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No More Muffin Top! Here’s How To Get Rid of Love Handles for Good

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No More Muffin Top! Here’s How To Get Rid of Love Handles for Good

Whereas the time period “love handles” implies affection, there is no such thing as a girl on earth — a minimum of, not one I’ve ever met — who likes her love handles. Often known as “muffin prime” (as a result of as an alternative of sitting flush with the pant’s waist, they cling over it like a muffin prime), love handles are widespread amongst girls — particularly as we age, and most notably, once we enter menopause. Whereas fully pure, they will make us really feel self-conscious about our dimension and silhouette. Although we’re all good as we’re made, there’s no denying that weight reduction — particularly, the discount of physique fats and stomach fats – has well being advantages. Thus, the seek for find out how to eliminate love handles continues. 

The excellent news is {that a} nutritious diet wealthy in protein, veggies, and wholesome fat mixed with an everyday train routine of power coaching and actions that burn fats can go a great distance in direction of lowering and even eliminating love handles. Right here’s what you’ll want to know.

What are love handles?

Earlier than going after cussed love handles, it’s useful to know what they’re and why they develop. Love handles happen when the physique shops extra fats — sometimes ensuing from a surplus in calorie consumption — within the midsection. (As a result of a lot of our important organs are close to the hips and waist, the physique deposits extra fats there to guard them.) 

A standard fable that persists round love handles is that they are often focused. Whereas it’s true that some elements of our physique could reply extra rapidly to sure workouts, spot discount — whereby visceral fats is lowered solely in a single space of the physique — isn’t really attainable. Somewhat, love handles should be lowered over time by rising muscle mass and strengthening the complete physique. 

That stated, individuals’s physique composition varies and weight reduction journeys look totally different for everybody, which explains why some individuals develop pronounced love handles and others have none.

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How To Get Rid of Love Handles

Love handles may be uncomfortable, particularly in form-fitting clothes, and extra weight is a threat issue for a number of persistent circumstances. Listed here are steps you’ll be able to take to scale back the looks of affection handles and enhance your total well being.

1. Modify Your Food regimen

Fats loss, particularly shedding the stomach fats across the midsection, requires a nutritious diet. Since love handles can’t be focused on their very own, shedding weight total is the purpose (as this can shrink love handles and different hassle spots concurrently). 

To start out, discover a weight loss plan that works to your wants; punishing or restrictive diets usually end in fats retention as a result of the physique perceives that it’s in hunger mode. As an alternative, make small modifications like lowering consumption of sugar, alcohol, and processed meals, all of which trigger weight achieve and irritation. Change these with meals that construct stomach muscle mass like proteins and wholesome fat, and swap sugary sweets for fruits. 

A nutritious diet is one which works to your wants, so alter and adapt elements as you go. It’s value noting a one pound weight reduction per week is the same as a deficit of three,500 energy every week (or 500 energy a day). A nutritious diet gives ample energy, nevertheless it will get these energy from meals that nourish the physique.  

2. Keep Energetic

Many people work sedentary jobs that preserve us pinned to a chair all day. Including common motion to our routine can thus have a huge impact on our our bodies, together with how we maintain onto weight. A complete exercise routine with cardio, squats, and lunges is, after all, the best. However even easy actions, like yoga, stretching, biking, and strolling, can spark weight reduction. These small modifications can even assist scale back threat of creating persistent circumstances associated to weight problems, like diabetes. To start out, create a sensible routine that works along with your life’s rhythm. That is what’s often called a “success atmosphere,” and it drastically will increase the probability that you just’ll persist with your  weight reduction targets. Why? As a result of a program that’s handy and accessible is simpler to take care of long-term. 

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3. Deal with Power-Constructing

There are, after all, advantages to extra intense exercise routines, like weight coaching, HIIT (high-intensity interval coaching), and workouts centered on core muscle mass. Resistance coaching, and power coaching workouts like crunches, obliques, and reps with dumbbells may also help your physique burn fats at relaxation. (Which means that the load loss results of your exercise proceed even after you’ve stepped off the treadmill.) That stated, it’s essential to take heed to your physique when figuring out, significantly when performing upper-body power coaching workouts like push-ups and pull-ups, as there’s potential for harm. Begin small and enhance the depth of your exercises over time. 

4. Keep Hydrated

Decreasing love handles requires elevated bodily exercise. This, in flip, means elevated water consumption, each to remain hydrated and to spur weight reduction. Water helps to suppress urge for food, so we eat solely as a lot as we’d like and solely once we want it. It additionally retains us glad, lively, and energized, which makes us much less inclined to sit down on the couch consuming chocolate. Preserve a water bottle at your desk and observe reaching for a glass of water as an alternative of a snack serving all through the day. 

