Making war on an incipient love handle

[ilya]

I am not overweight at all (5'8" and 146 lbs.) but I'm developing an ugly love handle. I hate it and I want to get rid of it. What's my optimal strategy?
I've been going to the gym 5-6x/week since the first week of January...I usually do a 45 minute aerobic bit at mid-150's HR, and sometimes lift some weights (but this is haphazard). I am in better shape than I was 3 months ago but the f'in love handle is not going away.

Help! Thanks.

[housenuts]

how is your diet?
also do some ab workouts...crunches, bridges, etc.

[ilya]

[ QUOTE ]
how is your diet?

[/ QUOTE ]

So-so. I'm vegetarian but I eat perhaps too much cheese/sour cream/pasta/bread/sweets. I'm not talking greasy-pizza bad, but still.
I drink maybe 1x/month.

[Bluffoon]

[ QUOTE ]
I am not overweight at all (5'8" and 146 lbs.) but I'm developing an ugly love handle. I hate it and I want to get rid of it. What's my optimal strategy?
I've been going to the gym 5-6x/week since the first week of January...I usually do a 45 minute aerobic bit at mid-150's HR, and sometimes lift some weights (but this is haphazard). I am in better shape than I was 3 months ago but the f'in love handle is not going away.

Help! Thanks.

[/ QUOTE ]

You are going to have to cut some calories or accept being a little chubby. No amount of situps will reduce the fat around your midsection. One thing you can do is build muscle mass by lifting weights. Muscle burns calories so if you add five pounds of muscle you will burn more calories daily even without additional activity. Good Luck.

[housenuts]

[ QUOTE ]
You are going to have to cut some calories or accept being a little chubby. No amount of situps will reduce the fat around your midsection.

[/ QUOTE ]

exactly. you can do all the ab work in the world but if your diet is still crap you won't have a six-pack. you'll have strong abs, but they'll be hiding behind flab.

[Rushmore]

"No carbs after 2:00 in the afternoon."

It's called the Tilt Diet.

[rusellmj]

As a vegitarian you need to make sure your getting enough good quality protein. Try and balance your carbs and protein intake. This should be based on your activity level. Try and get your carbs from natural sources like fruits and vegetables instead of breads and pasta. I'm a fan of the Zone diet. I used to have to maintain my weight at 160lbs didn't have any probs doing it. You can get more info here (http://www.drsears.com/drsearspages/index.jsp) .
Good luck,
Russ

[citanul]

This sounds like a load of crap. What ever happened to cardiovascular exercize? I agree that just situps won't get it done, but jeez.

citanul, who advocates balanced diet and exercize as the method of choice.

[astroglide]

if you're developing a love handle you're overweight, that just might be where it manifests itself first in your body. it could be worse, you could have a fupa. anyway you want to just lose weight, not "lose the love handle". it will work.

[ilya]

[ QUOTE ]
if you're developing a love handle you're overweight, that just might be where it manifests itself first in your body. it could be worse, you could have a fupa. anyway you want to just lose weight, not "lose the love handle". it will work.

[/ QUOTE ]

As I said in my OP, I'm 5'8" and weight 146 lbs. This gives me a BMI of 22.2, which puts me squarely in the "normal" bracket (18.5-24.9). I would need to weigh 18 more pounds than I do now for BMI to start considering me "overweight." Do you disagree with the BMI?

[bogey]

BMI = BS

[ilya]

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BMI = BS

[/ QUOTE ]

umm, why?

[astroglide]

yes, i disagree with the bmi. you have a [censored] love handle.

[bogey]

overgeneralized system with too few variables,
225 lb. pro football running back would be considered obese by BMI even though has body fat < 8%,
likewise underweight by BMI standards with little muscle mass could be considered normal even though body fat is way high

not saying this is you by any means, just that BMI isnt very useful