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How to Get Rid of Love Handles – Love Handles, sounds romantic, doesn’t it? But in reality, there is nothing sweet, or likable about Love Handles. In fact, you would want to get rid of Love Handles as soon as possible.
What exactly are Love Handles?
Love Handles are just another name for the flaps of skin that often protrude from our hips due to excess fat. They can often be accentuated when one wears tight clothes, but the entire blame for the existence of Love Handles cannot be accorded to Love Handles. There are various other factors, activities, and habits that contribute to the creation and growth of Love Handles.
Causes of Love Handles
The first and foremost reason for the formation of love handles is fat retention. Fat retention is a very common phenomenon. If you overlook a healthy diet and forego a workout even for a single day, fat retention begins. Fat retention is most often a side effect of low metabolism in the cells.
It is possible for fat to get accumulated in any part of the body, but there are certain hotspots for this phenomenon too. Fat most usually tends to get accumulated in the abdominal and hip region, which gives rise to Love Handles. Why does fat retention (and consequently Love Handles) happen?
- An excess of cortisol: It is a hormone that is released when you are under stress or duress. It stimulates the brain to use excess glucose by increasing the amount of cortisol in the bloodstream. Thus, Chronic stress can lead to Love Handles.
- Increase in age: With an increase in your age, accumulation of fat due to fat retention is common.
- Sleep deprivation/ Sleeplessness: If you cannot sleep at night, proper digestion, repair of tissues, and hormone synthesis will not occur.
- Lack of/ absence of/ Physical activity: It is a given that if you are not working out, or working continuously in a static position, metabolism rates will drop and fat retention will increase. This one of the main causes of Love Handles.
- A diet rich in carbohydrates, fats, and sugar having low protein and fiber content: The more calories you consume and the less you burn off, the more are the chances of fat retention and consequently, Love Handles.
- Other undiagnosed conditions: Even if you take a balanced diet and workout regularly, there might be some acquired or hereditary undiagnosed conditions that might lead to an increase in fat retention in your system. If left unattended, it might lead to Love Handles.
How to get rid of Love Handles?
Now that we know all about Love Handles, including the reasons behind their formation, let us discuss the best 15 ways to get rid of Love Handles.
#1 Go for the Healthy fats
Just because fats are the main reason that Love Handles occur, it is not logical to completely cut fats out of your diet. Instead, focus on fats that play the role of fats in a healthier way.
Food items rich in healthy fats like avocados, nuts, fatty fish, and seeds not only help you to reduce body fat but also make you feel sated and filled with consumption of a small amount. This ensures that you do not have untimely cravings and eat only as much as is necessary.
Studies have, in fact, found that people who substituted their cooking oil with olive oil lost fat faster and remained healthier than those on a low-fat diet.
#2 Cut down on/ Cut out the extra sugar
Try to have sugar only when absolutely necessary. Try to forego habits like adding extra sugar in tea, coffee, etc. Giving in to frequent sugar cravings is one of the most prominent reasons behind Love Handles.
In addition, added sugar is also found in soft drinks, sweet biscuits, cookies, candies, table sweeteners, milk chocolates, and other sweetmeats. These items contain an enormous amount of calories and at the same time are very low on nutrient content.
Try to find healthier alternatives to these, like black coffee, dark chocolate, etc, and try to have them just once in a while.
#3 Increase your fiber intake:
Fibres are well known to aid in and facilitate your digestive process. This, in turn, leads to better breakdown and absorption of the glucose in your body.
Make sure that you have adequate fibers in your diet derived from roughage like cucumbers and other salads. Beans, nuts, and oats also help in increasing the percentage of fiber in your body.
#4 Reduce consumption of alcohol
If you are really looking forward to cutting down on body fat and losing those Love Handles, you might want to re-evaluate your alcohol consumption. Increased alcohol consumption has been linked to obesity.
Be conscious of your alcohol intake and try to cut down on it. Studies have found that alcohol stimulates the brain cells regulating hunger, in turn increasing appetite. Also, they might contain added sugar, again increasing fat retention.
#5 Include complex carbohydrates:
Now, you might think, Won’t complex carbohydrates release more glucose and increase fat retention? You can completely rest assured because the answer is a no.
In fact, as compared to refined carbohydrates like white flour, white bread and white rice, unrefined complex carbohydrates like brown rice, brown bread, whole wheat flour, and oats take longer to digest. Thus, you do not get unnatural cravings or the feeling that you are constantly hungry.
#6 Give an increment to your protein intake:
As opposed to refined carbohydrates that get digested easily and increase hunger, proteins keep you full between meals. They help reduce the urge to splurge on snacks in between meals.
Studies have shown that proteins not only help you reduce body fat and reach the ideal weight, but also assist in maintaining the desired weight, once you have reached your goal. Try to consume more protein-rich food like pulses and eggs instead of carbohydrates.
