How to Loose Your Pooch & Love Handles

According to the American Heart Association, men with a waist circumference greater than 40 inches and women with a waist circumference greater than 35 inches are at an increased risk for heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure and diabetes. Losing your love handles and stomach pooch can help decrease this risk. Spot-reduction is a myth. The only way to lose fat in the stomach area is to lose fat all over the body. You can achieve this by incorporating a healthy diet and exercise regimen.

Instructions

• 1

  Re-evaluate your diet and eating habits. Instead of eating three meals per day, eat smaller meals, five to six times per day. This will keep your metabolism active and reduce cravings. Make healthy food choices that include whole grain and fiber-rich products, vegetables, fruits and foods low in sugar. Avoid restrictive diets since this triggers your body's survival instinct to hold onto fat instead of getting rid of it.

• 2

  Incorporate cardiovascular exercise into your workout three to four days of the week. Cardiovascular exercise includes running, biking, swimming or working out on the stair-climber or elliptical machine. Bringing the heart rate up will burn calories and fat from all over your body, including your mid-section.

• 3

  Add weight training to you exercise regimen. Divide your muscles over the days of the week allowing enough time for recovery. For instance, workout arms and shoulders on Mondays, legs and chest on Wednesdays and stomach and back on Fridays. Working out with weights will increase muscle mass and keep your metabolism going. Muscles take up less space than fat and burn fat even when you are at rest.

• 4

  Tone the stomach area with abdominal exercises such as crunches, side-bends and sit-ups. Once the fat melts off your stomach, the toned muscles will show. A good exercise for your pooch is the stomach vacuum. Suck in your stomach while breathing normally and hold the contraction for a minimum of five seconds before releasing it to the starting position.

• 5

  Drink plenty of water to stay hydrated, flush your system and promote digestive health. Avoid alcohol and caffeine since these dehydrate the body, drain energy and have empty calories.

• 6

  Get at least eight hours of sleep per day. When you sleep, your body restores itself and provides you with energy for your next workout. Insufficient sleep can lead to cravings for result-sabotaging foods.

• 7

  Reduce stress. Increased levels of stress trigger the stress hormone cortisol, which is associated with fat in the stomach area. Meditation, breathing deeply and delegating tasks at work can all contribute to stress reduction.