Lean With Love Handles

[andrei]

Hey guys how are you?

I have a question. I am a 23 year old guy, with 12 % body fat.

I gain muscle and lose fat easily. I've been following a Ray Peat approch the last 4 months. I like it.

I've always had love handles. I still do. I do not believe I can completely get rid of them. I'm just realistic. I lost weight many times in my life for sports competition. Love handles persisted.

I'm not giving up on the idea of reducing them. They're not that bad. It's just an ego thing of mine to clear this problem.

I'd like to understand the science here. What does this mean? Is it mainly genetics? Or is it a severe hormonal issue? I've heard it's related to insulin resistance and I should reduce carbs. But if I replace carbs with fats or protein, I sleep worse. So I don't believe in that approach. I think sleep is the golden key to anything and I want to do everything to maximize it.

What's your experience with love handles?

 

[Wagner83]

I have that as well it seems to come and go depending on diet but I have not identified what is the cause. I'm not even sure I should bother with it while I'm still recovering better health.

 

[andrei]

@Wagner83 Thank you for the input!

I also realize I will not get rid of them now. I still am not completely satisfied with my well being.

When I consistently have 10/10 sleep and have warm extremities all day, I will start thinking about it.

 

[Wagner83]

What is your diet like btw?
So far I'd say the more carbs and less fat I eat the more eating fat seems to make me fat. It's possible that eating too much carbs for dinner give most fo the water retention/love handles, I want to try more balanced meals in the evening and carb heavy earlier in the day .
Insulin could play a part but then I've seen members lose lot of weight on high starch low-no fat, an other one reported he got fat from the inside ...

 

[HLP]

I believe that is called "skinny fat". Less starch, more sugar and fruit. It takes quite a few years to get rid of built up PUFA's , so I'd persist with the protocol here.

 

[Wagner83]

Lots of people have reported getting fat with sucrose and losing fat with starch, others lose fat with fat, others find that good balance is key, so it sounds difficult to pinpoint a diet that will work for everyone. I'd bet that overtime and with increasing metabolism things should improve, also quite a few do some form of light exercise daily.

 

[Kyle M]

Seems hormonal

 

[Peatful]

For me it was related to blood sugar imbalance.

 

[sladerunner69]

Sounds like a paradox

 

[andrei]

@Peatful how did u solve it?

 

[Peatful]

It was laborious but it worked.
Each meal I made sure my macros were 40/30/30.
Carb protien fat.

Watched my temps. Kept them up by eating frequently. But the balancing of the meals was key.
Also, I started with starch as carb...but realized I did much better digestion and temp wise with sugar as my carb.