Love handles: losing them is about more than how you look

Let’s talk about losing those stubborn 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 feel a lot more confident with a little less fat around your midsection.

I remember being overweight even at a very young age — and let me tell you, it’s definitely not a confidence booster.

But losing belly fat is about way more than just 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 and a higher risk of mortality.

Translation = that’s not good for longevity and living longer.

And here’s the kicker:
This has nothing to do with how much you weigh.

Even people who fall into a “normal” BMI range can still have too much visceral fat (“skinny fat”) — putting them at higher risk for:

• Heart attack
• Stroke
• Type 2 diabetes

Losing belly fat isn’t just about looking better — it’s about living longer.

So whether you want to look good, live longer, or both…
Let’s break down exactly how to shed those love handles.

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Losing Love Handles: Let’s state the obvious (and not so obvious)

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

I know so many people who have lost weight (sometimes several times over), but have never been able to truly lose the fat around their midsection.

Here are the two biggest reasons why:

1. It takes more patience than you think.

Believe it or not, there’s no such thing as “stubborn” belly fat.
Belly fat isn’t harder to lose than other fat — but your body tends to lose fat from other areas first before it comes off your midsection.

2. Most people go about fat loss the wrong way.

Cutting calories aggressively, overexercising, or following a “reset” diet can help you lose weight — but not in the way you want.

You might lose muscle.
You might tank your testosterone.
You might even end up worse off than when you started.

The good news:
It is possible to lose belly fat — but you need a better plan.

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Here’s How to Lose Your Love Handles (For Good)

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1. Build Lean Muscle

Exercise is critical for losing belly fat.
But it’s not about the calories you burn during your workout.

Exercise doesn’t actually burn that many calories compared to your resting metabolism.

The #1 way to boost your resting metabolism?
Build more lean muscle mass.

If your goal is less body fat, strength training should be the core of your exercise program.

(If you need a starting point, a fully customizable and proven template is included on day 3 of my free email course: The Body [re]Building Playbook)

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2. Increase Daily Activity

Move more.
Don’t just exercise more.

More structured exercise can temporarily increase calorie burn — but it comes at a cost.

• Overtraining can hurt hormone health (especially testosterone).
• Overtraining can also make you feel hungry all the time.

Dieting is already hard enough — you don’t need to be hungrier.

On top of that, when people exercise more, they often move less the rest of the day without realizing it.
(Your body naturally compensates.)

The better approach:

• Increase your daily steps.
• Aim for 8,000–12,000 steps a day.

You’ll burn more fat without ramping up hunger or frying your hormones.

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3. Eat in a Calorie Deficit

No matter what diet you follow — keto, carnivore, intermittent fasting, or anything else — the reason it works is because you’re eating fewer calories than you burn.

This is called a calorie deficit.

You don’t have to track calories forever, but you should know roughly how much you’re eating.

Here’s a simple starting point:

• Eat around 10–12 calories per pound of your body weight per day.
• Get 0.7–0.8 grams of protein per pound of body weight.

Protein will help keep you full and support lean muscle mass (see point #1). Learn exactly how to set up your calories, macronutrients, and what foods to eat in the Body [re]Building Playbook.

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4. Take It Easy on the Sugar

Carbs aren’t the enemy.

But high sugar intake can make belly fat worse — especially if you’re not careful with calories.

Here’s what happens:

• Sugar spikes insulin.
• Chronically high insulin can make it easier to store fat, especially around the belly.

If you’re in a calorie deficit, this isn’t a huge issue.
But excess sugar can make it harder to stay in a calorie deficit (because of cravings and blood sugar swings).

You don’t need to cut out sugar completely.
But cutting back on added sugars will definitely help with long-term fat loss.

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5. Track Your Progress

Most people skip this step — and it hurts their results.

Here’s what I recommend:

• Track body fat percentage (DEXA scan or InBody scan)
• Track waist circumference measurements
• Track average weekly weight

If you’re losing weight but your waist size or body fat % isn’t changing, that’s a warning sign you’re losing muscle — not fat.

And that’s bad news:

• You’ll end up “skinny fat”
• You’ll make future fat loss even harder (because you’ll have a lower metabolism)

That’s why you should:

• Strength train
• Avoid over-exercising
• Avoid slashing calories too aggressively

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Final Thoughts

All of this can feel overwhelming.
But it doesn’t have to be.

I help men every single day shed body fat, build lean muscle, and finally achieve the body they desire.

You just need the right approach.

Follow a proven step by step process to fat burning and muscle building in my free email course: The Body [re]Building Playbook