How to get rid of your love handles
Photos: Getty
The term ‘love handles’ refers to the soft, sometimes stubborn fat that gathers around the sides of the waist and is one of the most common body concerns for both men and women.
Love handles are a source of frustration for many, and they often seem resistant to diet and exercise. However, understanding why they develop and how to address them can make a difference to tackling them.
So, what exactly are love handles? Love handles refer to the excess subcutaneous fat (fat stored just under the skin) that accumulates around the sides of the waist, just above the hips. They can be a red flag that your overall fat accumulation, especially visceral fat, is increasing, which can have health implications over time.
Superintendent pharmacist, Abbas Kanani at Chemist Click explains more. ‘Love handles are excess fat deposits located at the side of your lower waist and back. They can be caused by eating more calories than you burn which leads to a build-up of stored fat in this area. Not doing enough physical activity, especially resistance or core training, also contributes to this.
‘Fat can naturally build up in this area because of your genetics and your body shape, even if you are a healthy weight. Love handles can be present if there is an imbalance in certain hormones too. For example, chronic stress raises cortisol, encouraging fat retention around the waist. If there is insulin resistance this can cause fat accumulation, particularly around the midsection. Estrogen and testosterone imbalances can also affect where your body stores fat.
‘Diet can also contribute to love handles. Drinking alcohol can increase your likelihood because the body prioritises metabolising alcohol over burning fat, therefore contributing to belly and love handle fat.’
Health problems
Abbas says that as well as the hormonal issues mentioned above, love handles can be a sign of other health problems, especially if alongside excess abdominal fat.
‘It can be a sign of visceral fat which is toxic and hidden inside your body, on and around your vital organs,’ Abbas says. ‘It can increase your risk of certain conditions, some of which can be life-threatening if left untreated including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, insulin resistance or fatty liver disease.
‘Love handles are likely not a sign of something more dangerous if you’re otherwise healthy, active and eat relatively well and no other underlying conditions such as high blood pressure, blood sugar issues or abnormal cholesterol. However, it’s best to rule out any serious conditions if you notice that you have rapid or unexplained fat gain, any fatigue, mood swings or low libido, have a family history of diabetes, heart disease, or obesity or carry most of your weight in the belly and sides.’
Fat storage is primarily governed by energy balance, which is the relationship between calories consumed and calories burned. When you consume more calories than you expend, the body stores the surplus energy as fat.
However, where your body stores fat isn’t random. It depends on a mix of genetic, hormonal, and lifestyle factors. For example, men tend to store more fat around the abdomen and waist, known as an “apple-shaped” body. Women often store fat around the hips, thighs, and buttocks, a more “pear-shaped” body. But women can also develop love handles especially around menopause due to hormonal shifts.
Calorie counting
Rachel Solway, is a PT and transformation coach. Rachel believes there are things you can do to improve them with the right knowledge.
‘There isn’t one exercise that will specifically target them, no matter what you’ve seen on TikTok!’ Rachel says. ‘Instead, the main focus needs to be on reducing overall body fat.
‘To do that, you need to be in a calorie deficit meaning you’re eating fewer calories than your body burns. When you do this consistently, your body starts to use stored body fat for energy, which is when you’ll notice those love handles begin to shrink.
‘The quality of your food also plays a huge role. Aim for around 90–95% of your daily calories to come from whole foods, things that are as close to their natural state as possible. This doesn’t just help with fat loss; it also helps you feel better day to day. Ultra-processed foods might be convenient, but they’ll leave you feeling sluggish and low on energy, so try to keep those to around 5–10% of your intake.
‘When it comes to training, weight training is key. While you can’t spot reduce fat, building lean muscle will tighten, shape and define your midsection as you lose overall fat. Combine that with around 3 x 20–30-minute steady state cardio sessions per week, something sustainable like walking or cycling and you’ve got an effective formula.
‘Just remember none of this will work without being in that calorie deficit. You can’t out-train a poor diet. But when you get your nutrition right, lift weights consistently, and move more each day, that’s when you’ll finally start to see those love handles disappear.’
Why are love handles seemingly so difficult to tackle? Even people who lose weight through diet and exercise often notice that their love handles seem to linger. There are physiological reasons for this.
