Abs, belly fat, & love handles - help!

xprplstardust

Hi everyone! I was just wondering if anyone had some advice on how to lose love handles, belly fat, & gain abs. I have a small belly pouch & love handles that I can't seem to get rid of. I've been working out off & on since last year & have only recently started working out every day except on the weekends. I have also started lifting because I want to gain muscle & definition all over I'm 5'6" & 125 lbs. I obviously do not need to lose weight but the love handles & belly pouch really bother me. For those of you who have had this issue & got rid of them, what are some of the things that have worked for you? Your advice is very appreciated. Thank you!

n0ob

eat at a deficit, get adequate protein to preserve muscle, strength train to preserve muscle as you lose and do cardio to burn extra calories if desired.

__RANDY__

eat at a deficit, get adequate protein to preserve muscle, strength train to preserve muscle as you lose and do cardio to burn extra calories if desired.

boom

/thread

trogalicious

eat at a deficit, get adequate protein to preserve muscle, strength train to preserve muscle as you lose and do cardio to burn extra calories if desired.

boom

/thread

yup.

johnny059qn

eat at a deficit, get adequate protein to preserve muscle, strength train to preserve muscle as you lose and do cardio to burn extra calories if desired.

boom

/thread

^^^ Nailed it!! Nothing left to say!

yup.

LoraF83

eat at a deficit, get adequate protein to preserve muscle, strength train to preserve muscle as you lose and do cardio to burn extra calories if desired.

boom

/thread

^^^ Nailed it!! Nothing left to say!

yup.

Also agree.

xprplstardust

Thanks everyone! I will definitely do that!

trogalicious

Awesome. This may be the fastest thread resolution ever.

Good luck with it all, OP!

CrazyTrackLady

Hi everyone! I was just wondering if anyone had some advice on how to lose love handles, belly fat, & gain abs. I have a small belly pouch & love handles that I can't seem to get rid of. I've been working out off & on since last year & have only recently started working out every day except on the weekends. I have also started lifting because I want to gain muscle & definition all over I'm 5'6" & 125 lbs. I obviously do not need to lose weight but the love handles & belly pouch really bother me. For those of you who have had this issue & got rid of them, what are some of the things that have worked for you? Your advice is very appreciated. Thank you!

While all the other advice is great, I also want to add that the ONLY thing that worked at reducing my belly "pouch" was giving up gluten and grains. I was bloated and once I removed those things from my diet, my belly bulge went away. Granted, now I'm working off the extra weight, but sometimes, the problem isn't as easy to solve as suggested. Do you find yourself getting bloated on occasion? You might want to consider it's more than just extra belly fat -- there could be a gastrointestinal issue at work here.

sisierra

if you aren't worried about weight loss, i'd say don't focus as much on the deficit as much as the quality of what you eat, but get in A LOT more protein. I've found that alternating strength training days with cardio days works wonderfully.

http://healthysexyhappy.tumblr.com/moveyourassnow

__RANDY__

Hi everyone! I was just wondering if anyone had some advice on how to lose love handles, belly fat, & gain abs. I have a small belly pouch & love handles that I can't seem to get rid of. I've been working out off & on since last year & have only recently started working out every day except on the weekends. I have also started lifting because I want to gain muscle & definition all over I'm 5'6" & 125 lbs. I obviously do not need to lose weight but the love handles & belly pouch really bother me. For those of you who have had this issue & got rid of them, what are some of the things that have worked for you? Your advice is very appreciated. Thank you!

While all the other advice is great

fixed

Nomomush

Eat clean with the right amount of lean protein, good carbs, and vegetables. Limit your sugar intake which is key to making those abs come out. Leaning down makes those abs come out from the layer of fat over it.

cwolfman13

OP, it sounds like you're doing all of the right things. You might want to consider eating at a deficit, but I really don't think you need to lose weight. My opinion...eat to a maintenance level TDEE and hit the weight room and lift heavy...not little pink dumbbells or a bunch of isolation work either...lift heavy full body compound lifts. I promise you that you will not "bulk"...you will build some muscle and shed that fat. You should still do cardio, but don't make it the emphasis of your workout regimen. I only do 30 minutes 3x weekly for heart health and fat burn assist. Here's what my wife and I both do:

Workout A:

Squats - 2x5 warm up sets (lighter weight) + 3x5 work sets (to almost failure)
Overhead Press - 2x5 warm up + 3x5 work sets (to almost failure)
Deadlift - 2x5 warm up sets + 1x5 work sets (to almost failure)

Workout B:

Squats - same as above
Bench Press - same as OH Press
Barbell Rows - 2x5 warm up sets + 3x5 work sets (to almost failure)

We alternate these 3 days per week...i.e. Tues A, Thurs B, Sat A (Sunday/Monday off)...Tues B, Thurs A, Sat B...etc, etc

You should check out Starting Strength...it's not just for guys...my wife is doing it too and the results are impressive (and not bulky).

Eventually you can start adding some assistance work, but it's absolutely not necessary in the beginning....and for about 9 months or so from when you start...pretty much assistance when you start to plateau.

xprplstardust

@ cwolfman13 - I am not worried about weight loss. I really want to gain muscle & be strong. I do Jillian Michaels 30 DS 3x a week which includes strength training & after that is over, I continue with strength & resistance training for another 30 minutes. The other days I do about 30 minutes of cardio. They don't seem to be melting away as I had hoped. I am just starting out with lifting so I am hoping that within a few more months of doing this routine & increasing weight size that I might be able to get rid of them completely or at least shrink them down. I will definitely try your workouts you have provided. Thank you!

Kelly_Runs_NC

eat at a deficit, get adequate protein to preserve muscle, strength train to preserve muscle as you lose and do cardio to burn extra calories if desired.

boom

/thread

^^^ Nailed it!! Nothing left to say!

yup.

Also agree.

At the risk of sounding redundant - this is it right here