. You want to know how to get rid of them.
Universal Strategies to Work Off Love Handles
Men and women tend to accumulate subcutaneous fat and thus love handles in different places. For men, love handles generally hang out around the middle, the waistline. For women, love handles tend to hang out on the thighs, hips, and butt areas and also in the upper arms. This means that part of getting rid of love handles, especially via exercise, will be different for them. But there are some universal ways for how to get rid of love handles, for both men and women.
Increase Sleep
There’s plenty of research out there that says lack of sleep leads to increase in excess body fat. Most people think this is because the later we stay up at night, the more we snack. There is some truth to this – that snacking will lead to increased belly fat. But there are other factors at play here too.
Most people have never heard of ghrelin – it’s a hunger hormone released in the stomach. Then there is leptin, another hormone released in the stomach that makes you feel full. Lack of sleep actually increases the levels of ghrelin in the stomach, and this makes people crave calories from high fat, high sugary foods. These give a quick “high” but are absorbed so quickly that leptin doesn’t have a chance to take hold.
Another factor in the lack of sleep is the increased production of cortisol, also called the stress hormone. Long-term lack of sleep means long-term over-production of cortisol. And cortisol increases the appetite.
Reduce Stress
This obviously goes with the info above. The stress hormone cortisol does not help you lose excess body fat. In fact, it contributes to excess fat and excess fat accumulation. It would be a good idea to reduce your stress.
How do you do that? You’ll have to find what works for you. Some people find that Yoga or meditation helps; others find that physical exercise helps. And surprise here – many find that getting more sleep helps too.
You may need to do a little self-reflection and identify the triggers for your stress and how you are dealing with them. For some people, a quick fix is closing their eyes and taking 12 deep breaths; for others, it may mean taking a walk; still for others, it may mean changing their work habits – like being unavailable for work texts and messages at night – fat loss is not just a matter of burning calories. It’s about getting a healthy hormonal balance too.
Healthy Diet
Everyone knows that an unhealthy diet – filled with junk food – is one of the biggest contributors to fat retention and weight gain. And if someone is kinda hooked on it, it’s hard to resist. But resist you must, if you are going to reverse the fat weight gain you are experiencing. You are never going to get rid of love handles until you do.
So, let’s talk about a balanced diet. Healthy eating is a must for losing body fat. And you probably already know what healthy foods are. A diet rich in natural fruits and vegetables, healthy fats, and whole grain carbs fits the bill.
Here is a first step to think about. Look at an empty dinner plate. One half of that plate should be filled with produce. The other half should be filled with lean proteins and whole grains.
So, what are lean proteins? Things like skinless chicken breasts, white fish, turkey, salmon, and such. You can google the term and find a full list.
Reduce the alcohol and sugar soda consumption to a bare minimum. These are empty calories that will turn into fat.
Every morning, drink 16 ounces of water – this will trigger the body’s metabolism for the day.
Eat several smaller portion meals during the day. This keeps metabolism going at all times.
Again, the basics apply. if you eat high calorie foods and burn fewer calories than you take in, you will put on excess weight and increase overall body fat.
But here’s the other thing about those little fat cell demons. They seek out their own, meaning they will go where other fat cells are already accumulated and make themselves at home there. And so, your love handles in your midsection, hips and abdominal area, or elsewhere will continue to accumulate. Body fat distribution is not one of equal opportunity. And belly fat already there welcomes them home.
The other issue as you begin to lose weight and thus excess fat is that the fat loss tends to occur in thinner parts of your body first, like your face – pretty disappointing. So, you will need to do other things to lose fat in the places where excess has accumulated.
Read on.
The Quick Fix
If you are looking for a fast and painless way for how to get rid of love handles, or other subcutaneous body fat for that matter (belly fat, for example), there are cosmetic procedures that will give pretty dramatic results in short order. Of course, they are a bit on the pricey side.
There is a process called cool sculpting that freezes subcutaneous fat cells that are then eliminated from your body. Another procedure uses heat to liquefy fat cells.
You get fat reduction over a period of a couple of months along with a pretty dramatic weight loss too.
And while this is a quick way to lose weight, it should be noted here that unless you change your diet and sedentary lifestyle, that weight loss will only be temporary. If you’re going to reduce body fat permanently, you will make the necessary changes. Otherwise, old body composition will return, and you’ve wasted your money.
Exercise
There are common exercise strategies for both men and women. Some of them are really easy and simple things.
Be more active in general. Get a pedometer and work up to walking 10,000 steps a day. Instead of sitting, stand while talking on the phone or texting, while watching TV, or if you take public transportation to work. Make a 30-minute walk part of your daily routine. As you get more used to walking, pick up that pace.
