Question: I am 18 years old and i weigh 116 pounds but i have love handles that i would really like to get rid of! for the life of me I just cant get rid of them! can you help me with what I should eat. I usually don’t eat breakfast and sometimes I don’t eat lunch can you give me a plan for what I should eat for breakfast lunch and dinner and dessert?
Thank you for your question. To begin, you mention that you are 116 pounds. Depending on your height I wonder if you are actually slightly underweight. A simple way to find your ideal weight range is with BMI (Body Mass Index). BMI is calculated as:
BMI = weight (kg) / height 2(m2).
This would be your weight divided by your height squared. I have included a table with BMI classifications according to the World Health Organisation.
Table: BMI classification ranges.
| Classification | BMI (Kg/m2) Ranges |
| Underweight | < 18.50 |
| Severe Thinness | < 16.00 |
| Moderate Thinness | 16.00 – 16.99 |
| Mild Thinness | 17.00 – 18.49 |
| Normal range | 18.50 – 24.99 |
BMI classification ranges. Information used from WHO global database on body mass index.
You also mentioned that you do not eat breakfast and sometimes you skip lunch. That is quite an extended time without any food. 2 things to look at:
1. You eat a lot of snacks? These could be crisps, sugary coffees and sugary drinks etc. In this case you may not have a proper meal to define it as lunch but through the day you are constantly throwing sugar into your body. First, is not good for your sugar levels and health. Second, you are just burning the sugar you throw in and not fat. Sugar is the easiest thing for the body to burn and will go for it 1st.
2. You actually do not eat anything all day until dinner. Well, if you go for more than 10-12 hr without food your body enters the first stages of starvation. Your body will slow down (adapt) to reserve energy, and its fuel reserves. Especially if you are not getting enough energy (calories) overall through the day, your metabolism could have slowed down in order to use less energy.
Neither of the above is good with or without love handles. I would suggest that you introduce more and quality food. Have a protein based breakfast and not a carbohydrate one. This could be eggs, cheese, ham, bacon. If you can have a late breakfast, or have it as a snack, or early lunch it may be better. The basic principle is that your body burns most fat after overnight fasting when sugars are at a lower level. However, at the same time you do want to keep your metabolism going so introduce food in the middle such as late breakfast, etc. Protein will make you feel fuller for longer and in time your body should be adapted to burn fat more efficiently. Avoid sugary drinks and too many carbs as they can make you feel irritable. In general for your main meal just concentrate in having a mixed balance diet. You do need some carbohydrates, proteins and fat, like the diet I suggested in my article.
Final point: Is very common for women to store fat around the abdomen and it can be hard to lose just with diet. I would suggest for best results to follow some exercise. Exercise such as pilates aim to condition deep and superficial abdominal muscles, muscles of the back and gluts. They will not guarantee a six pack or burn massive amount of calories, however, they tend to give the flat tummy effect, and they are love handle region specific, and are quite easy to follow. This is just an example, some gyms tend to offer exercise classes which concentrate on abs, tummy etc.
If you have any health conditions always consult a doctor before altering your diet or taking on exercise.
