That fatty area around the sides of your stomach are commonly referred to as 'love handles'. And, it's a safe bet that there is not much you love about them. In fact you probably want to get rid of them as fast as you possibly can.

While the rest of your body may be a lot leaner after months and months of exercising, your love handles may be as ever present as they always were. Because the rest of the body has slimmed down, many people complain that they are even more prominent and just as they always have been.

Losing your love handles does not mean you have to hire a personal trainer or even have to go to the gym. You certainly don't have to take drugs for that purpose.

All you need is the right approach.

To exactly tackle your love handles, you will want to focus on exercises directed exclusively to them. And, you will want to start doing exercises aimed at the mid-section meaning the abdomen. Doing exercises that are more generally focused will not be nearly as effective.

You may be wondering if you will have to devote a lot of time to extensive exercises. In truth, a simple 20-minute exercise is all you need to take on the most stubborn love handles.

Crunches and sit ups are the most common form of abdominal exercises. However, these exercises focus on the abdomen and not your love handles.

Instead of the front of your stomach, you need to be interested in the sides where the flabby excess fat tends to collect.

Here is a simple exercise for this area of your body: Stand erect with your feet a shoulder's width apart. Then bend your body to one side as far as it will go without flexing your knees. Do the same for the other side.

Do you feel the side muscles of your abdomen working? If not, then it's a sign that you either are not stretching enough or just plain not doing it right. You should find that you're able to work these muscles well after repeating this exercise for a few minutes.

To start firming up the muscles on your side, do this exercise with three sets of 20 repetitions each. Soon, you will find your love handles start to shrink.

Easy enough, isn't it? If you havn't already, get up and give it a try. It's a great exercise because you don't have to go to the gym to do it; you can do it anywhere and anytime. There is no need to try and fit it into your schedule.

Now you have no excuse not to tackle those love handles!