Losing Love Handles: A How-To Guide

We call them “love handles,” but everybody hates theirs. So how do you get rid of them?

In this article, we’ll explain how you can get rid of your love handles and feel better about your body.

HOW TO GET RID OF LOVE HANDLES

If you’re looking to get rid of your love handles, there’s a lot that you’ll have to do. Fortunately, you probably know most of these things already.

FOCUS ON WEIGHT LOSS

The fact is, the term “love handles” is just a cutesy way of saying belly fat. At the end of the day, that’s what we’re really talking about.

If you want to know how to get rid of love handles, the primary secret is, burning fat and losing weight.

There are tons of websites out there that will promise you an exercise routine that can blast your belly fat away, but most of them don’t work. That’s not because exercise doesn’t help. It does. But you can’t choose where you lose fat from.

Some people lose it in the hips first. Some people lose it in their face, Others lose it from their belly. You’re going to lose weight from whatever fat stores your body decides to pull energy from.

If you want to lose your love handles, you’re just going to have to keep on losing weight until you start seeing results. So how do you do that?

RUN, RUN, RUN

Running is a great way to burn a lot of calories in a relatively short period of time. It’s also a great workout for your cardiovascular system.

Running, and other forms of cardio, are great if you’re looking to lose weight. You can even do it before or after you weight train too.

So when I say run, you can sub that out for another form of cardio if you would like. The main points being… moving your body, breaking a sweat, and burning calories to help create the caloric deficit you need to lose weight.

So if you want to get rid of that excess body fat, going for a run can help.

LIFT, LIFT, LIFT

This might seem counterintuitive, but lifting weights is another good way to work on losing love handles. Sure, it’s good to develop big, strong muscles, but your abs are never going to outmuscle excess body fat. So why bother?

Lifting weights is great because developing more lean muscle tissue requires extra energy, calories every day, to maintain its self. Which means you will naturally burn more calories in your day.

If nothing else, even if you kept your calorie intake the same, but you gained more muscle, you’d know that you’re burning more calories while at rest than you would be otherwise.

Adding some lean muscle tissue can help make your weight loss efforts easier long term plus give you the toned, athletic look most people want... O and keep the results after you earn them!

MAKE EATING WELL A PRIORITY

You won't be able to out-work a bad diet. It’s just not feasible.

You can work out all day, but if you’re eating a bunch of crap and consuming more calories than you’re burning, all you’re going to do is gain weight. I know that is an exaggerated example, as no one works out all day... but you get the point.

You need to create a calorie deficit if you want to lose weight. One of the easiest ways to do this is by avoiding high-calorie foods… typically that are made up of refined sugars, excess fat, and non-nutritional foods that are empty calories without any of the nutrition you need.

Instead of hitting up your favorite fast food joint, make your nutrition a priority and focus on fueling with good protein sources and high-quality foods.

In most cases, lean meats, vegetables, and healthy foods don’t have nearly as many calories as fatty, salty, or sugary foods do, but they have significantly higher nutritional content.

This is exactly what you’re going to need if you want to start losing love handles, lose weight, and earn the body you want.

MAKE SURE TO STAY HYDRATED

Hydration is another important part of weight loss. It’s important for two reasons.

The first is that water helps regulate your body temperature and nutrient delivery. It’s also an important part of your blood. If you’re depriving yourself of water, then you’re making it harder for your body to function while working out or recovering. You’re basically shooting yourself in the foot.

Second, water is important because drinking it can help reduce bloating, caused by water retention. Your body wants to be hydrated.

So, when you deprive it of water, you’re essentially forcing it to hold onto everything it has. This will make your body look larger, softer, and rounder than it actually is. And this water retention isn’t going to help you get rid of your love handles.

So, be sure to get as much water as you need while you’re losing weight. A good starting point is getting about 100oz of water a day. Now keep in mind, as you increase your activity and sweat more, you will most likely need more water!

GET PLENTY OF SLEEP

Sleep is an important part of your recovery and fat loss. It’s when you’re sleeping that your body does the most healing. If you’re not getting enough sleep, then your body is going to take longer to recover.

Additionally, if you’re not getting enough sleep, or enough quality sleep, you’ll feel tired in the morning. Also if you are not sleeping properly it can negatively impact hormone production which can lead to hunger, cravings, and make it harder to lose weight overall… including love handles.

This means you’ll feel less motivated to work out and more motivated to cheat on your diet by grabbing some quick energy in the form of a refined sugary snack.

TAKE YOUR RECOVERY SERIOUSLY

It’s not just the sleep that matters. Every aspect of your recovery matters.

Getting rid of love handles, aka losing weight, is tough! It requires you to be in a caloric deficit (meaning you are eating fewer calories than you burn)... it requires you to work out... it simply puts a strain on your body!

Therefore if you want the best results, you need to make sure that you’re giving your body the nutrition and time it needs to properly recover.

If you don’t, it can have negative consequences long term and delay your results.