Love handles. Muffin top. Side fat. Whatever you call them, most of us would rather they weren’t there. They’re stubborn, they’re sneaky, and they can make even the best pair of jeans feel uncomfortable. But the good news? You don’t need to go under the knife to shift them. With the right mix of movement, diet, and lifestyle tweaks, you can finally say goodbye to that extra padding around your waistline.
In this guide, we’ll break down exactly how to get rid of love handles for both men and women, plus answer the golden question: how long does it take to get rid of love handles?
Why Do Love Handles Stick Around?
Love handles are essentially fat deposits around your waist and hips. They often develop when your body stores excess fat due to extra calories, hormonal changes, stress, or even lack of sleep.
Men tend to store fat around the abdomen, while women often notice it more around the hips and waist. So when people search for “how to get rid of love handles men” versus “how to get rid of love handles women”, the approach is broadly similar – but the areas targeted might differ slightly.
Simple Ways to Get Rid of Love Handles Without Surgery
Focus on Your Diet First
Let’s be honest: you can do all the side crunches in the world, but if your diet isn’t dialled in, love handles won’t budge. Think less about crash dieting and more about building balanced meals. A diet high in lean protein, fibre-rich vegetables, and whole carbs keeps you full and stabilises blood sugar, while cutting back on processed foods and excess sugar helps reduce fat storage around the waist.
A realistic calorie deficit is key here – nothing extreme, just enough to encourage your body to use up its fat stores.
Make Cardio Your Best Friend
Cardio gets your heart pumping and burns through calories. The trick? Mix it up. High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) has been shown to torch fat more effectively than steady-state cardio alone. That means short bursts of intense exercise (think sprints, cycling, or circuits) followed by quick rest periods.
If HIIT isn’t your style, brisk walking, swimming, or dancing still get the job done – the most important thing is consistency.
Strength Train for a Toned Waist
While you can’t “spot reduce” fat, you can absolutely strengthen the muscles around your midsection. Building muscle increases your metabolism, which means you burn more calories even at rest.
Incorporate compound lifts like squats, lunges, and deadlifts to recruit multiple muscle groups, and add in targeted core moves such as Russian twists, planks, and side bends to define your obliques. Over time, this creates a tighter, more sculpted waistline once the fat begins to shift.
Manage Stress and Sleep
It might sound unrelated, but both stress and poor sleep can directly contribute to love handles. High stress levels increase cortisol, a hormone linked to fat storage around the abdomen and hips. Meanwhile, lack of sleep disrupts your metabolism and appetite hormones, making it harder to stick to healthy habits.
Prioritise a consistent sleep schedule and find stress-busting activities that actually work for you – whether that’s yoga, meditation, or just a long walk with a podcast.
Stay Hydrated and Cut Back on Alcohol
Water helps your body regulate digestion, reduce bloating, and even improves satiety so you don’t overeat. Alcohol, on the other hand, is full of hidden calories and can easily sabotage fat loss. Plus, booze encourages your body to store fat around the waist. If you’re serious about trimming your love handles, cutting down your drinking is a smart move.
Consider Non-Surgical Treatments
If you’ve overhauled your diet, exercise, and lifestyle but your love handles are still hanging on, non-surgical treatments can give you an extra push. Body contouring treatments like EMSculpt are designed to target stubborn fat while toning the underlying muscles – without the downtime or risks of surgery.
Want to dive deeper? Here’s everything you need to know about EMSculpt.
How Long Does It Take to Get Rid of Love Handles?
This is the big question – and the honest answer is, it depends. For most people, visible changes can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months, depending on starting point, consistency, and genetics. Men may see results a bit quicker around the waist since they tend to lose fat from the abdomen first, while women often notice changes in the hips and thighs over time.
The key thing to remember is that love handles didn’t appear overnight, and they won’t disappear overnight either. Patience, consistency, and a balanced approach are what make the difference.
The Bottom Line
Learning how to get rid of love handles isn’t about quick fixes – it’s about sustainable changes. By adjusting your diet, upping your activity, managing stress, and considering non-surgical help if needed, you can finally slim down your waistline without resorting to surgery.
Stick with it, keep realistic expectations, and celebrate the progress you make along the way. Because the truth is, confidence doesn’t come from having a “perfect” body – it comes from feeling strong, healthy, and in control.
