Are you trying to get rid of those love handles? Ladies, how would you like to hop aboard the love train and get rid of the caboose? As strange as this sounds, the very things that most people do in an attempt to get rid of their love handles, is often the very thing that makes them worse. I'm going to give you information that will tell you exactly how to get rid of those love handles and saddle bags.

For starters consider this. While most people understand the benefits of cutting back on their fat intake, don't make the major mistake of cutting your fat intake too far.  Here's a defective thought: "If I eat fat free foods, then I'll get leaner faster!" Does that sound familiar? Do you enjoy eating foods that taste like rubber?
 
I certainly don't, so here is a piece to the puzzle that you may be missing. Understand that there is a connection between human satiety (feeling satisfied) and long term success. If you find yourself eating bland, boring, grilled dry food, how long do you think you'll be able to maintain that way of eating? Two weeks? (If you are lucky) We have taste buds or receptor sites on our tongue and when the right moistures, flavors and textures hit the pallet a signal is sent to the hypothalamus that tells our brain that we are satisfied. You could probably eat 3 pounds of grilled dry, boring chicken breast and feel physically full, and yet, find your self so mentally hungry that right after you finish eating you're craving something sweet, salty or crunchy. Hint #1: Make sure you are eating great tasting food. Find 15 different recipes that you absolutely love. If you love what you eat, you'll never get tired of eating your lean, healthy foods.

We all have cravings. Whether you like sweets or prefer salty and crunchy foods, you are not immune to cravings. Most people think that to get rid of their love handles and saddle bags, they can't eat any bad foods whatsoever. We have all done it before; we have all tried to resist the urge to give in to cravings.  But if you are too harsh and restrictive, you may be taking a step backwards before you even take a step forward!  I guarantee that you will only last about two weeks before you begin to fall apart whenever you see junk food. You see, after giving up all your favorite foods, you could be tooting down 610, see a Frito Lay truck going the other way and wham, you wonder why you're struggling with cravings for Fritos all night. Hint #2: Implement a few Better Bad Choices to satisfy your cravings and you'll end up being able to stick with your program and do it for the long term. Having a cheat meal, not a cheat day, can really help break the mental monotony of eating to clean and will help to boost your metabolic rate and actually burn body fat.

Let's face it, if eating low fat was the only criteria to getting rid of love handles and saddle bags, wouldn't we all be looking like we want?  The truth is, many of the fat free foods and reduced fat foods may have less fat, but they often have more sugar. The problem here is that whenever we see fat free plastered on a snack food, we suddenly think "FreeDumb" And eat too much of it. Let's not ignore all of those low carb foods on the market. If it's low carb it's high fat, and if it's high carb, it's low fat. We can't win for losing! HINT #3: Let's face it, most snacks and foods are processed, if you want abs of steel, or a slim trim waist, watch out for excessive snacking.

You have to eat to lose. Eating helps to increase your metabolism, maintain blood sugar and avoid hunger. You see, no matter how motivated you think you are, once you get hungry, it's over. To be perfectly honest (as a nutritionist), if I get hungry and see a vending machine, I'd scramble for change so fast it would make your head spin. So, if you want to be successful, don't let yourself get hungry. HINT #4: Carry foods with you to during the day and bring mini-meals to have between meals to avoid hunger.

Make sure your meals are balanced with a low fat protein and a complex carbohydrate. Avoid eating too much of the processed carbs like breads, bagels and pastas. Suppose you put a chicken breast or a baked potato in your garbage disposal in your kitchen sink, how hard would the disposal have to work to break it down?  I'd say pretty hard.  But if you sprinkle flour down the garbage disposal how hard would it have to work to break it down? Not hard at all! You wouldn't even have to turn it on! You see, the thermic effect of your body taking a complex food and breaking it down is much higher than your body breaking down something that is simple and refined. HINT # 5: The more complex your foods are the more energy your body will expend to burn it and the faster you will see the results you want. You don't have to eliminate all processed foods, just minimize your consumption. The next time you dine out and you see a basket of bread on the table, before you start eating, ask yourself if you would rather wear the bread or the swimsuit.

It doesn't matter how much you exercise if your diet isn't right, you'll see very little results. And no amount of the Ab Abdominizer is going to do anything to help you change things. So, if you take my advice to heart about the dietary factors, then let's proceed to some exercising truths. 

Everyday I see clients that workout consistently, and they have yet to get the results they want. Folks, if you workout hard enough anything is possible. Yet, too many people have been brain washed into thinking that "they'll over train if they run", so they sit on a stationary bike pedaling away on level 2 for 45 minutes. I guarantee, if you workout harder, you'll get more out of your efforts. Way too many people choose a type of cardio based on how easy it is rather than on how hard it is. Trust me on this, its human nature to avoid pain. HINT # 6: Find a cardiovascular activity that keeps your heart rate high.  Remember that you need oxygen in order to burn fat, base your workout on your rate of exertion.  For instance, if on a scale of 1-10, 1 is very little exertion (walking down the hall) and 10 is the highest level (call 911) try to keep your cardio at a 7-8. When's the last time you went for the hardest piece of cardio equipment in the gym? You know the one I'm talking about, it's the one where the stairs move. It's hard, but if you conquer that machine, you'll see some results.

If you love your love handles and adore your caboose, then keep chatting with everyone you see at the gym during your workout. The longer you rest between sets, the harder it will be to induce change. HINT # 7: When you weight train, keep your rest period shorter, like 45 seconds between each set. This type of training will make the workout much more intense, get your heart rate up a bit more and help you add more muscle where you need it. Take a look at your self in mirror, do you carry most of your body fat in the mid section or have a wide waist? If so, don't spend mega amounts of time doing sit ups, instead, work on making your shoulders and back wider. This in turn will help create the optical illusion that your waist is getting smaller. The same theory applies to all of you women who are trying to slim those hips.  Stop training the lower body with weights and bring your focus to the upper body. Let your cardio take care of your legs! Have you ever noticed how nice your body looks when you wear shoulder pads?  Again, it makes the shoulders look wider and your waist and hips smaller! If your quads become over-developed it will make your hips look wider!

Let's face it, if you're looking for a pill, or if you think you can have great looking abs in five minutes, we have a lot of work to do here. Infomercials come in all shapes and sizes, but make no mistake, most of the stuff they sell on TV is junk. Imagine how you would look if you bought all of the things they sell on TV and they really worked? You'd have buns of steel. Teeth as white as pearls, a full head of hair in less than five minutes from a spray can, thighs like Suzanne Summers, all the while looking as young or orange as Jay the Juice Man. Honestly, I don't think any of the models that they use on these things got that way by using these products. They either bust their butts in the gym or were blessed with great genetics or have a great plastic surgeon. So don't buy into it!  HINT# 8: Try these tips that I gave you, if you can do these consistently; you will see the results you want!