I have been doing IF for the last 5 months and the results are stunning,I am a male, 19yo, 189cm (6ft 2) and I lost 25kg (55lb) from 125kg (275lb) to 100kg (220lb) with 22:2 / OMAD. I see I lost weight but I lost everything beside my “love handles” from 128cm —-> 117cm. Idk if going on I am going to lose this fat (I hope so because it is the main reason I started loosing weight). I Know I will probably have to start lifting weights to reduce the body fat more, but I was asking if there are other solutions, like maybe walking a lot or stuff like that, I hate weight lifting but if that’s the only option I will do it.
Do strength training for its own reasons. They are TREMENDOUS. (But be very kind to your joints. It is easy to wreck them.)
For love handles, exercise actually makes it a bit harder to achieve (it generates hunger that tends to outweigh calories burned). The best solution is aiming for longer fasting windows.
I had to turn to weightlifting as being forever on IF dieting was not sustainable. I was exactly like you, got amazing results but If I wanted to keep the results I would need to forever be dieting.
So I turned to weightlifting. I’m now managing to eat what I want and look better too as I’m more toned etc. It’s a lot of work though. I’ve made sure to work on all muscle areas. Do not neglect legs as they contain the biggest muscles, so will increase your metabolism the most for the same amount of work.
Cardio was 100% more effective for melting fat than weight lifting for me, I run 10-20k fasted in the mornings and it has melted off. Have to say though, I’m down from 100kg to 73kg at 5”8’ and love handles are still a thing, last thing to go. They are coming off though, anything around the middle is stubborn AF.
Lifting weights doesn’t really do anything to lose fat. It’s also very difficult if not impossible to build muscle mass while eating at a caloric deficit which is required to lose fat. (There are endless arguments over this but few studies contradict it)
“love handles” are one of the last places that a man will retain fat. It’s your body’s preferred final storage place. You cannot spot reduce or encourage localized fat burning, it just doesn’t work like that.
You should be very proud of what you’ve done so far, and don’t be discouraged. Then once you reach your final goal in weight/fat loss you can consider lifting weights and eating a muscle building diet to gain lean mass if that’s something you’re interested in.