How do I get rid of the "love" handles that I hate.

odell47

I have been losing weight consistently since I started myfitnesspal in March, 2012. I lose in my stomach ( where is the same area that I gain). The problem area are those darn love handles that seem to hang on to me. Any ideas will be appreciated. Thanks

kkmarie11

not sure i have the same problem though

mfpcopine

You'll have to keep losing weight overall to see them diminish, assuming you aren't genetically predisposed to have them. If so, at least they'll be smaller.

Josteyn

When you lose enough weight, your shape will have sorted it all out. If you are carrying fat around, then it has to be somewhere.

So lose the fat, and your body will be the right shape.


Exercise, instead of just dieting, helps.

If you exercise, then the weight goes off faster AND the proportion of unsightly fat shifts as well.


Don't be fooled by measuring and thinking, oh, my waist is the same even though I've lost 5 kilograms... It's gone from somewhere, after all. Just not somewhere where you've been measuring.

I lost 6 inches off the waist and hips then stopped - thought I was doing something wrong. But it was coming off the thighs, as I found when I looked at my trousers. But I hadn't got a base-line measure for that, so I hadn't noticed.

odell47

Thanks. I can see and tell the difference from how my clothes are fitting. Just seems like those love handles are going to take longer to shrink.

Laura8603

You may never lose them. If they bother you, look into liposuction.

xElineeee

I heard sideplanks help for the tonight part

psuLemon

You dont need to lose weight, you need to lose body fat. You lose body fat with a small caloric deficit (20% less than tdee) and do heavy resistance training. And when i talk heavy, i mean you fail at 8-12 reps. If you RT 3-4 times a week and eat fairly clean, then you can cut fat.

Striving4Fit_MrsOrtiz

BUMP

mellynat

side crunches, any oblique excerises with weights. I know u can't "spot reduce" but those excersises helped me! herers a link that will give u an idea.. www.sixpacknow.com/obliqueexercises.html

bunny1006

You'll have to keep losing weight overall to see them diminish, assuming you aren't genetically predisposed to have them. If so, at least they'll be smaller.

Darn! You mean there's no quick fix!?! :laugh:

Swedenjenny

Theres one execrise I find helps. Lie on your stomache, raise your upper body of the floor keeping eyes focused on the ground. Raise it no more than a hand or two. Hold for a couple of seconds and lay down, repeat 10 times or so. Then raise the upper bodyand lung one hand forward and one hand backwards down your sides at the same time focus eyes onto the floor to keep position. keep hands tight to the sides, keep lunging 10-10 repetitions. Anyone with back problems should speak to their doctor or physio before doing this exercise. Hope it helps!

Krisgren

I disagree, I do think you can make them go away. That's been my first area that I have noticed a big change. I know that you can't 'spot reduce' per se but I do believe emphasizing certain excersises can help. I do a lot of oblique exercises in almost every workout. I just googled 'love handle exercise' and obliques and stomach etc to get a lot of ideas. I know that mostly to lose it you have to lose overall fat and hope for the best but I do think that you can help things along.

walkner88

You may never lose them. If they bother you, look into liposuction.

This is terrible advice and very discouraging. Love handles are difficult to lose because most people do not property train their core. Focus on true core exercises especially those that engage your inner and outer oblique and you'll start to see them go away. Strength training and building lean muscle around your body will help to get rid of those stubborn fat reserves

mfpcopine

You may never lose them. If they bother you, look into liposuction.

This is terrible advice and very discouraging. Love handles are difficult to lose because most people do not property train their core. Focus on true core exercises especially those that engage your inner and outer oblique and you'll start to see them go away. Strength training and building lean muscle around your body will help to get rid of those stubborn fat reserves

I don't think that's terrible advice, even if I wouldn't do it. The idea that you can mold your body into any shape you want merely through diet and exercise is inaccurate. I think the OP should keep losing weight and exercising to see if she can get rid of the fat without surgery. But she may not be able to. Some things bug people a lot.

walkner88

You may never lose them. If they bother you, look into liposuction.

This is terrible advice and very discouraging. Love handles are difficult to lose because most people do not property train their core. Focus on true core exercises especially those that engage your inner and outer oblique and you'll start to see them go away. Strength training and building lean muscle around your body will help to get rid of those stubborn fat reserves

I don't think that's terrible advice, even if I wouldn't do it. The idea that you can mold your body into any shape you want merely through diet and exercise is inaccurate. I think the OP should keep losing weight and exercising to see if she can get rid of the fat without surgery. But she may not be able to. Some things bug people a lot.

