Another subject about which I am really passionate is how to get rid of saddlebags.
I’m prone to it, and over the previous several years, I’ve gathered a lot of knowledge and attempted a variety of routines and activities in an attempt to reduce these persistent saddlebags on my thighs.
Some individuals may believe that there is nothing wrong with this area and that if you have saddlebags, you shouldn’t be concerned. However, I dislike the way it looks on me, especially when my saddlebags are visible. I desire a figure that is more toned and tighter. Saddlebags can also be an indicator of health problems, aside from their cosmetic value. In the next paragraphs, I shall expand on this topic. That is why I believe there are several reasons to oppose saddlebags, or at the very least to make them less visible.
Fortunately, there are certain things that do help in terms of reducing saddlebag fat, and I’m excited to share what I’ve learned with you!
Why do we have saddlebag fat?
Saddlebags (not to be confused with curvaceous hips, which are a healthy-looking and lovely portion of a woman’s physique) are fat accumulated on your thighs just on the side of your buttocks. They feature awkward, harsh angles that do not blend in with your body line.
The major reason you accumulate fat in any region of your body (not just your butt) is due to a calorie surplus (overconsumption) in your diet, which means you consume more calories than you expend during the day.
However, there are a few factors that make you more likely to store fat in this area:
- A sedentary way of life. Saddlebags are a symptom that your buttocks have atrophied and are resting on your outer thighs. Your condition might be due to a lack of activity. When you sit all day and don’t move around much, your blood circulation slows down, which can contribute to cellulite and saddlebags.
- Back issues in the lower back They think there’s a relationship between saddlebags and lower back problems (such as scoliosis or lordosis). You must concentrate on regaining your lumbar curvature and maintaining the health of your lower back.
- Estrogen dominance is a term used to describe the presence of estrogen in the body Even if you don’t have much additional weight on other regions of your body, hormonal disorders might be the cause of saddlebag fat. Estrogen causes fat to accumulate in the thigh region in women.
- In general, you have too much fat on your body. I believe it is self-evident that the lower your body fat percentage, the less cellulite, and saddlebags emerge.
- Poor, unhealthy eating habits. If you gain weight, it’s likely that something in your diet is causing the fat to adhere to your thighs.
How to get rid of saddlebags
We may build a strategy to decrease saddlebag fat by considering the primary causes: a healthier diet, a specific training regimen that targets the saddlebag area, low back exercises, massage, and hormonal disorders therapy. Let’s delve a little more into it.
Diet for losing saddlebag fat
Your body’s appearance is influenced by your food. If you want to get rid of saddlebags, you should avoid certain meals.
To begin, cut out refined carbohydrates (white rice, cookies, white bread, cakes, and pastries) and refined sugars from your diet because they lead to fat storage in your legs.
Your body requires carbohydrates, but only the good kinds. Brown rice, quinoa, oats, buckwheat, lentil pasta, beans, and chickpeas are among my faves.
When it comes to sweets, coconut sugar, maple syrup, stevia, dates, and fresh fruits are the best options.
Also, keep in mind that whole is always preferable to processed. Processed foods are a major contributor to weight gain. So buy entire grains, veggies, fruits and berries, beans, and legumes to make a healthier option.
I also never advise that you have to eat completely clean and nutritious all of the time. If you can achieve that, consider yourself fortunate, and, of course, keep going. Unfortunately, I am not that type of person. As a result, I prefer to consume about 80% nutritious foods and 20% non-healthy foods (like vegan burgers, fried potatoes, or Starbucks coffee). What you do on a regular basis is the only thing that matters and influences your body. So, try to eat properly on a regular basis and give yourself permission to splurge once in a while if you feel like it.
If persistent food cravings are the major cause of your unhealthy eating (for example, you are continually thinking about sweet sweets or carbohydrates), then my handy mini-guide “How to reduce hunger” will come in handy. It’s jam-packed with the most up-to-date knowledge on physical and emotional eating, “secret” appetite-suppressing recipes, strategies for dealing with hormonal cravings, and helpful handouts to help you get started!
The best Exercises for Saddlebags
Saddlebag fat refers to the position of your butt on the bottom of your hips. This occurs when your glutes, as well as your lower back, are not strong enough.
My own experience has shown that weight training is the greatest answer since it elevates the booty and improves body image.
The following workouts for saddlebags are the most beneficial in my opinion:
- Squats with leg raised to the side.
- Clamshells are clamshells (using a resistance band)
- Leg raises with a loop movement (using a resistance band)
- Lunges Curtsy (the greatest!)
