Want to learn how to lose a muffin top? Keep reading, because that’s what we’re walking through today.
No one likes having excess fat. It is embarrassing, frustrating, and incredibly hard to avoid.
The truth is that most if not all of us have a little extra weight hanging out somewhere on our bodies. That is okay and completely normal. Besides, beauty comes in many forms. You don’t have to be rail-thin to be attractive and healthy.
However, there is one type of extra weight that is certainly the most infuriating. That would be the “muffin top”, that additional load of belly fat that hangs around your waistline and unfortunately can flow over belt lines and make your midsection look far too soft.
Call it love handles, call it extra fluff, call it whatever you want, the bottom line is that the muffin top is probably the most annoying type of fat there is and seems to be more stubborn than any other. No matter how much you work out or watch what you eat, it feels like the muffin top just does whatever it has to stick around.
What is a Muffin Top?
What exactly is a muffin top? To understand that, you have to know that there are two types of belly fats: visceral fat and subcutaneous fat. Subcutaneous fat lies right under your skin and is found all over your body. Visceral fat is found deeper within your belly and surrounds your internal organs. Visceral fat is also easier to lose while subcutaneous fat is not, it remains around for longer than you would like. Even when you work out hard and often, subcutaneous fat will linger like an unwelcome house guest.
That is one of the reasons why it is so difficult to get rid of a muffin top because it is made of that stubborn subcutaneous fat.
But you really can get rid of your muffin top and, honestly, it isn’t as complicated as you would think. The muffin top, like all other types of fat, will disappear if you follow just a few easy steps regularly.
What causes a muffin top?
Sadly, a lot of things can contribute to the love handles that you have been fighting for years. Some of these causes are within your control, some are simply bad cards dealt with you.
The main factors that give you a muffin top:
- Genetics. Some people are just born with the predisposition to hang onto excess belly fat like muffin tops. Sadly, this one is out of your hands.
- A Bad Diet. This one is dependent on you. A poor diet is one of the easiest ways to get and keep love handles.
- Hormones. Women, especially menopausal women, often have hormones that generate more stubborn belly fat like muffin tops.
- Stress. Lots of stress has been proven to help you gain weight. Not only stress though, but a bad sleep schedule (which is often caused by stress) will also do it too.
How to Get Rid of a Muffin Top
We have compiled some of the proven solutions to exercise the pesky muffin top. If you follow these steps, your muffin top will be a thing of the past in no time.
First and foremost, one of the most important things to keep in mind when getting rid of any type of extra weight is that you shouldn’t solely focus on one area of your body or flaw. If you are looking to only get rid of a muffin top, or extra butt fat, or thick thighs, you will likely only use changes in your diet or lifestyle for that purpose alone. That does not lead to longtime change and could also lead to you throwing up your hands and giving up if you don’t see results quickly.
You should always focus on your overall health when you are attempting to lose weight and tighten up. Do not judge your success solely on the status of your love handles. Remember that even if you do not see the results you want instantly, you are doing a lot of good for your body and should not give up!
Tip 1: Get More Sleep
Here is an easy tip that is enjoyable and will work wonders to get rid of your muffin top.
Getting a proper amount of sleep does help you lose weight. It helps you in many other ways too, like giving you a better attitude and improving your immune system too. But when it comes to losing weight, especially love handles and visceral fat, getting enough sleep is crucial.
If you lack sleep, you will have more cravings, mess up your eating schedule and mood, be grumpy, and lacking motivation to work hard and achieve your goals. But that isn’t all, sleep is fundamental for other reasons too.
Multiple studies have shown that people who take on a new diet while staying sleep-deprived lose much less weight than those who get enough rest.
This has to do with your body’s ability to use insulin. If you do not get enough sleep, you are going to disrupt your body’s ability to work its insulin. And extra insulin makes your body store fat in unwanted places, like your waistline.
Not getting enough sleep can also cause weight gain too. It can even lead to you becoming diabetic. Getting sleep isn’t just important, it is essential.
How much sleep should you get when you are attempting to change your diet and get rid of your love handles? That depends on your age but most adults should regularly get around 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night.
Tip 2: Enhance Your Diet
Do you know what the best workout is for getting rid of extra belly fat like a muffin top? Well, it isn’t a workout at all. It’s your diet.
That’s right, you have probably heard this a million times but the diet is key to truly losing weight – and keeping it off. You can work out for multiple hours a day, every day, but if you are not transforming your diet into something healthy then all the work will be for nothing. Long-term weight loss success lives or dies based on your diet.
You need to take your diet seriously and do what you must to make sure your body is only taking in the right meals and snacks to keep you healthy.
Get rid of excess calories, especially those in the form of sugar and unhealthy fats. Your body is going to take those extra calories and store them as fat all along your midsection.