Cardiovascular exercises refer to any form of exercise that increases the heart rate and burns a lot of calories. For weight loss, including fat loss, it’s the same tune here – burn more calories than you take in, so that you reduce excess fat by using it as an energy reserve. At the same time, you build more muscle mass. Weight lifting, kick boxing, swimming, cycling, running, and even brisk walking are all examples of cardios. And you can get to a healthy weight, work all the muscles in the body, but still have fat storage in certain areas.
In short, cardio doesn’t spot reduce body fat. For that, you must target those specific areas with specific exercises. And the exercise routine will differ for men and women, based upon the areas to be targeted.
Targeted Exercises for Women
In addition to cardio, there are specific exercises to reduce fat in the hips, thighs, butt, stomach, and upper arms, along with strengthening the core muscles in each area.
Planks – Oblique Muscles and Hip Exercises
The regular plank position is like a pushup. Make sure the body is in a straight line. Hold that position for up to two minutes while breathing deeply. The straight line is important – otherwise,
From that position, turn on the left side, placing the left elbow on the floor. Keeping the body straight, hold that position for up to two minutes. If that left elbow becomes painful, put some extra padding under it. From this position, it is also easy to raise the left leg, stretching it up, until feeling a good pull on the inner thigh. Reverse positions and repeat on the right side resting on the right elbow.
Also from the side plank position, a person can lower the hip a short amount and then slowly lift that hip as high as possible. This will work those butt muscles and help to reduce fat there.
Crunches
There are lots of variations of crunches. The most common is to lie on the back, raise the legs in the air and then reach each arm out toward the corresponding leg. This is great for belly fat.
Another variation of a plank is Russian twists. Sit down with knees bent at a 90-degree angle and the lower back raised at about a 45-degree angle. Twist the upper body from side to side, engaging the abdominal muscles. Russian twists will work on the pesky abdominal fat.
Upper Arm Muscles and Fat
This is an easy exercise to do while standing and watching TV. Swing the arms behind the body and raise them as high as possible. Then try to bring those arms together in that position. Of course, the arms will not come together – the point is to work those upper arms. Doing this 3-4 times a day for a count of 100 tries each will build muscle and reduce that fat. This reduces that flabbiness that women often experience as they begin to age.
Just for the Butt
Lie on the floor, knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Arms should be flat on the floor too. Gradually raise the buttocks off the floor as high as possible and hold that position for as long as possible. If you goal is a nice tight butt, this will bring it on.
Chair Yoga
This is often thought of as an exercise routine for older women. Not so. Anyone who wants to work every part of their body would do well to go online and find a video with full instructions for each exercise. And these exercises also work on visceral fat in the stomach area, contributing to better overall health.
Dog Imitation
Get down on all fours, palms on the floor and knees bent just as a dog stands. Lift the left leg at the left knee, stretch out that leg, and slowly take it up and down. Do this about 25 times and switch to the right knee, doing the same.
Women have more love handles than men as a rule. But men’s love handles also have some specific exercises for that problem.
Love Handles Exercises for Men
The overall issue is this. Men lose fat in the reverse order that it is deposited. The midsection is the first place for fat deposits and the last place it will be taken off.
The other issue is that the oblique muscles, those under the midsection, are thin and won’t bulk up a lot.
In addition to all of the lifestyle and diet changes covered above, it’s time to look at a regular exercise routine that will work on the fat in that midsection.
Most experts recommend a rotational routine involving high intensity interval training (these will burn calories up to 48 hours afterward), weight training, core exercises (planks, crunches, bicycle crunches), total body strength training (squats, upper body pull and push days, and long, slow, distance sessions on alternate days. Here’s an example of a weekly routine:
- Day 1: Total-body strength training – core exercises
- Day 2: HIIT cardio – high intensive interval training
- Day 3: Total-body strength training
- Day 4: Long, steady-state cardio – continuous, slower rate cardios, without breaks
- Day 5: Total-body strength training
- Day 6: HIIT cardio
- Day 7: Rest
Don’t Discount Chair Yoga
It’s been discussed above. Check out a video and practice these in between the regular weekly program of exercise.
This routine, along with diet and lifestyle changes, will ultimately impact those midsection love handles, along with a much more acceptable body weight. But no one should be surprised to find that fat deposits in other areas go first.
You Can Do This…
If a person is totally serious about getting rid of those love handles, men or women, it can be done. It takes motivation, persistence, and, most of all, some patience while the diet, lifestyle, and exercise pay off.
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