5. Discover Stress Administration Methods

Stress can have a huge impact on weight achieve and loss, so it’s a good suggestion to seek out administration methods for the issues that invoke it. In easy phrases, stress causes the physique to provide cortisol, which is the stress hormone that gives bursts of power. Sometimes called the combat or flight hormone, it features as a set off alerting us to hazard. As we speak’s world, nonetheless, doesn’t current the identical risks as existed previously — once we may, for instance, have to run from a lion or keep away from approaching marauders — so when cortisol ranges enhance attributable to stress at work or college, we lack an outlet for ridding ourselves of the surplus power. 

The result’s a swift and dramatic drop in power ranges, which — together with a drop in blood sugar — causes cravings for sugary meals and snacks. Lengthy-term heightened cortisol ranges have additionally been proven to extend your stomach fats, so lowering stress will enable you to scale back your love handles, too. 

6. Get Extra Sleep

Sleep is one other essential piece of the load loss puzzle. To start out, once we don’t get sufficient sleep, it might probably enhance our stress ranges and trigger overeating. Moreover, once we’re drained throughout the day, we attain for sugary snacks to provide us power. Lack of sleep has additionally been instantly correlated with overeating. This comes from each stress to remain energized and chemical modifications in hormones. Intention for seven to 9 hours of sleep, if attainable.

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Conclusion

A bit extra fats across the waistline and decrease again is comparatively widespread and impacts girls of all ages. There are a lot of advantages to addressing love handles and fats build-up in sustainable and long-term methods, together with a rise in power and a lowered threat for persistent circumstances. Easy modifications to lose your love handles embrace dietary modifications that scale back sugar and alcohol consumption and rising hydration and your exercise stage, both low-impact or excessive affect. Guarantee, too, that you just’re getting sufficient sleep and managing stress, as each may cause hormone modifications that result in weight achieve. On the finish of the day, shedding your love handles is extra about feeling good than “trying” good. You’re already attractive — and don’t you overlook it!

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Supercharge your immune system with these 10 foods

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Supercharge your immune system with these 10 foods

Did you know that some foods can help boost your immune system naturally and work to keep you healthy? In this article, learn how to incorporate the best immunity-boosting foods into your diet – and why these foods in particular help protect your health.

Nature’s best illness fighters

Many foods you’ll find at your local grocery store can help keep you healthy throughout the year. These 10 common foods top the list.

1. Mushrooms

Mushrooms contain selenium, deficiency of which may cause increased susceptibility to contracting a virus, as found in a study published in Nutrients journal. The riboflavin and niacin found in mushrooms are also important for a healthy immune system.

FIGHT COLD AND FLU WITH THESE 10 IMMUNE-BOOSTING RECIPES FROM A TEXAS REGISTERED DIETITIAN

Try adding a handful of mushrooms to your pasta sauce, scrambled eggs and omelets, or throw them on top of a homemade pizza. Mushrooms are also delicious, simply sautéed or roasted with a little olive oil and salt and pepper.

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2. Sweet potatoes

Sweet potatoes and other orange foods like carrots, squash and pumpkin contain the antioxidant beta-carotene. This is a form of vitamin A that is essential for keeping your skin strong and able to fight off bacteria and viruses.

“Vitamin A helps regulate the immune system and protects you from infections by supporting immune system cells and barriers that keep the bad stuff out,” said Kara Lydon, a dietitian, certified intuitive eating counselor, and author of the e-book Nourish Your Namaste: How Nutrition and Yoga Can Support Digestion, Immunity, Energy and Relaxation. “One sweet potato has over 380% of the daily value for vitamin A.”

Dietitian Kara Lydon says research shows that deficiencies in nutrients like vitamins A, C, E, B, D, selenium, zinc, iron, copper and folic acid can increase your susceptibility to disease. (Food Drink Life)

Try cutting sweet potatoes into strips and baking them coated in a little olive oil, salt and pepper to make a healthy homemade version of French fries.

Or, for a major time-saving hack, learn how to cook a sweet potato in the microwave, then simply top it with a little butter and cinnamon for an easy side dish.

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3. Almonds

Almonds are an excellent source of vitamin E, another antioxidant responsible for supporting the immune system. Grab a handful – 1/4 cup – to get 50% of your daily recommended amount of vitamin E.

4. Yogurt

Yogurt contains live and active cultures called probiotics. These can help stimulate the immune system and keep our gut and intestinal tract healthy and free of disease-causing bacteria.

Any yogurt with a Live and Active Cultures seal contains some beneficial bugs. You can see them in the ingredients list as well.

