Eliminate Love Handles: A Guide for Women

Even though men are more prone to gain weight in their abdominal area, women often find the external oblique abdominal muscles, which are also known as love handles, to be a problem area. Spot reduction is a myth. To reduce fat in the abdominal area, you will have to lose fat all over your body. The only way to get rid of love handles is to incorporate a healthy diet and regular exercise routine into your lifestyle.

Things You'll Need

• Gym membership or home-workout equipment

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Instructions

• 1

  Join a fitness facility in your neighborhood. By finding a local gym, you are less likely to make excuses not to go. Many gyms offer trial memberships, so you can try out the gym first before joining. If you prefer working out at home, acquire some home-workout equipment or an exercise DVD.

• 2

  Eat five to six small, healthy meals per day to keep your metabolism up. This will also keep you from overeating and craving foods that will undermine your success. Foods that are low in fat and sugar are ideal, as are fiber-rich and whole wheat products.

• 3

  Drink water throughout the day. Drinking water will flush your system, aid in digestion and keep you hydrated and feeling full.

• 4

  Incorporate at least 20 minutes of aerobic exercise into four or five days of the week. You can workout on the treadmill, the stair-climber, elliptical machine or stationary bike. Jogging outside is also a good option. Cardiovascular exercise will burn calories and will help that fat layer around your waist melt away.

• 5

  Add weight training into your workout routine for two or three days of the week. Weight training will tone your body and increase your overall muscle mass resulting in a lower body fat percentage.

• 6

  Target the love handles by doing abdominal exercises. Women tend to hold onto fat in the lower body region the longest. Once the fat starts melting away, you want the muscles to be toned and tight. Adding exercises like elbow-to-opposite-knee crunches and lying pelvic lifts will help.