All men love those little cute bags of fat accumulated around the waist of their female partners to hold on to. These little cute bags of fat on the sides of the torso are called ’Love Handles’. Love Handles may vary in size from being small to massive accumulation of fat around the waist. They are a common occurrence in both men and women and are sometimes also known as “Muffin tops”
Although they are soft to touch, in reality, they are zones of stubborn fat. This is the first place where some people tend to put on fat but it is often the last place from where the fat vanishes. It sometimes gets irritating when despite long hours in the gym, one is not able to shed these pockets of fat.
For men, love handles are hard to lose because most of their fat cells are located in that area, whereas in women there are other areas of fat deposition as well such as hips, thighs etc.
Let’s unlock the mystery box and indulge in the secret to melt your love handles away and simultaneously understand what causes love handles. One should know it is not only one but a combination of factors that will help you take the flab off your waist. A perfect diet, focused workout plan and few lifestyle modifications can help you get rid of the love handles.
how to get rid of back fat or love handles?
A) Nutrition
Proper nutrition to the body through appropriate and balanced diet is the main key to lose fat from your body. Consumption of sugary sodas, high-sodium foods, and processed, packaged or food containing artificial ingredients naturally leads the belly to bloat. Incorporating whole foods and focusing on fruits, vegetables, lean meats, eggs, healthy fats and anti-inflammatory roots and herbs, helps to create an apt nutrition plan to shed off those stubborn love handles. Check out how to get rid of the back fat:
1. Kickstart your metabolism
Always start your day with 2-3 glasses of lukewarm water with juice of 1 lemon into it. It helps flush out the digestive system and rehydrates your body after a gap of 8-10 hrs sleep. It helps trigger the metabolism with the start of the day.
2. Never Skip Your breakfast
With the hectic and long office schedule, people generally tend to skip their breakfast or have a very small meal. Skipping breakfast creates an inclination of the brain towards more high caloric food in next meal. This response of brain on skipping breakfast will lead to more weight gain than weight loss.
3. Have Protein in each meal
Try to incorporate a fist size portion of protein in every meal. You can have chicken, eggs, lean, ground turkey, all-natural chicken sausage, shrimp, tilapia, salmon, tuna, lean cuts of steak, whey protein powder, tofu, hemp protein, pea protein.
4. Switch to natural sweeteners
All the zero calories artificial sweeteners can increase carb cravings, stimulate appetite and result in increased fat storage. It is advisable to switch on Natural or plant-derived sweeteners like raw honey, lucuma etc.
5. Do not miss your meal
When skipping meals becomes your habit, then the body also responds back by holding on to the calories and storing them as fat assuming a risk of a possible famine. So, all those petty eaters complaining about those bulging love handles, start eating properly and help your body to get sufficient basic nutrients. Missing your meal will increase the stress hormone – cortisol in your body which is directly proportional to weight gain. Regular meals at 3 hourly intervals can keep your cortisol levels in check.
6. Include greens in your diet
Make sure every meal you have, starting from the breakfast till the last meal of the day has at least one serving of vegetables in it. The best vegetables for weight loss are kale, spinach, watercress, chard, and beet greens.
7. Have some healthy fats too
It may sound contrary to the belief of reducing fat intake to lose weight but there few essential and good fats which aid in decreasing abdominal fat. Such healthy fats include fish, seeds, almonds, cashews, pecans, coconut oil, olives, nut butter, hummus. It is recommended to have 2 servings per day.
8. Choose Organic
Yes, that’s true. Organic food has found to have omega -3 fatty acids and conjugated linoleic acid(CLA) which has proved to in reducing abdominal fat. Spend that extra penny on organic food rather than weight loss centers.
9. Stay hydrated
Most of the times we tend to mistake our thirst to be hunger and end up eating more. Train your brain to think of water whenever it says hunger. Drinking plenty of water and staying hydrated is critical for losing your love handles.
10. Add Some Spice
Using fresh or dried turmeric or ginger helps the body fight inflammation, and simultaneously triggers melting of unwanted back and belly fat. Having a cup of turmeric ginger tea daily helps to prevent fat accumulation and hastens weight loss.
11. Eat complex carbs esp. before and after a physical workout
This is the best time when we can eat healthy complex carbohydrates like sweet potatoes, oats, brown rice, quinoa, whole-grain pasta, etc. Before and after a workout the body needs energy and complex carb food taken at that time helps the body utilize it as a source of energy rather than storing them as fat. This also keeps your metabolism stimulated which plays an essential role in burning the fat.
12. Opt for Low-Sugar Fruit Sources
One should opt for low sugar fruits like avocado, tomatoes, eggplant, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, and watermelon. It is recommended to have two servings of fruit in a day. Do not take dried fruits as they are rich in sugar.
