You Graze All Day
Woman snacking
“Love handles start and end in the kitchen,” says chef and Body Space Fitness personal trainer Dean Sheremet. “I’ve been playing with intermittent fasting over the last year and the results have been incredible. I’ve shortened my window of eating to 8 hours a day. Outside of 1 to 9 pm, I consume water, coffee, and amino acids in a beverage. I used to eat five times a day, so overcoming the mental aspect was much more challenging than the physical. I turned it into a meditative act and eventually it gave me great satisfaction to be able to control myself better.”
A recent study recently presented at the Obesity Society’s annual meeting backs Sheremet’s suggestion. For the study, researchers followed 11 overweight men and women, over two four-day periods. During one period, the study participants ate all of their meals within a six-hour time span. During the second period, they consumed their meals between 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Despite the fact that both diets included the same number of calories, participants reported being less hungry while following the time-restricted feeding schedule. Restricted feeding may “positively impact body composition both by increasing fat oxidation and by reducing energy intake,” the study concludes. For even more ways to melt fat around your middle, don’t miss these 26 Foods That Melt
Love Handles.
2 You Only Do Cardio
people on an elliptical
Don’t get us wrong, cardio can help you burn calories and lose weight, but if you want to slim your hips, you’ll have to lift some iron, too. “Cardio activity may work to burn calories, however, it won’t necessarily target the specific area you’d like to lose from. Although you can not spot reduce, targeting certain areas with weight training may help to build lean muscle mass, decreasing overall fat, explains Kaufman. Not sure where to start? Try this quick Full Body Workout.
3 You Unwind With Wine
woman smelling wine
Sure, stress causes levels of wait widening cortisol to spike, but relying on booze to unwind is not the answer. “Alcohol contains a lot of calories and Americans are simply overdoing it by turning alcohol consumption into an everyday event,” says White. Just two glasses of wine a day can add nearly 1,500 calories to your weekly calorie intake. That can add up to a half-pound of weight gain per week and two pounds per month.” And unfortunately, if you tend to gain weight in your love handles, that’s exactly where those extra lbs. are bound to wind up. For those few times that you do choose to indulge, though, do so wisely with the help of these 20 Tips for Choosing Healthy Alcohol Drinks.
4 You’re Super Busy
woman multitasking laundry
Running from work meetings to the kid’s soccer game and back to the office, again, is enough to leave anyone feeling strung out. Which, in turn, could lead to extra pounds around the hips. “A stressful work or personal life can lead to higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which triggers the storage of belly fat and can lead to less desirable food choices,” says Jess Horton, the personal trainer behind the blog The Fit Petite, adding “When you are rushed or stretched thin, making healthy eating choices is more difficult and can fall off of your priority list.”
You may not be able to rid the amount of stress in your life, but you can develop a better plan to help you handle it. “Try starting your day in quiet. Wake 15 minutes earlier and sit with a cup of detox tea in the dark. Allow yourself to wake up slowly and use this time to set the tone for the day,” advises Horton. “Pray, meditate, and enjoy those precious morning moments. Resist the temptation to check your email or hop on social media. You will feel more in control and your be in a better place to make healthier decisions through the day. Over time, this can help you reach your body goals.”
5 Your Body Fat Percentage Is Too High
upward dog yoga move
It may seem obvious but if you have too much fat on your frame, you’re going to have a pretty tough time targeting the fat that’s covering your hips. “If a woman’s body fat percentage is above 25 percent or a man’s body fat percentage is above 15 percent, the shape of their body may be less than ideal,” Piya Tony Vacharasanee, NASM, ACSM, of Body Space Fitness tells us. To lower your overall body fat percentage, hit the gym five days a week, incorporating both cardio and weight training and add some of these 20 Best Fat-Fighting Ingredients into your daily diet.
6 You Don’t Carb Cycle
mexican rice bowl
While complex carbs like oatmeal, sweet potatoes, and beans are definitely not the enemy to weight loss, eating them all the time may be slowing your progress, says Sheremet. To fight back against the bulge, try carb cycling, which simply means eating more carb dense meals on workout days a few hours before you hit the gym and limiting carbs on days when you’re not training. “This strategy has helped me put on muscle and shed fat in a way I never thought possible,” Sheremet adds.
7 You Only Work Small Muscles
man woman bicep curls
You know you have to challenge your muscles with weight training in order to improve your overall body composition, but if you’re targeting tiny muscles like the triceps and biceps, you’re not getting as much bang for your buck. “Larger movements that involve the total body helps to increase muscle mass, which then allows glucose to be used by the muscles instead of stored as fat,” explains Vacharasanee. “Exercises like the dumbbell squat, the bent over row, and the reverse lunge to overhead press incorporate a variety of muscles which makes them very effective. Do eight reps of each exercise in order and you should feel the benefits within a couple of weeks.”
