Ask Fitz! Your Fitness Questions Answered -- Love handles & Celebrity slim-down secrets
Categories: Healthy Habits, Womens Health, Celebrities and Entertainment, Ask Fitz!, Cellulite, Obesity, Diet & Weight Loss, Fitness, Celebs & Entertainment, Motivation, Nutrition & Supplements, Men's Health
Have fitness questions? Fitz has your answer. Our ThatsFit.com fitness expert -- and now your own virtual personal trainer -- will help you get fit, increase your overall health and do it in a fun way. Drop your questions here in the Comments section below and we'll choose two per week to publish on That's Fit! Learn more about Fitz here.
Q. Fitz, For about a year now, I've been doing exercises for my obliques. I've done them about three or four times each week and have done a variety of different exercises each workout. I'm also a naturally thin person who recently lost 10 pounds (so I'm really thin now) and I still have those awful love handles! How do I get rid of them? Emily
A. Ugh Emily! This is a question I've answered before, but since it's such a tremendous source of frustration for so many...I believe the topic of love handles is worth visiting again. You're actually the perfect example of how annoying they can be. You are a trim person who does a variety of abdominal exercises frequently. Most folks would believe that would be enough. Unfortunately for some people, it is not.
Love handles often have to do less with abdominal muscles and more with body type. For example. I'm a pretty trim chic, but when I have gained weight...it's all gone to my boobs, belly and thighs. In fact, I used to be 40 pounds heavier than I am today, but I've never had love handles. Some people get it all in their hips. Even if they achieve their ideal weight, some of those people are still stuck with dreaded 'saddlebags'. Your issue is the same. Great fitness. Lean body. One or two annoying pockets of fat.
Important thing to remember there. Love handles are pockets of fat. You can no longer shrink them by doing crunches than a person with chubby cheeks can shrink them by opening and closing their mouth a bunch. Side bends, twists and more will have no effect on a love handle. Some readers were very upset to hear that last time I addressed this issue, but one can only lose weight and fat by burning more calories than he consumes. The combination of healthy eating, cardiovascular exercise and strength training will help you lose weight wherever you happen to be storing it.
Crunches will certainly keep your abdominal muscles strong, but will have very little overall impact on the pockets of fat above your hips. Often folks who are very over-weight will lose their love handles once they achieve an ideal weight. Others, like yourself, may be forced to maintain an extremely low body fat percentage or look at other options.
I'm sorry I can't offer a magic pill or a few easy exercises which will provide a quick fix. Love handles are just 'fat pockets'. So if you can get rid of some more fat, I bet they'll continue to diminish! Let me know how things go Emily. Fitz
Q. Hello Miss Fitzness! How come all of the celebrities are so skinny? There has to a be a secret in L.A. which we just haven't heard about yet here in Texas. I see that you work with celebrities a lot. Any insight? I don't want to be famous...I just want to be thinner. Thanks in advance, Leann
A. Great question Leann. Of course, not all celebrities are super thin. But I have worked with a decent amount of celebrities and I do know what is keeping many of them in such great shape. It's probably one of the best kept secrets in Hollywood as well. Here it is.....they work their asses off and eat really well, because if they don't.....they could lose their jobs. It's not a sob story, it's just reality. Most of the "hot looking" performers got their first job because a casting agent or producer thought that they had both great talent and a great look. Once hired, these performers needed to keep up their looks in order to maintain their popularity and continue to get hired.
How many jobs do you think the uber-buff Mario Lopez would get if he gained 33 pounds of fat? Not too many! Remember the ripping Britney Spears took for looking a little less ripped in that crazy 'comeback' performance last year? The public is not incredibly forgiving when stars lose their sexy physiques. (For the record...I thought she looked terrific.)
Every celeb I've worked with has adopted a rigorous workout routine and makes aggressive efforts to eat nutritious, low fat, and low calorie foods. Imagine the things you'd do if you had to perform on television in a bathing suit! Of course some lucky people have the wild metabolisms that allow them to eat atrociously with no aesthetic price to pay. Those jerks are everywhere though. (Just kidding)
The things celebrities do have that work in their favor are:
-
Pressure to look great on screen
-
Financial ability to hire trainers, nutritionists, chefs, therapists and more.
Celebrities aren't privy to magical skinny secrets. They are however, in a position where every aspect of their appearance seems to count. Your livelihood probably does not ride on your looks. I'm not a super celebrity Leann, but I am an expert on the subject of becoming fit and am wildly successful at helping others earn the bodies they love living in. You should focus more of your attention towards folks like me who have real answers.
Be particular about what you put in your mouth. Sweat often. Avoid things like drugs, cigarettes, alcohol, saturated fats, white flour and sugar. Strive to become more FIT and maybe someday people will ask what your secrets are!
**To visit some of my past interviews with celebrities regarding their fitness habits visit Celebrity Fitzness Report.
Punches & Kicks,
Note: The content presented in this Q. & A section is for informational purposes only and should not be viewed as medical advice or substitute for professional medical care.
Recent Posts
- Heidi Klum Hits The Runway After Baby (11/20/2009)
- Thanksgiving Dinner Satisfaction And Perfect Portion Control: Time to Celebrate (11/20/2009)
- Cheesy Workout Video Round-up (11/20/2009)
- Kim Kardashian's Sexy Salad Commercial (11/20/2009)
- Simple Thanksgiving Swaps (11/20/2009)
























Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Peggy 4-02-2008 @ 9:33AM
My question is when is the best time of day for me to work out and still get the great results I so long to see? I work 3rd shift (9pm-7am) 4-5 days a week, and usually sleep from 8:30am-2:30pm; while the kids are in school. I am physically active but still have about 40lbs to loose to get to my goal weight.
Reply
bwahms 4-07-2008 @ 9:39AM
when I worked nights, I worn ankle and wrist weights under my clothes to burn more calories, but it depends on the type of job you have.
rrr 4-02-2008 @ 9:09AM
I've heard that weight loss is 80% diet and 20% exercise. I didn't really believe that until I altered my diet signifcantly and dropped 15 pounds in just over 2 months. I was exercising, but not seriously and not any more than I had previously.
I figured out my calories expended and dropped my calorie intake to 500 calories a day less than I was burning and watched the pounds drop off.
I have since increased my exercise and more than anything, it has changed my shape, toning and firming...I am still losing based on my calorie defecit but the exercise has not made it happen any faster which to me confirms the 80/20 calculation.
I do have to keep very close tabs to the number of calories I eat, I have a food and weight journal I keep with me constantly but it's worth it.
When I don't keep track, my weight creeps up and before I realize what's happened, I've purchased bigger pants. By keeping a daily food journal and weighing myself weekly, if I go up 2 pounds in 2 weeks, I can get on myself to make sure I'm being firm with my calorie intake.
Reply
Gaby 4-12-2008 @ 11:15AM
I used mesotherapy to help me get the abs I wanted, even though I eat healthy and work out, I still had areas that I could not lose weight nor have liposuction. Mesotherapy and lipotropic injections are the best form of weight loss that I have had
Reply
JENNY 5-28-2008 @ 8:54PM
Hey umm well i am 12 years old of age I am a little chuncky i have love handles i dont want to have them though and i wish to get ride of them but i dont know what i should do! i was trying sit ups and cruches but they dont work! now i want to know what really works and how i can keep my body looking in shape with out body fat around like i have because everyone says that im not fat nor skinny im just chuncky so i want to get rid of all the chunck parts but i dont know what i should do plz help =]
Reply