Bye Bye Love Handles: Sculpt a Slimmer Waistline with CoolSculpting

Love handles. We all have them, and odds are, we all struggle with that stubborn fat buildup around the waist. Fat in this area, also known as the flanks, is a notorious problem for both men and women. When the fat in this region clings to your sides, it often spills over the edge of your pants, giving you that dreaded “muffin top” appearance. But why are love handles so stubborn? And what’s the best way to tackle them for good?

In this article, we’ll dive deep into why love handles form, why they’re so hard to get rid of, the best diet and exercise strategies, and how CoolSculpting Elite can help you eliminate them, plus how to support your body during treatment and considerations for men and women alike.

Why Do Love Handles Form?

Love handles develop due to a combination of genetics, hormones, and lifestyle factors:

Genetics: Where your body stores fat is often determined by your genes. Some people are naturally predisposed to carry extra fat in their hips, thighs, or flanks.
Hormones: Stress hormones like cortisol can contribute to abdominal and flank fat storage. When you’re under chronic stress, your body holds onto fat, especially around your midsection.
Poor Diet: A diet high in processed foods, sugar, and refined carbohydrates can lead to excess calorie consumption and fat accumulation.
Sedentary Lifestyle: A lack of physical activity reduces calorie burn, allowing more fat to build up, particularly in areas like the love handles.

Even with diet and exercise, love handles often persist because they contain more alpha-2 receptors—cellular “locks” that slow fat breakdown—making them more resistant to fat loss than other areas.

Why Are Love Handles So Hard to Get Rid Of?

Love handles are considered “stubborn fat.” Here’s why they’re so tough to shed:

• Higher Concentration of Alpha-2 Receptors: Fat cells in the love handles have more alpha-2 receptors than beta-2 receptors. Alpha-2 receptors slow the breakdown of fat, making it harder to release for energy
• Hormonal Factors: Insulin resistance and high cortisol levels can also make it more difficult to mobilize fat from these areas.
• Lifestyle Factors: Sitting for long periods compresses the area, contributing to poor circulation and limiting fat-burning potential.
• Spot-Reduction Myth: You can’t target fat loss in a specific area by exercising just that muscle group. Fat loss happens systemically across the entire body, not just where you’re working out.

Love Handles in Men vs. Women

Men:

Men tend to store fat in the abdominal area, including love handles, due to higher testosterone levels and different fat distribution patterns. Love handles in men often create a square or blocky waistline, making it harder to achieve a V-shaped physique. CoolSculpting is particularly effective for men because it targets stubborn flanks and helps define the waist.

Women:

Women often carry fat in the hips, thighs, and flanks as a result of estrogen and genetic fat distribution. Love handles in women can create a softer, wider silhouette, especially after pregnancy or during menopause. CoolSculpting helps contour the waist and accentuate natural curves, offering a slimmer and more feminine shape.

What is the Best Exercise to Get Rid of Love Handles?

Certain exercises are excellent for reducing love handles. These exercises include the following:

• Planks and Side Planks: Great for core stability and endurance.
• Russian Twists: Target obliques and build rotational strength.
• Mountain Climbers: Combine core and cardio to burn calories and tone the midsection.
• Woodchoppers: Functional movement that works obliques and overall core.
• Abdominal Scissors: Challenge lower abs and hip flexors for balanced core development.
• High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT): Full-body cardio that helps burn calories and reduce overall body fat.

While these exercises are excellent for helping tone and tighten the midsection, they are not always enough to reduce fat in the love handles. In order to lose fat, you have to lose fat all over your body. There is no such thing as “spot reducing fat” with exercises.

Related Article: What is CoolSculpting Elite?>>

What Diets Work to Get Rid of Love Handles?

