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Losing Love Handles

I have awful love handles. They are my definite problem spot. I know spot training is difficult/impossible, but there must be something I can do! Is there any foods I can avoid or exercises I can do to get rid of these gross love handles?

We all love eating muffin tops, but we definitely don’t like wearing them! Love handles are a troublesome area for most women all over the world. While curves are nice, the fat bulging out of the jeans is not attractive.

Contrary to popular belief, spot reduction does not exist for specific targeted areas. Those love handles will not magically disappear through specific exercise moves . . . hints why those sit-ups, day in and day out, are not losing the spare tire around the waist.

So what does spot training do? Spot training builds muscle. The only problem is that all the fat is still there, covering up the newly built muscle. So if spot training doesn’t aid in losing those love handles, than what will?

The only way to lose those love handles is to burn off the overall fat storage of the entire body. A daily regimen of exercise and clean eating is key to losing fat and those awful love handles. Unfortunately, we do not get to choose where the fat will come off first. Each person will lose fat in different areas first, but eventually the love handles will come off!

Here is a breakdown of how to lose those love handles:

  • Clean up your diet
    • Increase your veggies, fruits, and whole wheat breads
    • Decrease sugar, white bread, and empty calorie intake
    • Lose the soda and juices, and start drinking water
    • Eat a low calorie diet or no less than 1,200 calories per day
    • Avoid fried, buttered, sauced, battered, or creamy foods
       
  • Exercise
    • Exercise 5-6 days a week for 30-60 minutes. Cardio is a great way to burn off calories and fat storage.
    • Whole body weight training 2-3 days a week will build muscle. Muscle aids in increasing your calorie burn while at rest, so muscle will speed up the process in burning off those love handles.
    • While sit-ups shouldn’t be the focus while losing those love handles, we want to tone the abdominal area so that when the fat starts to melt away, we will have sexy abs! End each workout session with 3 sets of 20 sit-ups.


Good luck losing those Love Handles!

Ruth Rogers’ passion for fitness and health started at an early age being involved in several sports such as gymnastics and springboard diving. She holds a degree in Kinesiology, with an emphasis in Exercise and Nutrition. Currently she is going back to school for yet another degree in Nursing to help improve the lives of those around her. Residing in Phoenix, AZ she strives to find a balance between being a wife, student, and nurse extern in 2 of the local hospitals. Utilizing her skills and knowledge in the field of exercise and nutrition, she has created a website called “She-Fit” which strives to help women live a healthy lifestyle, allowing women of all ages to not only look their best but to live out their dreams and feel good about themselves. She serves as a personal nutrition and exercise coach, consulting women to define and address their health needs. She-Fit can be found at http://she-fit.com.