Summer Weight Loss Tips

Summer is here and now is the time to stash away those jeans and long sleeve shirts and bring out the two pieces and shorts! Maybe summer is also the time to lose some pounds.

The formula for weight loss is simple. You eat less, exercise more and you lose weight. But it is hard to put “eating less” and “exercising more” into conceptualized terms. Everyone’s body has different needs and wants. While some may go as far to avoid eating for days to shed the fat, experts believe that fasting is not the way to go.

For the first few days of fasting, one may notice substantial weight loss. After a few days, the amount of weight lost decreases. This is because when you fast, you are losing mostly water and muscle (not actual fat) which lowers your metabolism and makes you weak. After you stop fasting, you will gain the water weight back very quickly. Many people who fast also experience food purges where they eat excessively and gain more weight per usual. So, don’t fast. It’s not an effective way to lose weight and it is also harmful for your body.

But, then, how do you lose weight?

Exercise

Make it consistent. It’s not good to do two hours of intense workout one day and then stop completely for the next few weeks. The workout doesn’t even have to be intense. You don’t even have to spend money to go to the gym either to lose weight either. Instead, you can just do a light jog in the morning, maybe one in the afternoon or get some ideas from exercise routine videos online that you can do in your own house. Keep in mind that you probably won’t see any drastic changes over night. Don’t be discouraged by this. The change should be gradual and often times unnoticeable until months later. If you lose weight too fast, it’s probably because you aren’t doing something right. Maybe you’re eating too less. Maybe you’re overworking yourself. Either way, you’ll probably gain the weight back very quickly. So keep everything in moderation. Even if you don’t see the changes you want, you should remember that at the very least your body is happy. Don’t exercise on an empty stomach either. That makes you even hungrier and, unless you have phenomenal self control, you probably won’t be able to stop yourself from splurging afterwards.

Eat breakfast

Breakfast is very important. Skipping breakfast may lead your body to believe that you don’t have enough food to eat. As a result, your survival instincts will switch on and your body will start storing as many lipids (fats) as possible. Eating breakfast will increase metabolism rates, give you more energy and keep you satisfied so you won’t overeat during lunch.

Eat at the dining table, not in front of the TV!

Time goes by really fast when you’re watching TV or on the computer. If you eat in front of the TV, you will be too distracted to realize just how much you’re eating or whether or not you are full. If you really want to eat when you’re watching a movie, you should bring food in small portions so even if you finish it all, your stomach won’t be upset afterwards.

Eat before a certain time

It’s not good if you eat right before you go to sleep. The food is instantly stored into fats in your body.. And I don’t know about you, but I don’t usually sleep well on a full stomach either. It’s better to wait an hour or two after eating before going to sleep. I usually eat dinner before 7:00 pm. If I’m hungry afterwards, I would eat a light healthy snack such as a fruit of yogurt. Go to bed with a 70% full stomach.

Drink water instead of pop

Pop contains sugar, which has calories. Water has none. Moreover, water suppresses the appetite and is good for the kidneys. When the kidney slacks, the liver has to step in to help. The liver’s main function is to break down fats, so if the liver if busy helping the kidney, the chains of lipids will be left unbroken.

The most important weight loss tip is consistency. Eating perfectly health and exercising for one day won’t do you any good. You have to do it over a long period of time. Usually, we get upset when we don’t see immediate change. But immediate change is very hard to get and, when it comes to losing weight, not always a good thing. It’s okay to eat junk food once in a while or forgo the exercise. As long as you don’t spurge or make it a habit, it’s fine.

Without doubt, the golden rule of weight loss remains: Eat less + more exercise = weight loss