• Reduce Sugar Intake: Excess sugar spikes insulin levels, promoting fat storage around the midsection.
• Limit Refined Carbs: White bread, pasta, and other refined carbs convert quickly to sugar, which also spikes insulin and fat storage.
• Prioritize Protein and Fiber: Protein helps build muscle and control appetite, while fiber slows digestion and keeps you full.
• Stay Hydrated: Drinking plenty of water supports metabolism and reduces bloating.
• Consider Intermittent Fasting: Some people find success with time-restricted eating, which can reduce calorie intake and support fat burning.

What Non-Invasive Methods Get Rid of Love Handles?

For many people, exercises and diets do not work at entirely burning away stubborn fat on the love handles. This area is notorious for holding on to fat that tends to resist diet and exercise efforts. Even if a person works out daily and eats clean, they can still struggle with fat buildup on their waistline. However, there is a wonderful non-invasive method for those individuals to get rid of love handles.

Supporting Your Body During CoolSculpting

Supporting your body during CoolSculpting is essential for maximizing results, especially when targeting stubborn love handle fat.

• Hydration: Staying hydrated is one of the most important factors. Drinking plenty of water helps flush out the dead fat cells that CoolSculpting breaks down. As your body eliminates these cells through the lymphatic system, proper hydration ensures the process runs smoothly and effectively reduces the appearance of love handles.

• Balanced Diet: Maintaining a balanced diet filled with lean proteins, whole grains, and plenty of fruits and vegetables fuels your metabolism and supports your overall health. This helps you maintain the sculpted look you achieve from CoolSculpting while also reducing the risk of remaining fat cells expanding and creating new problem areas around the flanks.

• Physical Activity: Engaging in light to moderate exercise promotes healthy circulation, speeds up the elimination of fat cells, and tones the underlying muscles. This combination helps reveal a slimmer, more contoured waistline.

• Quality Sleep: Getting enough rest is crucial for your body’s repair and recovery. Adequate sleep balances hormones, reduces stress, and supports your metabolism, which in turn can accelerate the visible results from your CoolSculpting treatment.

• Stress Management: Chronic stress increases cortisol levels, which can make it harder to lose fat in stubborn areas like love handles. Practicing stress management techniques—such as deep breathing, meditation, or even spending time with loved ones—helps keep cortisol in check and supports your body’s natural fat-burning processes.

By combining these supportive habits, you’ll create the best possible conditions for your body to eliminate stubborn love handle fat and enjoy the slim, sculpted waistline you’re after.

Use CoolSculpting Elite to Get Rid of Love Handles

CoolSculpting Elite is a new fat-freezing treatment capable of reducing fat deposits. This non-invasive treatment uses cooling technology, exposing subcutaneous fat cells below the skin to controlled cooling. The treatment temperature effectively “freezes” the fat cells causing their membrane to rupture. This process triggers cell death, and soon after the session, the body initiates a natural immune response that collects the dead cells and processes them out of the body.

See CoolSculpting Elite Before and After Results>>

Best of all, CoolSculpting Elite reduces twice the amount of fat cells in less time. This new treatment features many advancements in fat freezing like a new machine, dual applicator capability, more comfortable applicators, long cooling panels, and more.

If you suspect you might be dealing with diet and exercise-resistant fat on your love handles and want to learn more about CoolSculpting Elite, contact Dr. Julia Edelman of the New England Center for Body Sculpting. She is the primary provider of safe, optimized Cool Sculpting treatments in Southeastern MA, and serves the surrounding areas near greater Boston, Newport, Providence, and Cape Cod. Call 508-947-2852 to schedule a free consultation and finally take charge of pesky love handle fat by treating yourself to a safe, nonsurgical treatment like CoolSculpting Elite.

Sources:

Cryolipolysis for Noninvasive Body Contouring: Clinical Efficiency and Patient Satisfaction. Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology.

Safety, tolerance, and patient satisfaction with noninvasive cryolipolysis. Dermatological Surgery.

Long-term efficacy follow-up on two cryolipolysis case studies: 6 and 9 years post-treatment. Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology.