The hard truth about love handles – and what you need to do to stop them.
2 min read
Sometimes people just stare in awe at their stomach. They do so not because it inspires confidence, but in disbelief. Fat gain creeps up silently like a ninja in the night. Eat the wrong food, consume the wrong drink and fail to do enough exercise and not only will you get love handles, but you will get a fully fledged muffin-top to compliment your physique.
If you like the look, then you won’t need to do anything. But if you want to have a healthier physique, then you need to adopt lifestyle changes that will help you torch the fat, and instead feed the muscle.
Minimise the amount of food or drinks that you consume that contains sugar.
There’s sugar in almost every product that we consume. And if you are consuming products that contain sugar while be immobile for most of your day, then it is likely that you will gain body fat without even realising it. For instance, you might be working a desk job in an office and every day there are cakes, sweets, chocolates and sugar-laden tea or coffee available. This will gain you a vast amount of body fat in no time.
Instead, substitute any sugary drinks with water or green tea. And replace any food with a lot of sugar with natural alternatives such as bananas, apples or nuts. If you feel yourself getting hungry, try eating solid proteins such as beef, chicken or tuna.
Make cardio a part of your lifestyle.
Unless you are doing a physical job for most of your day, it’s likely that you won’t be doing enough physical exercise to melt away your unwanted fat. So you need to specify some time every day to some cardio activity. Ideally, you will burn 500 calories a day, which should force your body to experience a calorie deficit and use the fat deposits on your body as an energy source. Typically, 30 minutes or more a day of running should be sufficient. Alternatively, you can do cycling, rowing or cross-trainer exercises for 45 minutes a day.
Stimulate muscle growth with resistance training.
Breaking down the muscle is another great way to maintain a lean look, especially around your waist. You can work out your entire body and focus on doing abdominal exercises that target the upper and lower abs, as well as the obliques. Popular exercises include leg raises, knee raises, cable crunches and situps.
Preventing love handles isn’t difficult, but you do need to nip it in the bud before it becomes a serious issue that affects your physique. Take a look at your lifestyle and see how you can make changes that will allow you to eradicate love handles once and for all!
