Love handles represent distressing problems for millions of men and women alike across America. When a person has an excessive deposit of belly fat that also goes around the sides and sometimes to the back, this is the condition that’s become known as love handles. And while the primary motivation of most is to lose these love handled for a better look and a better fit of their clothes, it’s worth remembering any excessive fat build-ups can be detrimental to health.
Mercifully, it’s perfectly possible to declare war on love handles and reduce their size and appearance in no time at all. It takes effort and commitment, but the results are always worth the input.
By far and wide, there’s nothing on Earth that can help the process of toning and shaping your body quite like regular and carefully target exercise. And in the love handle department, there are plenty of exercises perfectly suited to reducing their size and appearance.
The bicycle crunch is a simple twist on the standard variation. To perform the move, begin by lying on your back with your hands behind your ears. Next, carefully raise your right knee toward your chest and at the same time bring forward your left elbow to meet your knee in the middle. Alternate between left and right, straightening your bent leg as your bring the other in.
Sit on the floor with your feet flat and your knees bent. Next, begin leaning back into a gentle incline that forces you to use your abdominal muscles to remain upright. When comfortable, stretch your arms out in front of you and begin twisting your torso first to the left, then to the right. The exercise can be intensified by holding a medicine ball or any safe weight.
Line up your arm beneath the side of your body and rest either on your hand or your forearm. Next, dip your hips toward the ground in a slow and controlled movement, before raising them back.
The plank knee drive involves entering the plank position (you can rest on your hands or your elbows) and bringing one knee in at a time in a slow motion until it almost touches your elbow. The leg is then returned to a straight position and the other leg brought forward.
To perform a low plank, lay down on the floor and rest on your forearms and elbow. Next, lift the weight of your body using your feet and legs, holding the position for up to three minutes before gently lowering back to the ground.
The high plank is performed in the same manner as the low plank, though using the full length of your arms to rest on your hands, rather than your elbows.
As is the case with almost all instances of body shaping and toning, your success or otherwise will be determined by whether or not you give your body the right fuel to work with along the way.
Fruits and vegetables naturally encourage the body to lower its fat levels and promote a healthy shape. Packed with vitamins, essential fiber and other nutrients, fruit and veg are your firm friends when battling love handles.
Lean protein is essential to promote an overall good state of health throughout the body. Foods high in protein include chicken, lean beef, tofu, eggs and legumes. In addition, you should be making the effort to ensure that you meet your necessary daily intake of fat in the form of only the healthiest fats and oil, such as Omega 3-rich fish, olive oil and nuts.
Fiber not only helps you feel fuller for longer, but also encourages the expulsion of fat from the body. Fruits, vegetables, legumes are all fiber rich foods. As such, be sure to up your fiber intake and favor wholegrain carbs such as quinoa and oatmeal over the processed variety.
Processed foods are for the most part bursting with artificial additives, flavorings and preservatives that do nothing for your health. The best advice therefore is to avoid processed food to the highest possible extent and instead favor fresh, natural foods.
Eating large meals twice each day does nothing good for your body. When looking to lose weight and promote health, you should never allow yourself to become too hungry and nor should you gorge on huge portions of food. Instead, you should eat little and often to remain satisfied all day, while avoiding eating late at night.
Water is essential for all of the body’s processes and it is 100% impossible to lose weight without enough water intake. Always drink a large glass of water each morning to make up for the overnight drought, being such to consume at least two liters throughout the rest of the day.
Alcohol plays havoc with the body’s blood sugar control system and can directly lead to excess fat being stored around the belly. So, be sure to keep alcohol intake to a minimum.
Sleep can make a huge difference to weight loss as a fatigues body produces more cortisol which contributes to the storing of belly fat. Sleep better and sleep regularly at the same time each day.
When your body detects stress, more cortisol is released which can directly lead to more fat being stored around the belly, sides and back. So before you set out on your six-month plan to lose those love handles, learn how to relax.