Let's talk about losing those love handles.

I mean what's to love about the feeling of your stomach hanging over your waistband 🤔

To state the obvious, you'd probably be a little more confident with a little less fat around your midsection.

I remember being overweight even at a very young age - it's definitely not a confident booster.

But it's actually about much more than looking good (although looking good doesn't hurt either)

Here's what I mean.

Too much belly fat is often correlated with increased fat around your organs.

Translation = that's not what you want.

And this has nothing to do with how much you weigh.

Too much belly fat, even for those that are at a normal BMI (AKA being 'skinny fat'), can lead to increased risk of heart attack, stroke, or type 2 diabetes.

Losing belly fat is great for looking good, but it's also great for living longer.

So whether you want to look good, live longer, or both...

Let's talk about what you can do to shed those love handles.

But first, let me clear something up real quick.

It's not easy to get rid of belly fat.

I know so many people that have lost weight (several times over), but have never been able to get rid of fat around their midsection.

There are 2 things I see that cause this:

First, it requires more patience than most people think to lose belly fat.

Believe it or not, there is no such thing as stubborn belly fat.

It's not that belly fat is harder to lose, but it often requires you first losing fat in other areas that are less obvious.

Second, most people are going about fat loss all wrong.

People think the answer to getting rid of belly fat is cutting calories, exercising more, or performing a 'reset' diet.

Those strategies will help you lose weight - but unfortunately that weight won't be the fat loss that you really desire to lose.

You'll lose muscle, drop your testosterone, and sometimes end off worse than when you started.

But here comes the good part.

It is possible to lose belly fat, and there is a better way.

Here's what you should focus on to lose those love handles:

1. Build Lean Muscle

Exercise is extremely important to losing belly fat. However, it's not the calories you burn while exercising that is causing you to lose fat. 

Exercise actually does very little to burn calories when compared to your resting metabolism.

The number one way to increase your resting metabolism (that's within your control)...

More lean muscle mass.

If your goal is less body fat, the majority of your exercise focus should be on strength training to improve lean muscle.

If you need a place to start, I wrote last week about a Superhero Strength Program you can follow.

2. Increase Daily Activity

Move more. Do not exercise more.

More exercise can lead to a short-term increase in calories burned, but it comes at a price.

Overtraining can lead to poor hormone health (such as low testosterone), and it can cause you to feel hungry all the time.

Dieting is hard enough without being even hungrier.

On top of that, when you exercise more, your daily activity tends to decrease to compensate.

So you're super hungry, and you're not actually burning that many more calories #fail

The better way?

Increase your step count and daily activities.

Aiming for 8-12k steps per day can shed through fat without ramping your hunger up.

3. Eat In A Calorie Deficit

Regardless of what type of diet or eating style you follow, any weight loss journey works for the same reasons.

You burn more calories than you take in.

This is called a calorie deficit.

This does not mean you need to track every calorie you eat, but if you aren't eating less calories than you're burning, losing belly fat will be impossible.

It can be a good idea to track calories for a few days or weeks just to know how many calories you're actually consuming.

A good starting point is to consume 10-12 calories per pound of bodyweight. Of those calories, make sure to consume 0.7-0.8 g per pound of bodyweight of protein.

This will help with feeling full and making sure you're building/maintaining lean muscle mass (see point #1)

4. Take It Easy On The Sugar

While carbs are not the enemy, there is a link between increased sugar intake and increased belly fat.

Increased sugar can lead to spikes in insulin, which can elevate blood sugar and cause your body to store fat.

If you're in a calorie deficit, this isn't a problem as the sugar will be used for energy (instead of stored as fat).

But consuming processed sugars (or even natural sugars) can make staying in a calorie deficit harder to do.

You don't have to cut out all sugar to lose belly fat - but cutting back your sugar intake is probably going to help with your ability to burn fat long-term.

5. Track Progress

This is an overlooked step for most people.

I have my clients track both body fat percentage (usually through a DEXA or InBody scan), as well as waist circumference measurements.

These are great ways to make sure that you're making the right progress over time.

If you are losing a bunch of weight, but your body fat percentage or waist measurements aren't changing, that's a tell tale sign that you're losing too much muscle and not enough fat.

This is bad news, as it will lead to being 'skinny fat' as well as making it harder to lose fat (remember, muscle is the biggest driver to burning calories)

That's why it's important not to over-exercise, cut your calories too much, or avoid strength training.

All this info can seem overwhelming, but it doesn't have to be.

I get to help men every single day shed body fat while building lean muscle and achieving the body they desire.

You just need the right approach.

If you want to set up a time to chat for some more specific advice and next steps, click here to fill out a quick form and find a time to talk.

Dave