#7 Practice mindful eating and keep yourself hydrated:
Always be aware and conscious while you are taking your meals. Concentrate on the food and not on any other activity. This will ensure that you consume only as much as is required to satiate your hunger. This will reduce the additional pressure on your digestive system and prevent fat retention.
Get used to drinking sparkling or clear water to sate your thirst instead of other sweetened beverages. This has dual benefits: you stay hydrated and at the same time you stay away from the added sugars of the sweetened drinks. Unsweetened tea will also do the trick.
#8 Take less stress:
As mentioned earlier, chronic or continuous stress releases increasing amounts of the hormone cortisol. This in turn stimulates the brain to increase appetite. As a result, you again take in more carbohydrates than necessary, which increases fat retention. This increases fat cells around your midsection leading to Love Handles.
Try to keep your mind calm and cool in all situations. Meditating every day is one of the best-known ways to do this.
#9 Find ways to keep moving around all day:
This is for you especially if you have a desk job. The longer hours you keep sitting, the more your metabolism rate decreases. Make sure that for every two hours you sit, you get up and take a 15-minute break.
Studies have found that every fifteen-minute increase in your sitting time increases your waist size by 0.05 inches. This is very simply resolved. Take a small walk every two hours. If you want to lose those Love Handles, you better start giving up on your sedentary lifestyle!
#10 Try to lift weights:
If not every day or every other day, try to devote at least two days a week to the gym lifting weights. Lifting weights, essentially called resistance training, helps the body to not only build muscles but also to lose calories at the same time.
Resistance training has been known to boost metabolism slightly as well, so it helps you to burn some extra calories.
#11 Practice whole body moves:
Oftentimes, you might be tempted to work on just that part of your body that you feel needs improvement. For example, some people choose to focus only on butt workouts, while others might choose to concentrate only on losing excess fat on the thighs.
We recommend going for a full-body workout as opposed to this. Studies have proven that full-body exercises like rope climbing help in burning more fat than exercises like push-ups and planks. You again get dual benefits- holistic workout of your body, as well as burning extra fat.
#12 Increase your cardiovascular exercises:
Contrary to what most people might believe, aerobic and cardiovascular exercises are not always intense or difficult. There are many beginner-level simple exercises. These exercises are meant to increase your heart rate for a short period of time.
Studies have shown that aerobic exercises help to effectively burn fat and tone down Love Handles. The recommended time for cardio exercises is about twenty minutes every day for the best results.
#13 Work on your Abs through Pilates moves:
Pilates are simple workout moves meant to help tone your Abs. If you are a beginner, you will find that you actually like this workout.
Moreover, studies have shown that Pilates helps to burn calories and reduce the waistline. So, if you want to get rid of those Love Handles, try out Pilates today!
#14 Experiment with a HIIT Workout:
High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is becoming increasingly popular these days. These workouts involve short but intense bursts of aerobic activity interspersed with short breaks or recovery periods.
Studies have shown that HIIT workouts are more effective in burning body fat (thus reducing Love Handles) than traditional continuous workouts. Also, these take a very short time, so you need not spend the better part of your day in the gym, trying to lose your Love Handles.
#15 Sleep for an adequate period of time:
As happens with stress, not getting enough sleep also leads to an increase in the cortisol levels in the blood. Again, this leads to an expanding waistline as well as more Love Handles.
Studies have, in fact, shown that individuals who slept for seven to eight hours every day were less vulnerable to gain body fat than those who got less than five hours of sleep. So make sure you get enough sleep every day if you want to lose those Love Handles.
Also, check out the 3 Best Ways to Get Rid of Double Chin.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q1 Do Love Handles occur only on the hip?
Yes. Love Handles is the specific name given to flaps of skin appearing as extensions from one’s hips. These occur as a result of mainly fat retention and are made more prominent by tight clothing. You cannot get Love Handles anywhere except your hips.
Q2 Do Love Handles pose risks to my health?
Love Handles do not pose an immediate danger to your health per se. However, since they occur as a result of fat retention, they might be indicators of underlying health issues like high cholesterol, liver disease, high pressure, heart diseases, or diabetes.
Q3 Do I need to take any medicine to get rid of Love Handles?
Pills are not exclusively available, nor are recommended to reduce Love Handles. Exercising and full-body workouts are the safest and most productive ways to lose Love Handles. We suggest that you try out all the workouts and other simple solutions listed above to get rid of your Love Handles for good.
Conclusion
Thus, we are now aware that Love Handles are indeed side effects of fat retention. The best way to try and get rid of these Love Handles is to exercise and maintain a balanced diet and healthy lifestyle. It is also important to keep in mind that Love Handles could be indicators of underlying health disorders resulting from excess accumulation of fat in your body. So, it would not be wise to ignore them at all. Make sure you adopt the best suited and safest methods for yourself to lose your Love Handles.
