Do you have Love Handles?
Both men and women can have love handles or that affectionate name
given to the accumulation of fat around the waist. As they grow they
can become part of a larger accumulation - the potbelly. Abdominal fat
has been implicated in heart disease, diabetes, and other health
problems. So love handles may indicate that the owner has more serious
issues internally or on the way.
To
get Rid of the Belly Fat
Love handles are fat and fat no matter where it is on the body, it
belongs to the whole body; there is no simple way to ‘spot
reduce’ it. So to remove love handles a person must consume
fewer calories than he/she burns. She must eat a healthy diet and to
accelerate the process, do cardiovascular exercise.
Fat-Storage
Cells
Adipocytes are fat-storage cells and are located all over the body. The
average individual has 30 – 35 billion of them. Adipocytes
store fat but can also release it when the body needs energy. They are
like a balloon growing larger on storage and get smaller on the release
of fat.
Adipocytes do not disappear
when all their stored fat is removed, they just become smaller. The
only way to get rid of them is through liposuction.
Researchers suggest that adipocytes in the hips, thighs, and buttocks
tend to be stubborn and resist releasing fat into the blood stream.
This is not good news for people, women especially, who want to lose
fat in their thighs, hips, and buttocks, but it does provide some
explanation as to why it is difficult for women to lose the fat in
their lower extremities.
The good news is that there is
evidence that adipocytes in the abdomen do release fat into the blood
stream easier than lower extremity fat. That's probably one of the
reasons why men can lose their gut faster than women can lose fat on
their hips. The adipocytes in the abdomen seem to cooperate more. So
losing the love handles on men is easier.
Aerobic
Exercise
Aerobic exercise stimulates the adipocytes to release lots of fat. That
fat will be burned by the muscles during exercise, and if not, it
returns to the adipocytes for storage.
Weightlifting is especially good as it also stimulates the adipocytes
to release fat, and in addition, it builds muscle. Muscle is the engine
that burns calories. When you replace fat with muscle you tend to
increase your resting metabolic rate, and you burn more calories when
you are resting. Muscle requires more calories for maintenance, so any
weightlifting is beneficial.
Fat
Burning Abs
So to get rid of those love handles consume less calories than you
burn, eat a fat burning diet, and through aerobic exercise and
fat burning routines like weightlifting strengthen the abdominal
muscles underneath. As you
replace fat with muscle, you will become an efficient fat burning
machine - in effect you will have burning fat abs.
And as a
bonus, your overall cardiovascular health will
improve.