They can be the most stubborn layer of fat to get rid of - 'Love Handles'. It's just another one of those weight-loss frustrations that demands a little extra effort from you as you continue losing weight naturally and effectively.

I'd love to know who was responsible for the endearing name of 'love handles' for things that are in fact pretty ugly and make a large contribution to making certain you just never quite properly fit into that smaller pair of pants that every other part of your lower anatomy would have no difficulty getting into.

Don't worry though, there is a tried and tested method (and it's free) for helping to melt away those stubborn lumps of 'love'. In fact, it's a lot easier than you probably reckoned for and you can do it at home or anywhere you get some time on your own.

You just need the right line of attack and like every fat-burning or weight-reducing syllabus you simply have to stick to a routine.

A simple 20 minutes of targeted exercise will be adequate to burn away those stubborn flabby sides. You certainly won't need to invest in any expensive equipment or fitness center programs.

The commonly known stomach crunches and sit-up types of ab work-outs tend to concentrate mostly on your frontal abdomen which of course is not the place we need to aim for. We need to aim for the sides of our waistline.

The standing-side-crunch is a perfect exercise. You stand straight with your feet shoulder width apart and then bend your body to one side as far as you can manage without bending your knees. You repeat the movement for the other side and repeat at least 20 times. Later you could hold a dumb-bell (of a weight you're comfortable with) for that extra oomph!

If you do this 3 times (3 sets of 20) every time you work your lower-body you'll definitely reap quick benefits - just don't do the actual exercise too fast, slow and easy is the best. Make sure you feel those side ab muscles working and you'll soon see some decent shrinkage.

There are other strenuous targeted exercises such as floor-side-crunches etc which you can work up to when you feel you might be capable of something extra challenging.

So to summarize; beneficial resistance exercise will shrink fat and then replace it with toned muscle. It's easier than you think to be able get yourself into great shape and stay that way. Focus, set your targets and stick to them.

Natural, speedy, and permanent weight-loss isn't and has never been about overly complicated dieting systems and/or poisonous diet pills - it's all about simplicity, a bit of will-power and some genuine tried and tested weight-loss knowledge.