These days, surgery to remove love handles is a common procedure. Individuals develop love handles, or “muffin top”, for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it is due to excess weight; in other cases, pregnancy or certain medical conditions can leave this excess fat around the midsection behind. Keeping that fat from returning after surgery is no different from preventing it any other time.
Pay Attention to Your Diet
Love handles are nothing more than excess fat that gathers around your waist. Many researchers, scientists, and nutritionists believe that a hormone called cortisol is responsible for the majority of the fat in this area of the body. Cortisol, known as the “stress hormone”, almost immediately converts certain foods into fat. Thus, to maintain your new body after surgery to remove love handles, you need to avoid foods that trigger the production of cortisol. A link between the production of this hormone and processed foods exists; avoid things like TV dinners, boxed dinners, and anything containing refined grains and sugars.
Avoid Soda and Sugary Drinks
Many people exceed their recommended daily caloric intake because they indulge in soda and sweetened beverages throughout the day. Two 12-ounce cans of soda pack nearly 500 calories – roughly a fifth of the average recommended daily allowance for calories. What’s more, they contain nearly 100 grams of sugar, which is equal to 100 sugar cubes, when the recommended daily allowance for sugar is only 25 grams. Soda is not the only culprit; sweetened juices and soft drinks also contain huge amounts of sugar. Avoid these after surgery to remove love handles if you want to maintain your new physique.
Exercise Regularly
One of the best ways to prevent love handles is with a regimen of exercise. In fact, anything that works your abdominals and oblique muscles – or the muscles that run down each side of your midsection – will help you stay fit and trim. Combine this with a good all-around calorie-burning routine, and you will stay fit and trim after your surgery. Remember to talk to your doctor before starting or resuming your regimen to make sure your body has healed enough after your surgery to remove love handles.
Surgical Procedures to Remove Excess Skin
Finally, depending on the extent of your surgery, your love handles may be nothing more than excess skin left behind after liposuction. If this is the case, while exercise is important and it can certainly help you tighten your muscles and therefore your skin, it will not completely resolve the issue. In this case, you can speak to your surgeon about your options for removing the excess skin around your midsection. These procedures can complete your look and give you the body you have always wanted.
The best way to deal with love handles is to avoid them in the first place. Like always, a good diet, an exercise routine, and a strict limit on sugary drinks like sodas and soft drinks helps. Excess skin is also possible after surgery to remove love handles, but there are other surgical procedures available to remove it.