Dairy products, like yogurt, also tend to be good sources of vitamin D; a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine found vitamin D deficiency is linked to an increased risk of contracting a cold or the flu.

5. Leafy greens

Leafy greens like spinach and kale are rich in a whole host of nutrients, including fiber, antioxidants and folate, which is especially important for immune function, as per a study in The Journal of Immunology.

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Both spinach and kale leaves are great tossed into a salad with another lighter, crunchier green, like romaine, for texture variance. Spinach leaves are also an excellent replacement for less nutrient-dense iceberg lettuce on a sandwich.

You can also use spinach and kale in fruit smoothies – just be sure to use only the leaves of the kale, not the bitter stems.

If you’re more a fan of savory, crunchy snacks, give a baked kale chips recipe a try – they are easy to make and surprisingly delicious.

6. Tea

Green and black tea contain polyphenols and flavonoids, which are antioxidants that help fight disease. In addition, an amino acid that’s responsible for an immune boost, L-theanine, is abundant in both black and green tea. Decaf versions have it, too.

Drink several unsweetened cups per day to reap the benefits. To get more antioxidants from your tea bags, bob them up and down while they brew.

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7. Cabbage

This inexpensive winter vegetable is a source of glutamine, which has been noted by many studies, including one in Nutrients journal, to strengthen the immune system. Try it in your winter soups and stews, or throw shredded raw cabbage into your wraps or salads to add a nice crunch that won’t change the flavor profile of the meal.

8. Garlic

In addition to warding off vampires, garlic also contains the active ingredient allicin, which fights infection and bacteria with its antibacterial and antifungal properties.

Minced garlic is great sautéed with spinach and a little olive oil for a simple side dish, and minced garlic is also a delicious addition to homemade salsa. Tip: buy garlic pre-minced to save time and mess.

9. Barley and oats

These grains contain beta-glucan, a type of fiber with antimicrobial and antioxidant capabilities that have been found to stimulate the immune system. According to a study published in Physiology & Behavior, beta-glucan can help prime the immune system and support resistance against invading pathogens.

Barley is a great addition to soups and salads thanks to its wonderfully chewy texture, and oats can make an easy and nutritious breakfast.

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If you’re looking for a breakfast that’s ready for you when you wake up, give overnight oats with almond milk a try – a few minutes of quick prep the night before will have breakfast ready and waiting by morning.

10. Fish

Selenium, which is especially plentiful in shellfish such as oysters, lobsters, crabs and clams, helps white blood cells produce cytokines-proteins that help clear flu viruses out of the body.

In addition, salmon, mackerel and herring are rich in omega-3 fats, which reduce inflammation and increase airflow, protecting lungs from colds and respiratory infections.

Mix canned salmon with half a mashed avocado, a spoonful of Dijon mustard, and a spoonful of mayonnaise to make a flavorful and nutrient-dense salmon salad that’s great in a wrap, on a sandwich or simply with crackers.

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Takeaways

Boosting your immune system with the foods that you eat is more accessible than you might think – and more important, too.

“Research shows that various nutrient deficiencies – vitamins A, C, E, B, D, selenium, zinc, iron, copper and folic acid – can increase your susceptibility to disease,” said Lydon. “In fact, malnutrition is the most common cause of immune-deficiency in the world, so making sure you’re eating adequately is key for immune health.”

Stock up on these natural illness fighters – mushrooms, sweet potatoes, almonds, yogurt, leafy greens, green and black tea, cabbage, garlic, barley and oats and fish – on your next trip to the grocery store.

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These medications could make driving dangerous, the FDA warns

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These medications could make driving dangerous, the FDA warns

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It’s become common knowledge that drinking and driving don’t mix — but should you get behind the wheel after popping a pill?

It depends on the type of medication, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

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While most medicines are safe to take on the go, some may cause side effects that can interfere with the ability to operate a vehicle or heavy machinery, the agency warned in a notice on its website.

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These side effects can include drowsiness, dizziness, blurred vision, fainting, lack of coordination, nausea, inability to focus or pay attention, and excitability, the FDA noted.

“Some medicines can affect your driving for a short time after you take them,” the notice stated. “For others, the effects can last for several hours and even into the next day.”

Some medications may cause side effects that can interfere with your ability to operate a vehicle, the FDA warned. (iStock)

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Some medicines come with a warning to not operate a vehicle or operate heavy machinery for a certain period of time after taking them.

