Some people make a New Year’s resolution to get in shape, but unsurprisingly, it doesn’t end up working out most of the time. Instead, a better motivation is usually the summer months. Who doesn’t love going to the beach? The answer is: people embarrassed of their bodies! Make this the summer that you find finally make the changes in your life that you need to turn heads and turn your friends green with envy.
Diet
You are what you eat. The summertime is frequently a opportune time for businesses to sell lots of junk food and unhealthy snacks. Avoid them as much as possible; empty calories and sugar are some of the main culprits behind that stubborn layer of fat covering your muscles. Working out is important, and we’ll cover that a little later, but it’s important to monitor what you’re putting in your body if you want your body looking good and fitting into that nice swimsuit you just saw online.
Make sure you’re eating a few helpings of fruits and vegetables every day if possible. You can find servings of these vitamin and nutrient rich foods which can fill your stomach better than the fatty, greasy junk they advertise everywhere they can. No matter what you’re eating, make sure you give yourself enough time to decide whether or not you’re actually full before you get another plate. It can take over ten minutes for your stomach to tell your brain you’ve had enough.
Drinking enough water is key. Don’t fool yourself into thinking you’re staying hydrated just because you’ve got some soda or “flavored” water handy; stick with the real stuff as much as possible. It’ll help with digestion, as well as regulating your body temperature and stifling cravings.
Staying Active
Burning extra calories is where most people run into serious trouble. As far as extra fat goes, the science is pretty simple: every person needs a given amount of calories every day. Those calories come from fats and carbohydrates. Every extra calorie of energy you consume past what you require for the day gets stored as fat. Conclusion? Get some exercise!
If you don’t know where to start, you can’t go wrong by doing some running. There’s also swimming, hiking, and body weight exercises like pullups and pushups. Many people find boxing or other types of recreational combat very taxing, and therefore excellent for the cardio vascular system.
If you want to build muscle, weight lifting is the way to go. Use weight lifting gloves if you don’t want to build up callouses while you get buff!
The most important thing to do is push yourself. If you rap a lap or downed some spinach for every person who doubted they could get a beach-ready summer body, you’d already have reached your goals. Get out there and get in shape today!
Author Bio: Paige Jirsa-I work with Top10.Today, a shopping comparison site, where we strive to help consumers find the best quality and priced products.