Summer is here. And that means trips to the beach and BBQs by the pool.
Maybe you’ve been getting in shape for the summer over the past few weeks and months, but you’re not quite where you’d like to be as far as summer beach body goals.
The following tips will help you shed the last few pounds quickly so you can feel good in a swimsuit.
But these are all healthy tips that will promote weight loss in addition to good health. So these will work best if you’re already in relatively good shape but want a quick fat loss boost.
If you’ve got significant weight to lose, then it’s best that you keep lifting weights and doing cardio consistently and set your beach body goals for a few months down the road.
1. Dial in Your Sleep
There’s no getting around the fact that you need solid rest each night if you want to optimize your health. That includes promoting optimal metabolism so you can burn more calories throughout the day, the most vital component of losing weight.
Good sleep also helps balance hormones and appetite, both of which will prevent cravings for sugary junk food.
And sleep is also vital for muscle recovery after a workout, so you can get back to the gym the next day and perform at your best.
Try these tips to help you fall asleep quickly and get a great night of rest.
- Wake up and go to bed at the same time each day
- Reduce screentime 1-2 hours before bed
- Exercise and eat at the same times each day
- Try to exercise earlier in the day
- Limit caffeine after mid-afternoon
- Take an adaptogen supplement to reduce stress and promote restful sleep
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Track Your Calories
This is arguably the most critical aspect of weight loss. To lose weight, you need to consume less calories than you burn each day.
Also known as a calorie deficit.
Everything else, like sleep, balancing hormones, exercise, is to optimize for a sustainable calorie deficit in a way that doesn’t make you miserable.
“Calories in” is the food you and beverages you consume. “Calories out” includes your BMR (basal metabolic rate) plus activity (exercise plus daily activities).
So, calories out has to be greater than calories in to lose weight. And when we’re trying to maximize weight loss within a short period, we want to increase calories out, and decrease calories in, but do it in a way that is healthy.
Most of the other tips in this list are about increasing calories out. But for calories in, there’s only one way – it’s to track what you consume each day.
You can use an app like MyFitnessPal or similar to track your calorie intake each day.
If you don’t know how many calories you should eat, then you can try a TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) calculator, also easily available online for free.
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Cut Out Processed Food
During this period of maximizing fat loss, try to cut out all types of processed food and focus on whole foods as much as possible.
In general, processed foods are anything that comes in a can or package, and whole foods are foods you get from nature.
Specifically, try to eat only natural proteins like chicken, fish, lentils, pea protein, etc., and then fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.
Eating healthy does not have to be boring or tortourous. You can easily look up plenty of mouthwatering recipes online that are made with healthy ingredients.
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Eat at Home (Meal Prep)
If possible, eat at home and not at restaurants when you’re trying to maximize weight loss.
At home, you have total control over the ingredients. Not only does that mean you can choose healthy ingredients, but also that you can track your consumption more accurately.
At a restaurant, you never know what they’re using to cook your meals, and your calorie estimations are approximate at best.
And when it comes to your urgent fitness goals, it’s best to not leave things to chance and prone to errors.
If you don’t have time to cook every day, then do meal prep for a few days at a time. Again, no shortage of healthy and delicious meal prep recipe videos all over Instagram and YouTube.
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Focus on Exercise Volume, Not Failure
We’ve covered the nutrition and rest aspects, but of course, no weight loss plan is complete without an exercise component.
What might surprise you, however, is that it might not be the best idea to push yourself to absolute failure each time you go to the gym during this final stretch.
That’s not to say that you shouldnt go hard, but maybe that you should leave just a bit in the tank each time.
The reason is that you will want to prioritize optimal recovery so you can get back to the gym and do more the following day.
This will result in a greater volume of exercise during the course of a week, and ultimately the more volume, greater the results.
For example, if you do 100 pull ups on Monday, you might be so sore that you don’t get to pull ups again till Thursday, and maybe you do 100 again.
So, that’s 200 total.
Instead, maybe you do 60 each time, but since you’re not pushing to failure, you can come back and do 60 again the next day.
So, let’s say you do 60 pull=ups on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.
Now you’ve done 240 in a week instead of 200.
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Pause on the Whey Protein (Optional)
Finally, if you notice that you experience bloating after whey protein or any other foods/supplements, try taking a break for a bit.
That doesn’t mean you should decrease protein intake. Replace what you were consuming in whey protein with other non dairy sources like chicken and fish.
But if you’re confident that you tolerate milk products well, then feel free to skip this one and stick to the other five tips mentioned above.