MAN DIES AFTER CONSUMING TOO MUCH VITAMIN D AS EXPERTS WARN OF RISKS: ‘CASCADE OF PROBLEMS’

“Many different types of medications — such as antipsychotics, anti-epileptic medications, stimulants, muscle relaxants, opioids, benzodiazepines, sleeping pills, some antidepressants, and even over-the-counter medications like antihistamines — can cause side effects that impair mental and motor functions, including fatigue, headaches, nausea, blurred vision, delayed reaction times and visual impairment,” Katy Dubinsky, a New York pharmacist and the CEO and co-founder of Vitalize, a private supplement company, told Fox News Digital. 

“These side effects significantly reduce alertness and clear vision, which are crucial for safely driving and performing everyday tasks,” she added.

pain medication

Some medicines come with a warning to not operate a vehicle or operate heavy machinery for a certain period of time after taking them. (iStock)

Dr. Shana Johnson, a physical medicine and rehabilitation physician in Scottsdale, Arizona, noted that central nervous system depressants can be particularly dangerous for driving — as these medications exert their effects by calming the brain. 

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“Side effects associated with this calming include sleepiness, loss of focus and fuzzy thinking,” she told Fox News Digital. 

WHEN SHOULD OLDER DRIVERS HAVE TO STOP DRIVING?

“Common examples of this class are medications for muscle spasms (muscle relaxants), pain (opioids), seizures (anti-seizure medications) and anxiety (benzodiazepines).” 

Two other classes of medications that have sedating effects are antihistamines used for allergy control and anticholinergics used for bladder control and chronic pain, Johnson added.

Medications that don’t mix with driving

The FDA website includes the following list of medications that could make it dangerous to drive.

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  • Antipsychotic medicines
  • Anti-seizure medicines (antiepileptic drugs)
  • Diet pills, “stay awake” medicines and other stimulants, including caffeine, ephedrine and pseudoephedrine
  • Medicines that treat or control symptoms of diarrhea and urine or bladder control
  • Medicines that treat or prevent symptoms of motion sickness
  • Muscle relaxants
  • Opioids, including some cough suppressants containing codeine and hydrocodone
  • Prescription medicines for anxiety (for example, benzodiazepines)
  • Sleeping pills
  • Some antidepressants
  • Some prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) cold remedies and allergy medicines that contain antihistamines, nighttime sleep aids or cough medicines
  • Products containing cannabis or cannabis-derived compounds, including CBD
Man driving drowsy

Some medication side effects can include drowsiness, dizziness, blurred vision, fainting, lack of coordination, nausea, inability to focus or pay attention and excitability, the FDA noted. (iStock)

Taking sleep medicines at night can sometimes cause impaired driving the next day, the FDA warned.

“If you take sleep drugs, talk with your health care professional about ways to take the lowest effective dose, when to take the medicines before bedtime, and when it would be safe to drive again after taking a sleep medicine,” the agency advised.

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Allergy medications may contain antihistamines that can also impede driving ability, the FDA added.

“Antihistamines can slow your reaction time, make it hard to focus or think clearly, and may cause mild confusion even if you don’t feel drowsy.”

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Cropped picture of young woman holding a glass with water and pills in her hands

One doctor tells patients to try a new medication when they don’t have plans to drive — so they can see how it affects them and potentially avoid any dangerous situations.  (iStock)

Johnson said the impact of medications on driving abilities may vary from person to person. 

“One person may feel no sleepiness with an antihistamine, while another may feel sleepy the whole day,” she told Fox News Digital. 

“Seeing how a medication affects you is important to know before driving on it.”

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In her practice, Johnson said she tells her patients to try a new medication when they don’t have plans to drive — so they can see how it affects them and avoid a dangerous situation. 

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“The risk of medications impairing driving increases if you are on multiple medications with sedating side effects and with older adults,” she added.

Preventing impaired driving

For those who are taking medications, it’s recommended to consult with a health care professional for guidance related to driving.

For over-the-counter medicines, the agency recommends always following directions for use and reading the warnings on the Drug Facts label. 

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For those taking medications, it’s recommended to consult with a health care professional for guidance related to driving. (iStock)

For prescription medications, the agency recommends following the directions and warnings on packaging, as well as reading the FDA-approved labeling.

“Your health care professional might be able to change your dose, adjust the timing of when you take the medicine, or switch the medicine to one that causes fewer side effects for you,” the FDA stated.

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It’s also important to tell your doctor about other medicines, vitamins or supplements you are taking, as it’s possible that they could impact any side effects.

For more Health articles, visit www.foxnews.com/health.

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Your Guide to Ozempic and the New Weight-Loss Drugs: Top Experts + Real Women Tell All

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Your Guide to Ozempic and the New Weight-Loss Drugs: Top Experts + Real Women Tell All



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Guide to Ozempic: MD + Real Women on What You Need to Know | Woman’s World
























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