Weight Loss Tips For The Summer
It is easy to cover up a few extra pounds with a leather jacket or a chunky sweater in the blistering cold but the scenario is a bit different in the summer. Hence, many aspire to get back on their healthy diet and lose some weight in the summer. In fact, according to reliable statistics, over 45 million Americans embark on a diet every year. If you belong to that category of people, you have come to the right place. Losing weight isn´t as difficult as it sounds; you need not make drastic changes to your lifestyle to lose weight. However, you will need to be disciplined and consistent with your efforts if you want to keep your weight in check.
Without beating about the bush any further, here are some weight loss tips for the summer.
- Participate in outdoor activities
The summer season brings with it longer days and warm weather. No longer do you have to curl up in bed and hope for the blistering cold weather to pass. Hence, we would recommend you to go out and participate in outdoor activities. Any sort of activity that you do outside can count towards burning calories. You can mow the lawn, play with your children at the park, wash your car, and even walk your dog etc. If your library or grocery store is nearby, you should walk your way there instead of relying on your vehicle. You can also participate in other challenging activities such as running, swimming, and hiking.
- Pay attention to what you drink
It is completely natural to feel thirsty during the summer. However, that doesn´t give you the justification to consume your favorite cold beverages as you see fit. It is necessary to drink wisely during the summer. You should understand that alcohol, wine, and carbonated sugary drinks all contain large amounts of calories. You should attempt to minimize the number of calories you get from your drinks. If you want to quench your thirst, you should know that there´s nothing that works better than water.
It is also essential for you to stay hydrated at all times. It is common for people to feel hungry when they feel thirsty. Many people often mistake their thirst for hunger and they end up snacking on food rich in calories. If you stay hydrated, you won´t overindulge in snacks. Many reliable reports also confirm that increased water intake is positively associated with weight loss.
- Make sure you have a hearty breakfast
According to reliable studies, people who eat a hearty breakfast are more likely to lose weight and keep it off. Your breakfast should typically be full of food rich in protein and fiber. Protein and fiber-rich food promote fullness, reduce your hunger and appetite, and increase your metabolism. Some of the protein and fiber-rich food you must include in your diet are poultry, meat, quinoa, beans, fish, nuts, seeds, legumes, and whole grains etc.
- Get enough rest
The days are much longer during the summer. Hence, most of the times, we often attempt to do more things in the summer and thus, end up getting less sleep. Now, we can´t stress enough on the importance of getting enough sleep. When you get enough sleep, the appetite hormones that are directly responsible for maintaining your appetite levels, ghrelin and leptin, are kept in check. However, if you get inadequate sleep, those aforementioned hormones become unstable and unbalanced. This, in turn, increases your appetite and makes you feel hungry. When you get hungry, you overeat and thus, gain weight.
However, this doesn´t mean that you should spend all day in bed. Oversleeping can be as disastrous as inadequate sleep.
- Keep a food journal
We would also recommend you to keep a food journal. A little journaling about your food can make a major impact in terms of how much weight you lose in the long run. A food journal gives you a detailed yet overarching view of your habits, enabling you to identify areas that need some fixing. In a nutshell, a food journal helps you learn about your eating habits. Through a food journal, you will be able to know how much you eat, how you feel after eating certain foods, how your dining companions affect your consumption, and how fast you chow down etc.
- Ensure that you don´t feast on late night snacks
If you get adequate sleep and go to bed early, you will be able to avoid late night snacking. If you want to decrease your calorie intake to lose weight, it is of paramount importance for you to stop eating by 8 in the evening. When you eat food late at night, anywhere after dinner to outside a person´s sleep/wake cycle, the body is more likely to store the calories as fat.
- Don´t deprive yourself of your favorite foods as well
You shouldn´t deprive yourself of your favorite foods. Being denied certain foods can play an atrocious role in triggering cravings and binges. We would thus, recommend you to form a diet plan that allows small portions of your favorite foods. Your diet plan should have healthy substitutes for crunchy cravings and various different choices to satisfy a sugary sweet tooth.
- Get yourself a training partner
It´s always better to get involved in a weight loss program with a partner. Both of you can help motivate each other during difficult times. Working with a training partner is a good way to add a bit of competitiveness and it can help push you. If you train with someone who is at a similar level to you, then you will help push each other. Researchers at the University of Aberdeen have recently discovered that working out with a new exercise partner increases the amount of exercise you engage in.
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