13. Limit Dairy
Replace your sugar, cream in your coffee and tea with a much healthier option such as almond milk. Use olive oil or coconut oil instead of butter for cooking.
B) Physical Workout
Just because love handles sits on the abdominal area, thinking you may get rid of it by doing just ab crunches would be wrong. Doing a regular cardio would help melt that stubborn fat or doing spot reduction would help? The answer for both would be a BIG NO!!. This is because when it comes to eradicating that flab off your sides, a combination of cardio, strength training, spot exercises and a mixture of low and high-intensity exercises will help to burn the fat off those side bags.
Learn these 4 exercises that would help mobilize the fat accumulated at your sides.
Start each and every physical workout with 10 minutes of a warm-up session which includes stretching of all essential muscles and a quick on the spot jogging. It will prepare you for the workout session and help prevent any workout injuries as well.
1. Side Planks
Lie down on a mat in the side lying position with your forearm bent at 90 degrees to the mat and positioned below the shoulder. Your shoulder, knees and feet should be straight and aligned in the same line. Now, lift up your hip in the air while maintaining your balance on your forearm and feet only. Maintain it for 5 counts. Dip down your hip and do 20 repetitions for each side.
2. Wood chopping-high to low
Stand with feet shoulder-width apart holding the ball in two hands up over the right shoulder. Bend knees and lower body into the squat position as you pull the ball down toward the left ankle. As you stand back up, reach the ball back up over the right shoulder. Repeat for the 20 number of repetitions and switch sides.
3. Bicycle crunches
Lie on your back with your knees bent and your hands behind your head. Do not clasp your hands together. Engage your abs, lifting your shoulders and upper back off of the ground.
At the same time, move your right elbow toward your left knee so that they meet in the middle of your body. Next, switch your position by bringing your left elbow to your right knee. Continue as quickly as possible while still keeping your torso raised up off the ground. Do 20 repetition on each side.
4. Russian twist
Sit on your butt with your knees bent and feet flat on the ground. Your torso should be leaning back at a 45 degree to the floor. Hold a ball or dumbbell with both hands. Lift your feet off the ground, crossing them at the ankles and balancing on your butt. From this position, twist your torso to the right and touch the ball or dumbbell to the ground next to your body.
Next, twist back over to the left touching the ball to the left side of your body. Repeat back and forth, all while balancing with your legs and torso raised off of the ground.
All these exercises will help you build up your core and melt your love handles and helps you get rid of back fat.
C) Lifestyle Changes
There is no denying the fact that your lifestyle plays a big role in improving your health. If you follow a healthy diet but fail to make positive and conscious lifestyle choices, then all your hard work is of no use. Here are some important lifestyle tweaks you can do:
1. Cut the Alcohol
It might feel a blissful feeling to relax on your couch with a pint of beer after the tiring day at the office. But, this habit is loading you with unnecessary calories. Alcohol causes blood sugar swings in the body resulting in the release of stress hormones which is a major cause of storing fat in your belly. It has been seen that sometimes cutting down alcohol alone creates a drastic difference in reducing your love handles. So, think twice before you sip the calories of that glass. Ideally, having one to two drinks once or twice a week is sufficient.
2. Keep Coffee to the Minimum
One to two cups of coffee is fine, but an entire pot is not and neither the added sweeteners and milk. Try to drink black coffee or flavor it with a bit of agave or infuse coffee beans with vanilla. You can also mix it up by having 2-3 cups of green tea, unsweetened and preferably caffeine-free.
3. Meditate and remain stress-free
You’ve probably known by now, how the stress hormone cortisol, is responsible for excess abdominal fat. Stress resulting in increased level of cortisol is responsible for storage of fat around the internal organs and is known as visceral fat. Whereas the regular fat is stored just beneath the skin and is known as subcutaneous fat. Visceral fat is unhealthy as it increases the risk of heart diseases and diabetes. Therefore, one should control their cortisol response by decreasing the amount of stress they take in their daily life. Now, you know the tricks for how to get rid of back fat.
4. Sleep the Night Away
Sleep is an extremely important aspect of losing body fat—especially your love handles. If you are sacrificing your sleep and staying up late night in lieu of office work, parties or just cuddling in front of that idiot box, you may crave more for fatty and sugary foods because of the elevation in cortisol hormones. Also, during the night, as the normal cycle of metabolism goes, the metabolism rate slows down at night and feeding on high carbs and sweets(these foods produce serotonin, which helps in calming oneself from the stressed state) at night would make them more susceptible to be stored as fat. Always try to sleep early and for 6-8 hours every night.
Now, you know that there’s isn’t just one secret to lose love handles—it’s a combination of factors. Follow them regularly to say bye bye to love handles and get that sexy curve back.
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