How to Lose Love Handles - Top Tips and Tricks

Summertime means shedding clothes. But for many people, summertime wardrobes bring anxiety because of love handles. Losing the love handles -- which are deposits of fat that extended over the abdominal muscles -- takes a well-rounded approach that is sustained over a period of time. Love handles are undesirable because they make you look heavier or bloated. Diet, exercise and targeted crunches all play a role in losing love handles and results cannot be seen without each component. With a little dedication and a realistic timeline, it is possible to achieve sexy lower abdominal muscles.

Instructions

• 1

  Eat a well-rounded diet. If you do not, you will never lose those love handles and the layer of fat will prevent you from seeing defined abdominal muscles. A balanced diet includes at least 46 grams of protein (preferably eliminating or limiting red, fatty meats), plenty of water (at least 3 liters daily) and at least five servings of fresh vegetables and fruits daily. Avoid fried and processed foods, especially those with lots of added sugar, which are known to cause weight gain.

• 2

  Be aware of your food portion sizes: overeating -- even the right foods -- will make it difficult to lose the love handles. The recommended caloric intake various from person to person based on such factors as height and lifestyle. Consult with a physician or dietitian to ensure you meet your dietary needs, but create enough of a calorie deficiency that weight loss is possible.

• 3

  Exercise four to five times a week for at least 30-45 minutes during each session. Cardiovascular exercise is critical to losing love handles because it burns fat and builds muscle. Examples of effective cardio workouts include walking, jumping rope, running, biking and swimming. A clue that you are pushing hard enough in your cardio routine is if you find it difficult to carry on a conversation while working out. In addition to working off your love handles, exercising on a consistent basis rewards you with increased energy levels and mental clarity.

• 4

  Add resistance training into your routine for quicker results. You can add weights to these activities or do sets of push-ups, sit-ups and pull-ups after your main activity. Do at least three sets of each resistant activity.

• 5

  Target the abdominal muscles once you have begun to lose some body fat in the lower abdominal region. Use an array of crunches (in addition to your cardio routine) that are designed to strengthen and shape these muscles. You wait to do these because, if you still have too much body fat, crunches can push the fat outward, giving the appearance that you carry more weight than you do. Perform regular and reverse crunches until the muscles are tired out. Crunches are effective only when you properly manage your diet and exercise routine. Do at least three sets of crunches two to three times a week.