Hi everyone! I am new to this site and am hoping someone out there will be able to help me with my weight loss struggle! I am a 22 y/o female and am DESPERATELY trying to lose belly fat and ughhh LOVE HANDLES ! I feel like I have tried everything and while I have noticed weight loss in my thighs and arms, I never seem to lose it from my middle! Does anyone have any suggestions for me or advice? Thanks!!!

Welcome.

I'll jump right into the subject here: The sad fact is that you can't spot lose fat. You have to lose it all over and let your body shift thins around as it will. The truth is that most people, but especially women often lose belly/hip fat last.

If you're losing weight in your arms and thighs, then that's a good sign .. you just need to keep it up until everything else starts going too.

Also I strongly suggest you look into weight lifting and/or body resistance work. There's a very good thread in this forum by Steve called "The Conceptual Side of Weight Lifting" that lays out the whys and wherefores and sets up some basic routines that anyone can use to get started.

Weight lifting will help you shed more fat and retain muscle which will help re-proportion your body as well.

ya, i don't think you can just spot one area to lose weight. maybe you can try some fat burning cream or even some shaping underwears that will help the love handle problem.

Yeah, love handles (and moobs) can be a real pain in the backside! My love handles are huge and wide, making me look wide when I wear shirts and whatnot! But in the end, you just gotta lose that fat by controlling your diet, and becoming more physically active, eg gym or walking instead of driving/public transport etc

Better you try to lose overall body fat and workout your abs and obliques by doing crunches and doing other ab exercises. When you add lean body mass you will lose fat easily.

never do crunches, not only are they bad for you, they aren't really all that effective. there are a lot better and safer alternatives. ab rollouts, leg raises, hanging leg raises for example. and for complete core work, you also need to focus on isometric core builders like squats and deadlifts.

I do 120 crunches everyday and my abs are pretty rock hard... I think they are effective. As long as you do them correctly!