Do you want a nice, toned body for the summer? Are you getting ready to
strut your stuff at a pool or at the beach? With a little work,
exercise, and discipline, a hot body can be all yours.
Part 1 of 2: Diet and Sleep
Eat plenty of healthy foods. Avoid junk food like
chips, cakes, pizzas, and ice cream. Your body will thank you. Eat foods
high in protein and fiber, and remember to opt for smaller portions.
Shoot for 3-4 small meals per day.
Fruits and, more importantly, vegetables will keep you from gaining
the same gut you are losing in those crunches. Go for vegetables that
have lots of color in them: beets, carrots, kale, tomatoes, and
broccoli. Combine them in a salad or eat them with hummus if you don't
have a taste for them.
Don't starve yourself. Starving yourself will actually hurt your
chances of losing weight, because your metabolism slows when it doesn't
get food. (It's preparing to save more energy.) So eat regular, small
portions if you want to lose that extra weight.
2
Drink water instead of juice or soda, even if it's diet.
Although diet soda offers a "zero" calorie alternative to regular soda,
it still interferes with weight loss. If you're serious about getting
that body looking in tip-top shape, don't drink anything but water.
Substituting water for every other drink will drastically lower your
caloric intake.
The recommended daily intake for women is actually about 2.2 liters, or nine cups.[1]
We know that's a lot, and we know how hard it is to lay off those soy
lattes in the morning or those juices in the day. But start off slow,
and work your way up. Rome wasn't conquered in a day.
Cut alcohol out of your diet. This can be a tough one, especially if
you're used to drinking that glass of red wine after you come home from
work. (We have nothing against red wine, we swear!) Alcohol has lots of
calories in it, especially those cosmos. So, even though a glass of
wine is healthy for you for other reasons, it's not the greatest way to
slim down.
3
Get more sleep. Sleep is
the third part of the puzzle for many looking to lose weight. Many
women (and men) go obsessively to the gym, eat like vegetarian monks,
and still don't see a reduction in their waist size. Getting a good
night's sleep is an important part of shedding those extra pounds.
Sleep deprivation hurts your ability to lose weight.[2]
This because your body produces the glucose and insulin levels of some
diabetics when you don't sleep! So depriving yourself of sleep is a
no-no for healthy weight loss.
Less sleep kills your motivation to work out and eat well. We've all
been there: It's the end of a stressful day at work, we're tired, and
we have no energy to do the things we told ourselves we'd do at the
beginning of the day. Getting a good night's rest helps keep you
energized and motivated, so that when it comes time to hop on the
treadmill, you're perky as can be!
2Drink water instead of juice or soda, even if it's diet. Although diet soda offers a "zero" calorie alternative to regular soda, it still interferes with weight loss. If you're serious about getting that body looking in tip-top shape, don't drink anything but water. Substituting water for every other drink will drastically lower your caloric intake.
3Get more sleep. Sleep is the third part of the puzzle for many looking to lose weight. Many women (and men) go obsessively to the gym, eat like vegetarian monks, and still don't see a reduction in their waist size. Getting a good night's sleep is an important part of shedding those extra pounds.
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