Getting rid of excess fat, especially around your sides and abdomen, can sometimes feel like a losing battle.
Maybe you’ve shed a lot of weight already, but some areas seem to refuse to slim down.
You want to look good in tight-fitting clothes, but this makes love handles more noticeable.
So what can you do?
The Spot Reduction Myth
First, let’s dispel the myth about spot reduction.
Fat loss is a whole-body process. While you might be particularly annoyed by your love handles, they are part of your overall fat distribution.
You can’t target specific parts of your body to get rid of fat. If you want to get rid of this fat section, you need to burn more fat everywhere.
Exercise Is Not Enough
If you want to try planks, crunches, bridges, and the various other ab-twisting exercises, go ahead. But don’t expect those exercises to burn off the fat from your love handles.
In general, exercise is a growth process, not a shrinkage process. Contrary to popular belief, exercise doesn’t tend to burn off huge chunks of fat. Exercise is for building muscle, not reducing weight.
Living a sedentary lifestyle can help you use up more energy and create a caloric deficit if you live a sedentary lifestyle. Still, exercise might also lead you to eat more, especially if you’re not accustomed to regular exercise. You may feel tempted to reward yourself with a tasty treat after a good workout – this two-minute treat can easily have more calories than the amount you burned in the past hour.
Losing weight involves finding a nutritious, low-calorie, safe and easy to comply with. There are many potentially optimal diets for you to choose from. Most of these – but not all – are based on a principle of small amounts of animal fats (or none) and a varied abundance of fiber-rich fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, seeds, and nuts.
If your current eating patterns are not giving you the results you want, try something else.
Loving Your Love Handles
While losing weight is great for improving your overall health and reducing your risk of chronic diseases, we shouldn’t lose sight that being in good shape means having a lifestyle that enhances your well-being.
If the excess fat covering your abs makes you feel bad about yourself, maybe a change will help.
You can change your body, or you can change your mind.
Will losing weight bring you happiness, or will you find another way to feel bad about your appearance?
Learning to accept your body for what it is right now can be a liberating experience.
You can take up a different sport or activity that you enjoy or try something new. Learn to appreciate your capacities instead of focusing on the parts that only you pay attention to.
Getting rid of excess fat is great, but don’t lose yourself in the process.