Sadly, there is much-hidden sugar in a lot of the foods we regularly eat. Those sneaky sugars make your body addicted and always hungry for more sugar too. So once you start eating a lot of sugar you will have to eat even more sugars to keep your body satisfied. It is a hard habit to break. But if you want to lose that stubborn muffin top, you will need to wean yourself off of sugars, at least for a while. After you have finally gotten rid of that extra flab, you will want to be very careful moving forward with sugar. Do not get hooked again!
Processed carbs are also bad when you are trying to spruce up your diet. And, like sugars, they have seemed to have found their ways into so many everyday foods so you must hunt them down and do everything in your power to get rid of them. If you want to do away with your muffin top, you need to say goodbye to processed carbs and sugar.
And what do you replace these carbs and sugars with? Try to find a high-protein and low-calorie diet paired with a good steady regiment of working out. That should help you go a long way in your battle against waist waste.
Although you will be getting rid of both of these pesky problems, you need to remember that changing your diet is not about completely cutting out entire groups of food or ingredients. It is all about moderation and balancing. You will never get rid of all sugars just like you will never get rid of all carbs. That is okay, just try your hardest to limit these things and not completely do away with them.
Tip 3: HIIT
What is a HIIT? It stands for High Intensity Interval Training, a form of cardio exercises that have you work hard for short intense periods of time, approximately 20-30 minutes. Then you rest in between each session.
This sort of exercise is perfect for burning lots of calories which, as mentioned, is very important when getting rid of your muffin top. HIIT also helps keep your metabolism elevated after your exercise session is finished. That helps you a lot in the long run because a better metabolism means losing weight and processing food faster is much easier.
Finding the right HIIT routine that works for you will be one of the best tools you have to fight against love handles. But you need to be consistent about it. You should aim for at least 150 minutes of working out every week, including HIIT and strength training.
Tip 4: Buy an Exercise Ball
An exercise ball is another supremely important way to fight off and keep off a muffin top. There are multiple exercises with an exercise ball that can strengthen your core and work out your abs and side. Oblique crunches are especially helpful and hit all the right spots you need to be targeting.
Crunches, with or without an exercise ball, is a helpful piece of the puzzle when you are trying to get rid of love handles. Do them often, several times a week, to really enhance your mid-section and teach your body how to do away with the pesky muffin top.
Other workouts that are perfect for this? Planks and side bridges are a wonderful addition to keep in your exercise arsenal. Create a workout regiment that fits you and make sure to stick to it, along with balancing your diet, getting more sleep, and your HIIT exercises.
Tip 5: Don’t Stop Moving
One of the biggest issues that plague people trying to lose weight is the fact that there are so many hours in the day and so many opportunities to work out and watch your calories.
So much of the day is filled up with work and so much of work consists of little movement. If you happen to work in an environment that allows you to move around a lot, that is great. Use it to your advantage. If you have a job that requires you to sit or not move a lot, find time in the day to get some extra steps in and get your heart rate up. Do what you can when you can and do not let a day go by without you working out at least a bit. Do not forget those 150 hours a week of working out and do whatever you have to do to reach that goal!
Frequently Asked Questions About Losing a Muffin Top
How long does it take to lose a muffin top?
The answer to this question is different for every person, depending on how much extra flab you have and how hard you are working. Ideally, someone working hard and consistently could expect to see a loss of 1-3 pounds of fat a week. That may not sound like a lot but it really is. But remember, all of your weight loss may not occur only in your love handles. You may lose weight all over the body and that is totally okay!
Do those weight-loss pills I see on TV really work?
In short, kind of. They do produce results for some people. But the results are often temporary and not long-lasting. The pills also sometimes have pretty annoying side effects that make them not worth it.
Generally speaking, nothing beats truly changing your diet and working out often. That is the only surefire way to get healthy and lose weight. If you simply rely on those pills, you may see quick results but they probably will not last unless you are making other major changes to your life.
Is a muffin top the sign of a serious health problem?
Sometimes. A muffin top can mean that you may have an underactive thyroid or a condition called Cushing’s syndrome. If you find yourself with a rapidly growing mid-section that does not change after serious exercise and changes to your diet, you need to contact your doctor and have some blood work done.
A Final Word From Wellness Nova
There is nothing more annoying than a muffin top. We all loathe them and, sadly, most of us have had them or still have them.
But they don’t have to be your constant companion. In fact, there are plenty of ways to get rid of love handles. With the suggestions listed above, you will soon see your muffin top receding and disappearing for good. Make a goal in your mind, set an image of how you imagine yourself looking, then work towards it. No matter what you do, don’t ever give up. You are doing something great for yourself and you should be proud.
Do you have any tips on how to lose a muffin top? Share them in the comments!