You can mold your body into a certain shape when it comes to losing fat. She isn't talking about making her hip bones more narrow or changing her bodies tendency to hold fat. She needs to change the amount of fat in her body and these reserves will disappear leaving only the muscles to show. This happens at around 15-17% body fat for women. For people to say its impossible or needs surgery they are just leaning on the fat disgusting lazy lifestyle of today's western world and trying to blame genetics for their flaws instead of their lack of ambition and hard work.

katemme

Don't eat extra calories...or plastic surgery.

mfpcopine

You may never lose them. If they bother you, look into liposuction.

This is terrible advice and very discouraging. Love handles are difficult to lose because most people do not property train their core. Focus on true core exercises especially those that engage your inner and outer oblique and you'll start to see them go away. Strength training and building lean muscle around your body will help to get rid of those stubborn fat reserves

I don't think that's terrible advice, even if I wouldn't do it. The idea that you can mold your body into any shape you want merely through diet and exercise is inaccurate. I think the OP should keep losing weight and exercising to see if she can get rid of the fat without surgery. But she may not be able to. Some things bug people a lot.

You can mold your body into a certain shape when it comes to losing fat. She isn't talking about making her hip bones more narrow or changing her bodies tendency to hold fat. She needs to change the amount of fat in her body and these reserves will disappear leaving only the muscles to show. This happens at around 15-17% body fat for women. For people to say its impossible or needs surgery they are just leaning on the fat disgusting lazy lifestyle of today's western world and trying to blame genetics for their flaws instead of their lack of ambition and hard work.

Some people do have a predisposition to put more weight in places than conventional beauty standards dictate. I have no idea if the OP is one of those people. I told her she should keep losing weight and exercising. But if she does that and can't lose them and is still bothered by them, that's a decision for her to make. As I said, I wouldn't do it. Not everyone who decides to have plastic surgery is lazy.

callmecaptain

Thanks. I can see and tell the difference from how my clothes are fitting. Just seems like those love handles are going to take longer to shrink.

Build muscle in your mid section, it will help flatten them. You can lose all the weight but your muscle determine how the skin and fat above look. There are all kinds of core toning vids, get one that will work the sides aso not just the front abs. It will go away but make sure part of the look is not just the shape of your hips contributing to the wider look.

Laura8603

You may never lose them. If they bother you, look into liposuction.

This is terrible advice and very discouraging. Love handles are difficult to lose because most people do not property train their core. Focus on true core exercises especially those that engage your inner and outer oblique and you'll start to see them go away. Strength training and building lean muscle around your body will help to get rid of those stubborn fat reserves

I don't think that's terrible advice, even if I wouldn't do it. The idea that you can mold your body into any shape you want merely through diet and exercise is inaccurate. I think the OP should keep losing weight and exercising to see if she can get rid of the fat without surgery. But she may not be able to. Some things bug people a lot.

You can mold your body into a certain shape when it comes to losing fat. She isn't talking about making her hip bones more narrow or changing her bodies tendency to hold fat. She needs to change the amount of fat in her body and these reserves will disappear leaving only the muscles to show. This happens at around 15-17% body fat for women. For people to say its impossible or needs surgery they are just leaning on the fat disgusting lazy lifestyle of today's western world and trying to blame genetics for their flaws instead of their lack of ambition and hard work.

You are the offensive one here. Women are lazy and need to beat themselves up for having fat pockets in places that may NEVER disappear. Women stay away from this guy.

As Dolly Parton said in the movie "Joyful Noise", "God did not create plastic surgeons for them to starve to death!" I stand by my original reply. If something bothers you, fix it.

crisanderson27

You dont need to lose weight, you need to lose body fat. You lose body fat with a small caloric deficit (20% less than tdee) and do heavy resistance training. And when i talk heavy, i mean you fail at 8-12 reps. If you RT 3-4 times a week and eat fairly clean, then you can cut fat.

This is the answer, though I'd change that to 5-8 reps personally.

callmecaptain

You may never lose them. If they bother you, look into liposuction.

This is terrible advice and very discouraging. Love handles are difficult to lose because most people do not property train their core. Focus on true core exercises especially those that engage your inner and outer oblique and you'll start to see them go away. Strength training and building lean muscle around your body will help to get rid of those stubborn fat reserves

I don't think that's terrible advice, even if I wouldn't do it. The idea that you can mold your body into any shape you want merely through diet and exercise is inaccurate. I think the OP should keep losing weight and exercising to see if she can get rid of the fat without surgery. But she may not be able to. Some things bug people a lot.

You can mold your body into a certain shape when it comes to losing fat. She isn't talking about making her hip bones more narrow or changing her bodies tendency to hold fat. She needs to change the amount of fat in her body and these reserves will disappear leaving only the muscles to show. This happens at around 15-17% body fat for women. For people to say its impossible or needs surgery they are just leaning on the fat disgusting lazy lifestyle of today's western world and trying to blame genetics for their flaws instead of their lack of ambition and hard work.

