For men, love handles are more difficult to lose because most of their fat cells are located in this area, meaning when excess energy is circulating the body, its prime storage is going to be around the tum. For women, side fat is mostly due to our hormones.
Your initial goals will be weight loss and trimming down the fat. Once you've done that — or at least made significant headway — you can start to tone the muscles underneath your love handles. As you burn fat and increase your metabolism through building muscle, that extra padding will eventually go away.
The underlying cause of love handles is fat retention. Generally speaking, fat cells accumulate when your body takes in too many calories or you don't burn as many calories as you're consuming. Over time, these fat cells can become noticeable as they accumulate in certain areas, such as around your waist and hips.
Belly fat! It's so easy to put on and so hard to get rid of. This fat causes so many health problems and it is something you should not ignore.
Once love handles appear, biology makes them tough to ditch. “You lose fat in the reverse order that you deposit it,” says Westcott. “And typically for men, the last place they lose fat would be that midsection area—the first place they put it on.”
Ward explains that a healthy fat loss is around 0.5 - 1% body fat per week, which means, 'You should see a noticeable difference to body fat levels within 8-12 weeks if following a structured exercise and nutrition plan.
The American Council on Exercise says a 1 percent body fat loss per month is safe and achievable. Given that math, it could take a woman with average body fat about 20 to 26 months to achieve the appropriate amount of fat loss for six-pack abs. The average man would need about 15 to 21 months.
You will first lose hard fat that surrounds your organs like liver, kidneys and then you will start to lose soft fat like waistline and thigh fat. The fat loss from around the organs makes you leaner and stronger.
For some people, the first noticeable change may be at the waistline. For others, the breasts or face are the first to show change. Where you gain or lose weight first is likely to change as you get older. Both middle-aged men and postmenopausal women tend to store weight around their midsections.
The first place men typically lose weight is the belly, while women tend to lose weight all over, but hold onto weight in their thighs and hips, Dr. Block explains.
Studies have shown that interval-based exercise programs, most specifically high intensity interval training (HIIT), are more effective for burning off your love handles than steady state cardio.
Avoid alcohol and sugary foods: Consuming sugary food and alcohol may lead to weight gain and love handles. Individuals should instead try to eat a moderate and balanced diet. This may involve consuming lean proteins, beans, and leafy vegetables to increase protein and fiber intake.
Restricting calories but making those you do eat come from refined carbs, sugars and saturated fats can cause your body to not get all the nutrients it needs, especially protein, to support lean tissue. As a result, you may be losing weight in the form of lean muscle, not fat, so your love handles stick around.
You're eating too much.
While it may seem obvious, but if you want to lose your love handles, you need to consume fewer calories. And one of the easiest ways to do that is to simply reduce your portion sizes. "Creating a deficit of 500 calories a day can help someone lose a pound a week.
Excess visceral fat can pose serious health risks, but when you embark on a healthy diet and exercise plan, this fat is often the first to disappear. This means you're likely to notice weight loss in your abdominal area first. Too much visceral fat can make your belly protrude.
"Women and men of average height need to gain or lose about three and a half and four kilograms, or about eight and nine pounds, respectively, for anyone to see it in their face.
The breakdown of fat cells occurs in two primary forms. One is in the form of water, and the fat leaves as sweat or urine. In addition, about 84% of fat leaves your body as carbon dioxide during exhalation.
While everyone loses weight differently, dropping as little as 3 to 5 pounds can show up on your face first, Eboli says.
In terms of how your body looks, “it usually takes 4 weeks for your friends to notice weight loss, and 6–8 weeks for you to notice,” says Ramsey Bergeron, a certified personal trainer. “Your friends who don't see you every day are much more likely to see a change than someone you're around all the time,” he adds.
While you can't spot reduce fat in your love handles, walking can help create a calorie deficit to burn overall body fat.
Increase Your Cardio
Aerobic workouts help burn calories and reduce excess fat on the body, which can help slim down love handles ( 35 , 36).
Although genetics, age, alcohol intake, and lack of sleep can possibly cause the problem of excess fat near your hips and waistline, however, weight gain and extra fat are at the top among the causes of love handles.
The Oval body:
An undefined waist line, large and low tummy, love handles, wider hips, fuller thighs and a flat fuller bottom.