Losing Even a Little Belly Fat Can Make You Feel, Look Sexier

If you’ve lost that lovin' feeling -- low sex drive, no libido -- it may be because you or your significant other is weighed down with passion-dulling pounds. It's not necessarily that the weight's a turn-off. It's that it crushes feelings of desire and flattens physical get-up-and-go. Even high sex drive can turn low, and the reason is physical.

Excess belly fat triggers inflammation in your arteries, which makes them unable to secrete nitric oxide (trust us, that's critical) and less able to enlarge. The result is reduced blood flow not just to your heart, but also to other critical organs, including your genitals. You’ve got no sexual go without enough blood flow there. This is especially true for men (hello, Viagra, which increases nitric oxide’s effects) but it affects women, too. Think it's more than weight? Find out if the "T factor" is sapping your sex drive.

Emotionally, excess weight can crush satisfaction and self-esteem. Libido shrinks with them. Extremely overweight women report less satisfaction with their sex life, and two thirds of heavy women say they cringe when a lover sees them undressed.

When you start to reclaim your health by losing weight and exercising, wonder of wonders, the pot boils, the steam rises, the room spins . . . you get the idea. And it doesn’t take a lot to stoke the fires. Losing just 13 percent of body weight can change women's and men's self-image from unattractive to woohoo! After shedding only a few pounds, half of women who are ashamed to bare all become happier with the naked truth. Here's how to shrink belly fat without a day of dieting.

You've got nothing to lose by getting healthier and enjoying more romance -- except about 85 calories for every 30-minute roll in the hay!

Wondering if your sex life is normal for your age? Take the SexAge Test and see!