So, I've been losing some weight and it's going well but I seem to be stuck with some love handles that I just can't get rid of. Does anyone have suggestions to help slim those areas down? My stomach is fine, just those damn sides. ;D
Does HRT help "move" some of that down to the hip area or am I stuck with it?
Hi Katie, time on HRT does move things down a bit, from my experience. You should also consider your family genetics to get a clue about what body type you likely have ( simplified as apple or pear) that will affect how hard you'll have to work to get the shape you want. That having been said, there are a lot of exercises that can be done to assist in getting that hour glass shape we seem to want. I do cross knee lifts and side bends and it's helped me a lot. Look up how to get rid of love handles and you'll find lots of guides and suggested exercises, but all involve twisting and working those obliques. Keep at it, you'll get there ;). Toni
fat works off how it wants to, you can't target fat. You can, however, do exercises that target the waist muscles that will aid in defining the waistline. Those won't specifically help the handles, but may draw it in to make them less obvious.
I'm down to 170 from 204, guess what's left? yep, handles. I'm working on it too. I also sleep with a corset on to help push things around, except on nights when cuddling is more important. You just can't cuddle in a corset.
Unfortunately, HRT won't solve that problem. Look around and you'll see the majority of CIS women have them too. What you have to do is get your bodyfat really low. I've got mine low enough I have visible abdominal muscles and still some love handles remain. They are tough to get rid of.
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Fat redistribution occurs with gradual gains and losses over time. Something that isn't covered so well is fat cells only start responding to estradiol signals (preference for where to store body fat) at the beginning of their lifecycle. This means for those preferences to take place any existing fat cells need to die off and be replaced before fat will redistribute. Regain any fat before that happens and it'll go right to the same place.
What worked for my love handles is to get to a really low weight and stay there for about a year (for reference I'm 5 ft 9.5 in and currently 130-135 for the past year). The love handles are gone and have moved to some extra padding around the hips.
I plan on staying at ghost weight for another year or two, partly due to I'm trying to get the stubborn fat on my belly to go away, and partly I'm working on getting rid of excess skin via the autophagy process (body's repair and recycle mode).
I imagine after a couple years all cells will respond to estradiol signals and when I do settle at around 145 I'll have some good curves. So far so good in any case!
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You could try wearing a corset. One of my friends does it and she went from having a very straight figure to have a very hourglass figure, even when not wearing the corset. It takes a lot of time to get results though. Just like HRT you have to use it for 6 month to a year before you see real results. She said that it should be snug, but not painful. Too tight can have some really negative effects on your body. They also have ones that are just for the stomach area, but are usually more for sporting and look ugly as sin.
I wish my hip dips were gone!
You look awesome Katie. I wouldn't worry about the love handles at all.
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