1. Fat Cell Distribution
Different areas of the body have different densities and types of fat cells. Some areas, like the flanks, lower back, and lower abdomen have a higher concentration of alpha-2 adrenergic receptors. These receptors slow down fat breakdown. In contrast, beta-2 adrenergic receptors promote fat release for energy. Because the love handle region has more alpha receptors, it’s naturally more resistant to fat loss.
2. Hormonal Influence
Hormones play a major role in fat storage. For example:
- Cortisol, the stress hormone, encourages fat storage around the midsection.
- Insulin regulates blood sugar; chronically high levels can increase fat accumulation.
- Sex hormones like estrogen and testosterone influence where fat is deposited. Decreased estrogen (in women) or testosterone (in men) can shift fat storage toward the abdominal area.
3. Sedentary Behaviour
Prolonged sitting, poor posture, and low daily activity contribute to reduced calorie expenditure and can promote fat accumulation in the midsection. Office jobs and screen-heavy lifestyles make this particularly common.
4. Dietary Habits
High sugar intake, refined carbs, excessive alcohol, and processed foods can cause spikes in blood sugar and insulin, encouraging fat storage — especially in the abdominal and flank areas.
5. Sleep and Stress
Chronic sleep deprivation and stress both increase cortisol levels, disrupt appetite-regulating hormones, and can lead to overeating and weight gain around the waist.
Adam Clark, a fitness expert from Rugbystuff.com, says there are changes you can make to improve love handles. ‘Fat accumulates differently for individual people, and where it accumulates is not something that you can control,’ says Adam. ‘This also means that you cannot target specific areas when losing weight. However, you can reduce fat by making dietary, exercise and lifestyle changes.
Cut out added sugar. Healthy eating is essential when losing fat, and avoiding added sugar is an easy way to improve your diet. Added sugar is usually found in foods like biscuits, sweets and fizzy drinks, but it does not apply to the natural sugars that occur in healthy foods like fruits.
Eat more healthy fats. Healthy fats can help you to feel full, meaning that you will consume fewer calories throughout the day. They can be high in calories, so they are best consumed in moderation. Foods that contain healthy fats are avocados, nuts, seeds and fish.
Eat more fibre. Eating foods rich in soluble fibre can help you to lose body fat, and is found in foods like beans, nuts, fruits and vegetables. It will make you feel fuller for longer, as it slows digestion and this can contribute to reducing the number of calories you consume in a day.
Move more throughout the day. A lot of people have sedentary lifestyles or work desk jobs where they are sat down for prolonged periods of time. You can improve this by setting a timer to get up and move around every half an hour, or invest in a pedometer or track your steps to see how much you are moving throughout the day.
Reduce stress. Being stressed can negatively impact your mental and physical health, potentially even causing you to gain belly fat. Stress triggers the production of cortisol, and overexposure to this hormone can have side effects that include digestive issues and weight gain.
Resistance training. Engaging in any sort of physical activity will help burn body fat, but adding weight training can be beneficial. Weight (or resistance) training involves contracting your muscles against a form of resistance to build your strength, and it can help your body to burn calories when at rest.
Improve your sleep. Similarly to stress, a lack of sleep can increase levels of cortisol in the body, with studies showing that people who are sleep deprived weigh more and have more body fat than people who get enough sleep. A lack of sleep is also linked to an increased risk of health conditions like obesity and diabetes.
Exercise with whole body moves. Spot training (attempting to target specific areas when losing weight) is often found to be ineffective, with a better way to lose stubborn body fat being through incorporating full body moves into your exercise routine. Aerobic moves that work a large number of muscles at once burn more calories than traditional exercises, like push ups.
Increase your protein intake. Protein can help you to feel full between meals, which can reduce your urge to snack. Diets rich in protein have been found to be more effective at reducing fat, and a high protein diet can help you to maintain your weight once you have reached your target.
Drink water. When feeling thirsty, many people reach for beverages like juice, teas or fizzy drinks over water. These beverages can contain a lot of sugar and calories, and a higher intake of sweet beverages is linked to weight gain in the abdominal area. Liquid calories also have a different effect on hunger to the calories from food, meaning it is easier to consume a higher number of calories this way.
Reduce alcohol intake. An easy way to lose weight is to reduce your alcohol intake. Drinking a lot of alcohol can increase the risk of obesity and lead to an increase in body fat in the midsection. Alcohol can also increase feelings of hunger as it stimulates the brain cells that regulate your appetite, and the alcoholic beverages themselves are often loaded with added sugar.
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