Ways to get rid of love handles

“Hey, buddy, I got a flat, would you mind if I borrowed your spare tire?” If reading this joke makes you think of your own guts hanging out over the edges of your pants, maybe it’s time you paid a little attention to your constitution and made a choice to crunch the competition. In this case, the enemies are your love handles, those stubborn handfuls of fat that hang around above your hips, and they are in need of an old-fashioned beat-down.

Other loving terms for the opponent are potbelly, beer belly, donut, paunch and “hey, fatso”. You want to get to work and get yourself back in shape, don’t you?

4 ways to get rid of your love handles

1. CHANGE YOUR WAYS: The starvation diet is only making you resemble a skeleton with a life preserver and the high-sugar, fast food cuisine you ingest on a daily basis has given you the look of a potbellied pig in winter. Learn the Food Pyramid. Eat whole grains. Eat lots of protein and cut down on the carbohydrates (look it up). Limit dairy products. Do some homework and find out how to eat right.

2. CRUNCH TIME: Work those abs. It’s true that you may already have rock-hard, six-pack abs but we just can’t see them. Why is that? Because they are hidden behind the beer belly, that’s right! Drop and give me 20. Push ups, pull-ups, strength training and, yes, thousands of sit-ups will lead you to your ideal Mr. Universe stomach.

3. DA-DOO.-RUN-RUN: Get thee to the track! Cardiovascular training burns fat and burning fat is the only way to lose your love handles. Running, swimming, treadmilling, elliptical-ling and any activity that gets you sweating and short of breath (and, no those 20 minutes don’t really count).

4. OPEN UP AND SAY “AH”: Drink your water. I know, you hate it. “It doesn’t taste like anything”. Yeah, yeah. Just drink up. 8 glasses a day, every day. The more you drink, the more you want to drink. Think of water as the new crack and you’ll be on the right track.