People that believe plastic surgery is the answer should not be allowed to post on this site! There is nothing more defeating, than to say to someone, hey you are never going to be able to do it just go see a doctor and cut or have it sucked off!!!!!!

We live in such a superficial world! I promise you that if you start doing a full body tone you will shrink those trouble spots and completely love the skin you’re in and if not then maybe your problem area isn’t the problem, maybe you need to work on self-acceptance and tune out what society considers being normal now!

Koshkaxo

I have the same problem! I did notice though that I lose weight on my legs, arms, face first. Last fall I was just starting to see my midsection decrease when I fell off the wagon :explode:

Keep at it! Im doing more core workouts this time around in hopes of faster results

mfpcopine

People that believe plastic surgery is the answer should not be allowed to post on this site! There is nothing more defeating, than to say to someone, hey you are never going to be able to do it just go see a doctor and cut or have it sucked off!!!!!!

No one said that. They said that some people do require plastic surgery to treat certain areas that bother them even after they've lost all unhealthy weight.

... I promise you that if you start doing a full body tone you will shrink those trouble spots and completely love the skin you’re in and if not then maybe your problem area isn’t the problem, maybe you need to work on self-acceptance and tune out what society considers being normal now!

You're contradicting yourself. Self-acceptance is wonderful, but the issue was whether the OP can lose the love handles. What she decides to do is up to her. I've learned not to judge people who try to fix things that really bother them, although I'd never recommend plastic surgery.

callmecaptain

People that believe plastic surgery is the answer should not be allowed to post on this site! There is nothing more defeating, than to say to someone, hey you are never going to be able to do it just go see a doctor and cut or have it sucked off!!!!!!

No one said that. They said that some people do require plastic surgery to treat certain areas that bother them even after they've lost all unhealthy weight.

... I promise you that if you start doing a full body tone you will shrink those trouble spots and completely love the skin you’re in and if not then maybe your problem area isn’t the problem, maybe you need to work on self-acceptance and tune out what society considers being normal now!

You're contradicting yourself. Self-acceptance is wonderful, but the issue was whether the OP can lose the love handles. What she decides to do is up to her. I've learned not to judge people who try to fix things that really bother them, although I'd never recommend plastic surgery.

Plastic surgery comment was meant to be a general comment for everyone on this site that I see suggesting it to fix the problems. That and liposuction! Both were mentioned as an answer to the problem on this thread.

Not sure how I contradicted myself, you would have to explain further, maybe I just worded something the wrong way.

emnk5308

Lay on your side and do a crunch.. you might need help at first if your balance is as bad as mine.. =/ Or start out doing leg lifts on your side.. Love handles don't get much of a work out with normal exercise..

jdploki70

I'd say that if you have only 7 more pounds to lose then some of that is likely stored in your love handles. Obliques and other side exercises can make the fat appear thinner because there is more muscle behind it, but weight is weight and fat is fat. You may have a predisposition, as stated early, towards love handles. That doesn't mean they won't go away, but it will take time. Last time I lost all the excess weight I had, back in my 20s, they were the very last thing to go, and that was after years of working out and dieting.

HeHealsMe

I have had those freakin' love handles almost all my life, and i am over fifty.
I have noticed that if I am 20 or more pounds overweight, ..here they come.

I have used a combination of diet, and exercise to rid myself of them:happy: .

The exercises I do are:
Side bends: Hips shoulder width apart, both arms straight out to the side, and then alternate bending to the right and left, 3 reps of 15 to tart and then build up.

Also, do the same exercise, with 5 pound barbells, arms straight don, and do left side 15 reps, then right side 15 reps.
Then, if I want to get jiggy with it, I alternate those too, but it is harder to keep perfect form with the weights.

I think why it works for me, is that I do each of the exercises slowly, in good form. I don't rush those ones.

BTW, my daughter also has them..and she did have LIPOSUCTION..they went away for about 4 months, but when she gained weight they have come home to stay.

Hope this helps, Nicolette

odell47

I have read through all the comments and I want to thank you all for the ideas. I know my core is a problem area so with that said I am going to start doing some exercises that were mentioned above. Thanks again!!

ladytinkerbell99

side crunches, any oblique excerises with weights. I know u can't "spot reduce" but those excersises helped me! herers a link that will give u an idea.. www.sixpacknow.com/obliqueexercises.html

^ Great site - thank you for sharing.

dad106

Also throw in squats and deadlifts... those really work the core and stabilizing muscles since you are trying to keep up right and good form.. which means holding the abs tight.