It’s the most wonderful time of the year. No, I’m not talking about the holiday season, I’m talking about swimsuit season! Now, before we all cheer at once, the dreaded question must be answered. How do we shed those extra pounds to get our beach bodies ready for swimsuit season? The good news is, there’s still time, the bad news? Well, it takes some time. However, with a little effort and a few weight loss tips and tricks, you will be ready for swimsuit season in no time. Here are some of the best ways to lose weight before you hit the beach this swimsuit season.
Stay Hydrated
One of the best ways to lose weight in time for swimsuit season is by staying hydrated. And not just any type of hydration, you’ll need to do it the right way. A great weight loss tip it to switch out your sugary juices and sodas with cool bottles of water. Water helps you to lose weight by filtering out toxins and refueling you. Along with this, saying goodbye to juices and soda will help you limit the amount of sugar you take in each day. Your body will thank you because a healthy diet is one with limited amounts of sugar. Before long, your body will start to feel the difference, and your skin will be glowing because of it. A good rule of thumb is to stick with six to eight cups of water a day to maintain good hydration.
Be Active
This next weight loss tip takes a little more effort. In order to get ready for swimsuit season, you want to be as active as you can throughout your day. If you sit behind a desk all day at work, consider swapping out your desk for a standing desk. If you usually sit on the couch to watch tv or movies, consider swapping out your couch for a treadmill so that you can entertain yourself while getting some exercise in at the same time. These little movements are ways of being active when you would have otherwise been stationary. Other ways to exercise throughout your day include taking walks around your block or squeezing in a jog or two through the week. However much movement you incorporate into your day is up to you. Just remember, being more active means you are on the path to shedding some weight. So before swimsuit season starts, try and squeeze in as much movement as you can.
Keep An Eye On Your Calories
Another weight loss tip to get you ready for swimsuit season is to keep an eye on your caloric intake. You don’t necessarily have to follow a diet, but watching what you eat is one of the best ways to lose weight. Weight gain happens when you retain more calories than you are burning off. You can manage your weight by making sure that your caloric intake doesn’t exceed the recommended average of 2000 calories a day for women and 2500 calories for men. If you’re looking to lose about a pound a week, then ladies aim for 1500 calories a day. Guys looking to lose a pound a month should aim for 2000 calories a day. In addition to maintaining a healthy diet, consider the food you put into your body. Aim to eat foods that have nutritional benefits like fruits and veggies as opposed to empty calories found in cakes and junk food.
Pass On The Sugar
This has got to be the hardest weight loss tip to stick to, but if you can, your body will thank you for it. Try to limit your sugar intake as much as you can. Not only should you try to avoid sugary juices and sodas, but avoid the sweets as well. Unfortunately, this means you’re going to have to practice some self discipline around the cakes and cookies. If you need to get your sugar fix, then aim for naturally sweetened treats like strawberries and raspberries instead.
Invest In A Yoga Ball
Yoga balls aren’t just for yoga anymore. A weight loss tip that proves to be another one of the best ways to lose weight is investing in a yoga or exercise ball. If you have to sit behind a desk all day, then consider swapping out your desk chair with an exercise ball. An exercise ball will encourage you to move your legs and contract your abs for balance without even thinking about it. Along with this, you can use your exercise ball to help you work out and tone your body. Exercise balls are great to use in your workout routine because they can help you target and tone specific muscles like your abs and glutes in time for swimsuit season. One great weight loss tip to toning your glutes is to use your exercise ball to do squats. Instead of squatting without support, place an exercise ball between your back and a wall and push against the ball as you squat up and down. Using your exercise ball as support in your workout routine will help you tone your body in time for swimsuit season.
Put A Pause On The Alcohol
If you are working towards your weight loss goals by focusing on having a healthy diet, then one beverage you should say goodbye to is alcohol. Cutting alcohol from your diet is one of the best ways to lose weight for several reasons. For starters, alcoholic beverages like beer are packed with calories that can lead to the infamous beer belly. Not only that, but alcohol slows down your body’s ability to break down and burn fat. Finally, studies show that alcohol is more likely to make you want to reach for snacks to nibble on. If you’re not careful, this can result in overeating or over snacking. If you’re going to maintain a healthy diet in time for swimsuit season, then do your body a favor and skip the alcohol. At least until you get to the beach that is.
Download A Workout App
If you’re anything like me, then you might require a little more motivation to meet your weight loss goals. The good news is that motivation is a lot closer than you might think. Using your smartphone, you can download the perfect app to help you meet your weight loss goals. If you are trying to slim down your midsection, focus your attention on apps that are geared towards helping you workout your abs. Some great ones include 30 day abs and 30 day fitness. What’s great about these weight loss plans is that not only are many of them free, but you can set the notifications so that daily reminders will help you stay on track of your exercise routines. Even better, with most exercise apps, you can custom tailor the difficulty level so that your exercise routine is unique to you.
Concentrate On Your Cardio
In addition to keeping a healthy diet and incorporating regular exercise into your daily routine, don’t skimp out on your cardio. Cardio is another one of the best ways to lose weight because it gets your heart pumping and blood circulating. This is what you want your body to be doing if you want to lose weight. Cardio such as running or biking are great activities to squeeze into your schedule two or three times a week. The great thing about doing cardiovascular activity is that you’re targeting all areas of your body at the same time. Not only that, but activities such as running will help trim down the fat all over your body as well as tone up the muscles you want to show off this swimsuit season.
Get A Tan
Yes, it sounds silly. But before you hit the beach this season, consider getting a tan or applying a nice coat of bronzer. Rocking a tan at the beach will help you look a lot slimmer. Even if you haven’t managed to lose all the weight you’ve wanted to. Along with this, sporting a nice tan helps bring out the definition in your muscles. Even if you haven’t had a chance to actually define those muscles.
Practice A Healthy Diet
Finally, all the exercises and workouts in the world won’t do you any good if you don’t have your diet under control. You don’t have to do any crazy crash course diets. (As a matter of fact, it’s better if you don’t). But you should find a moderated diet that you can seamlessly incorporate into your life. There are plenty of moderate diets out there to choose from. If you are not one to follow traditional dieting plans, then you can start by making subtle changes in your eating habits. Some subtle changes that can make a big difference are avoiding processed carbohydrates. Processed carbs are stripped of their natural nutrients and are essentially empty calories. Swapping out white bread for whole wheat and incorporating non-processed foods like oatmeal, bananas, and quinoa are good ways to make sure you have a healthier diet.
I hope that these tips can help you as you try your best to slim down this Summer season!