Aside from this, I also enjoy the following workouts since they assist to minimise saddlebags:
- Squats
- Side Lunges
- Cross Lunges
- Good mornings
- Dead Lifts
- Fire hydrants
- Grasshopper beats
- Glute Bridges
These saddlebag workouts are fantastic. But don’t only concentrate on your legs. As I previously stated, a weak lower back might result in saddlebags. So, pay special attention to your back muscles.
But be cautious. You should see a professional if you have any health issues, such as scoliosis. If you don’t do it correctly, weightlifting might make your problem worse. If weights are restricted in some circumstances, you may be provided yoga, Pilates, or another sort of exercise.
That was true in my case because I had back problems. I began to experience agony and significant discomfort after a few months of weightlifting. It was evident after seeing a few experts that doing that lifting was not for me. Unfortunately. I also stopped lifting weights and now just work out with my own body weight and resistance bands. Foam rolling and stretching are also important parts of my workout since they help me deal with any discomfort in my back.
Hormones and saddlebag fat
Hormones have a big role in how fat is stored in our bodies. Women and men have varied physical forms because of this. Our female hormones normally dictate where fat is deposited, with thighs, buttocks, and legs being the most frequent.
As I previously stated, in order to properly get rid of saddlebags, you must ensure that your estrogen levels are in check. If it isn’t, it might be the reason you have extra fat on your thighs while having a low total body fat percentage.
If you have PCOS or suspect you have estrogen dominance, you should aim to balance your hormones and eliminate excess estrogen from your body. Taking supplements like DIM and NAC is one of the methods to achieve it.
I used to suffer from hormone imbalance, which resulted in persistent fat in some places of my body, such as saddlebag fat and fat around my belly button. My healthy lifestyle and workout practice, of course, changed my physique, making it toned and fit. However, I still experienced issues in these two areas. When I stopped completing my workouts, I gained weight in these places very quickly. Only when I figured out how to deal with my imbalance did I find it easier to maintain my weight and body shape. As a result, hormones should never be overlooked.
Stress can also enhance estrogen production since your cortisol level rises when you’re stressed. It may all add up to a lot of weight gain in a short amount of time. As a result, it’s important to keep your stress under control. Even if it is hard to totally prevent stressful events in today’s society, you may learn to handle stress effectively so that it does not negatively impact your health.
Here are some suggestions for balancing hormones and removing saddlebags:
- Check your hormones (start with estrogen dominance blood tests) and be treated under the supervision of a physician. Other hormones should also be in check.
- Zinc, vitamin B6, and curcumin are three vitamin supplements that can help you maintain estrogen balance. They combat inflammation and keep hormones in check.
- External estrogens should be avoided as much as feasible. Hormones can be messed up by a variety of environmental circumstances. Pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, dry cleaning chemicals, plastics, fuels, animal meats, soy, and other poisons should all be avoided. Fake tans should be avoided because they may contain xenoestrogens (harmful estrogens). Consider using more natural cleaning products, safer cookware, and natural skin care products, among other things.
- Cleanse your system. In your body, too much estrogen creates a harmful environment. It’s critical to cleanse your body if you have a hormonal imbalance in order to keep it healthy. Drinking extra water, drinking green juices and smoothies, eating a lot of fiber, drinking cleaning herb teas, and so on are some of the things to try.
- The liver is important because it deactivates used hormones, preventing them from floating about in your body and causing hormone imbalances. Aid your liver’s ability to digest other common poisons so that it can effectively cope with hormones. Take milk thistle, a plant that promotes liver tissue regeneration and reduces inflammation. Artichoke leaf, turmeric, dandelion, Oregon grape, bitter fennel, licorice, yellow dock, burdock, and gentian are some more options.
Additional awesome ways to get rid of saddlebags:
Swimming. This activity is ideal for improving your skin’s condition and reducing the appearance of cellulite and saddlebags.
A desk that allows you to stand. It’s an excellent option for folks who spend a lot of time in front of a computer. When you sit on your buttocks all day without moving, your blood circulation stops, resulting in cellulite and saddlebag fat. So, if you can, try to stand or take many pauses when you walk or perform other easy activities. The advantage of utilizing a standing workstation is that you burn more calories standing than sitting.
Massage. Make it a habit to self-massage every evening after you’ve showered. It improves blood circulation and speeds up the fat-burning process. This procedure works well for me, especially when I start with a coffee scrub in the shower and then massage my skin with grapefruit oil. So go ahead and try it!
That concludes today’s subject. I hope you learned a lot from this article and learned how to get rid of saddlebags. You may now use all of these suggestions to get attractive, toned hips and legs.