Woman snacking
“Love handles start and end in the kitchen,” says chef and Body Space Fitness personal trainer Dean Sheremet. “I’ve been playing with intermittent fasting over the last year and the results have been incredible. I’ve shortened my window of eating to 8 hours a day. Outside of 1 to 9 pm, I consume water, coffee, and amino acids in a beverage. I used to eat five times a day, so overcoming the mental aspect was much more challenging than the physical. I turned it into a meditative act and eventually it gave me great satisfaction to be able to control myself better.”
A recent study recently presented at the Obesity Society’s annual meeting backs Sheremet’s suggestion. For the study, researchers followed 11 overweight men and women, over two four-day periods. During one period, the study participants ate all of their meals within a six-hour time span. During the second period, they consumed their meals between 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Despite the fact that both diets included the same number of calories, participants reported being less hungry while following the time-restricted feeding schedule. Restricted feeding may “positively impact body composition both by increasing fat oxidation and by reducing energy intake,” the study concludes. For even more ways to melt fat around your middle, don’t miss these 26 Foods That Melt
Love Handles.
2 You Only Do Cardio
people on an elliptical
Don’t get us wrong, cardio can help you burn calories and lose weight, but if you want to slim your hips, you’ll have to lift some iron, too. “Cardio activity may work to burn calories, however, it won’t necessarily target the specific area you’d like to lose from. Although you can not spot reduce, targeting certain areas with weight training may help to build lean muscle mass, decreasing overall fat, explains Kaufman. Not sure where to start? Try this quick Full Body Workout.
3 You Unwind With Wine
woman smelling wine
Sure, stress causes levels of wait widening cortisol to spike, but relying on booze to unwind is not the answer. “Alcohol contains a lot of calories and Americans are simply overdoing it by turning alcohol consumption into an everyday event,” says White. Just two glasses of wine a day can add nearly 1,500 calories to your weekly calorie intake. That can add up to a half-pound of weight gain per week and two pounds per month.” And unfortunately, if you tend to gain weight in your love handles, that’s exactly where those extra lbs. are bound to wind up. For those few times that you do choose to indulge, though, do so wisely with the help of these 20 Tips for Choosing Healthy Alcohol Drinks.
4 You’re Super Busy
woman multitasking laundry
Running from work meetings to the kid’s soccer game and back to the office, again, is enough to leave anyone feeling strung out. Which, in turn, could lead to extra pounds around the hips. “A stressful work or personal life can lead to higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which triggers the storage of belly fat and can lead to less desirable food choices,” says Jess Horton, the personal trainer behind the blog The Fit Petite, adding “When you are rushed or stretched thin, making healthy eating choices is more difficult and can fall off of your priority list.”
You may not be able to rid the amount of stress in your life, but you can develop a better plan to help you handle it. “Try starting your day in quiet. Wake 15 minutes earlier and sit with a cup of detox tea in the dark. Allow yourself to wake up slowly and use this time to set the tone for the day,” advises Horton. “Pray, meditate, and enjoy those precious morning moments. Resist the temptation to check your email or hop on social media. You will feel more in control and your be in a better place to make healthier decisions through the day. Over time, this can help you reach your body goals.”
5 Your Body Fat Percentage Is Too High
upward dog yoga move
It may seem obvious but if you have too much fat on your frame, you’re going to have a pretty tough time targeting the fat that’s covering your hips. “If a woman’s body fat percentage is above 25 percent or a man’s body fat percentage is above 15 percent, the shape of their body may be less than ideal,” Piya Tony Vacharasanee, NASM, ACSM, of Body Space Fitness tells us. To lower your overall body fat percentage, hit the gym five days a week, incorporating both cardio and weight training and add some of these 20 Best Fat-Fighting Ingredients into your daily diet.
6 You Don’t Carb Cycle
mexican rice bowl
While complex carbs like oatmeal, sweet potatoes, and beans are definitely not the enemy to weight loss, eating them all the time may be slowing your progress, says Sheremet. To fight back against the bulge, try carb cycling, which simply means eating more carb dense meals on workout days a few hours before you hit the gym and limiting carbs on days when you’re not training. “This strategy has helped me put on muscle and shed fat in a way I never thought possible,” Sheremet adds.
7 You Only Work Small Muscles
man woman bicep curls
You know you have to challenge your muscles with weight training in order to improve your overall body composition, but if you’re targeting tiny muscles like the triceps and biceps, you’re not getting as much bang for your buck. “Larger movements that involve the total body helps to increase muscle mass, which then allows glucose to be used by the muscles instead of stored as fat,” explains Vacharasanee. “Exercises like the dumbbell squat, the bent over row, and the reverse lunge to overhead press incorporate a variety of muscles which makes them very effective. Do eight reps of each exercise in order and you should feel the benefits within a couple of weeks.”
