3 Tips To Shed A Few More Pounds Before Summer Ends

Although getting that perfect beach body is one big motivator to lose weight, the reality is that we should be aiming for a healthy body mass no matter what time of year it is. After all, obesity is correlated with so many negative health outcomes, that it should be one of your main priorities when it comes to staying in good condition well into old age.

Tip #1 – It’s All About Calories

So, you want to drop a few pounds quickly? Looking to tone up, slim down, and look like the most healthy and attractive version of yourself? Sounds like a great plan to us! If you’re on board with dropping a few more pounds before Summer 2018 is in the books, you’ll mainly need to think about one simple equation:

If your CALORIES TAKEN IN > (are greater than) YOUR CALORIES EXPENDED/BURNT, you will gain weight.

If your CALORIES TAKEN IN < (are less than) YOUR CALORIES EXPENDED/BURNT, you will lose weight.

It’s (mostly) that easy! Of course, if it were truly that straightforward, nobody would be obese. In reality, there are some complications to these rules.

For starters, let’s look at calories expended/burnt. Your metabolism will naturally burn through a certain number of calories per day; and although the number is fairly standard for many people, for others it can very widely. Some people have an incredibly fast metabolism and can’t put on weight to save their lives. Others have particularly slow metabolisms, and they need to work harder than most to burn calories.

Regardless, you cannot change your metabolism, so our first tip is to stop feeling sorry for yourself or making excuses about your weight loss journey. Focus on what you can control. Get that number of calories expended/burnt as high as safely possible, and limit the calories you take in as much as safely possible. That’s what you can control, and that’s what will result in weight loss.

Tracking your calories through apps and websites that can calculate meal data, and using personal fitness trackers to determine how much you’ve burnt each day are great ways to stay abreast on your progress in this area.

 

Tip #2 – Get Active

If you think about it, there’s really two ways to force your body into weight loss: dropping the number of calories in, or raising the number of calories out. By watching what you eat, you’re making sure that the calories in aren’t so high that it makes it impossible to achieve equilibrium.

But by exercising and getting active, you can hit the other side of that equation: boosting the number of calories burnt. When you combine the two approaches, you’re essentially guaranteed to lose weight unless you have a serious underlying medical condition.

Some physical activity will burn more calories than others. For example, lifting weights is great for promoting body strength, but it won’t burn as many calories as simply running on a treadmill or outside. For that reason, cardiovascular activity like running, swimming, jump rope, or hiking is ideal for weight loss specifically.

Once you’ve built a solid foundation of cardio-focused activity, you can build from there to diversify your fitness. But for now, if you’re interested in dropping weight fast, you should incorporate cardio into your daily routine as frequently as you can.

 

Tip #3 – Stay Consistent

So, if it really is as easy as eating less and exercise more, why is it that more people don’t get on the weight loss train? Why do we still see so many overweight people walking around Los Angeles? The answer is straightforward: they simply aren’t consistent.

You see, the trick is in repeating these good habits day after day. After all, let’s say you follow this advice three days in a row. You eat 1,000 fewer calories a day than you usually do, and you run on a treadmill for 30 minutes each of the three days. At the end of the three days, you look in the mirror, and you look the same. You step on a scale, and it’s basically the same.

That experience is disheartening for many people, and they simply quit there. It takes time and effort to get fit, and when the results don’t appear even after effort is expended, people don’t feel the reward… and they stop.

But the reality is that’s not how our bodies work. You need to stay consistent day after day, because it takes time to undo the damage you’ve done and the weight you’ve gained. If you trust the process and do what you’re supposed to, you will eventually see the results.

And we know you’ll love what you see!