There are two hormones involved when love handles are around: insulin and cortisol. Carrying weight around your gut (aka "love handles") is worse than fat around your hips or thighs and this is in part due to insulin resistance. It is also indicative of an imbalance in cortisol levels.
The main reason for this is the hormonal shift and loss of muscle. In women, the reduction of estrogen after menopause can lead to love handles. Men also face lower testosterone levels, it is not a solution that results in the same. Muscle loss further accelerates weight gain.
The underlying cause of love handles is fat retention around specific areas of the body. Fat cells accumulate when a person consumes more calories than they burn. Over time, this excessive consumption can lead to fat accumulation, especially in areas surrounding an individual's hips and waist.
Estrogen dominance is a common hormone imbalance that affects both women and men (as early as the 30s for women and the 40s for men) and causes those "love handles" to appear as you age.
How Estrogen Replacement Therapy Can Help with Belly Fat During Menopause. Recent studies show that menopausal women on hormone therapy tend to have less body fat, especially visceral belly fat. Because estrogen affects how your body distributes fat, low estrogen levels can contribute to gaining fat in your belly area.
For men, love handles are more difficult to lose because most of their fat cells are located in this area, meaning when excess energy is circulating the body, its prime storage is going to be around the tum. For women, side fat is mostly due to our hormones.
The Oval body:
An undefined waist line, large and low tummy, love handles, wider hips, fuller thighs and a flat fuller bottom.
Summary. High estrogen levels can cause symptoms such as irregular or heavy periods, weight gain, fatigue, and fibroids in females. In males, they can cause breast tissue growth, erectile dysfunction, and infertility.
Signs and symptoms of high estrogen levels in women may include [1,4,6,7]: A decrease in sex drive. Weight gain around the waist and hips. Unpredictable, light, or heavy menstrual periods.
“It is possible to overcome hormonal changes, particularly in women with perimenopausal belly fat or menopausal weight gain,” explains Registered Dietician, Lon Ben-Asher from the Pritikin Center.
PCOS belly refers to the abdominal fat causing an increased waist-to-hip ratio, PCOS Belly will look like an apple-shaped belly rather than a pear-shaped belly. One of the most common symptoms of PCOS is weight gain, particularly around the abdominal area.
Meals that are high in protein are more likely to reduce belly fat than a meal that is low in protein. Some great foods to get your protein in are nuts, eggs, seeds, chicken, and other meats. Having a diet high in protein can help you maintain your weight once you have reached your goals, including your love handles.
If you eat a healthy, low-fat diet, burn more calories than you take in, and enjoy a good mix of cardio and ab workout time, you'll watch your love handles start to melt away within a few weeks.
Studies show walking is one of the best ways to shed belly fat, in less time than you think. Researchers reviewed 40 years of studies on exercise and belly fat and found that just 2 1/2 hours of brisk walking a week--about 20 minutes a day--can shrink your belly by about 1 inch in 4 weeks.
Some evidence suggests that estrogen hormone therapy increases a woman's resting metabolic rate. This might help slow weight gain. Lack of estrogen may also cause the body to use starches and blood sugar less effectively, which would increase fat storage and make it harder to lose weight.
“A decrease in estrogen levels is associated with the loss of subcutaneous fat—fat stored under the skin—and an increase in abdominal fat,” says women's health expert Jennifer Wider, M.D. Your body also tends to have higher levels of cortisol, i.e. stress hormones around this time, Dr.