7 Tips to Lose Weight for Summer

Summer is just around the corner and if you still haven’t lost the winter bulk that crept on while you were hibernating, now is the perfect time to do something about it. Below are 7 easy things you can do to start slimming down and looking great just in time for swimsuit weather.

1) Drink more water. Eight glasses of water a day hydrates your body and makes everything function better – muscles, organs, and cells. You’ll flush toxins from your body and burn fat much more quickly and easily than if you are dehydrated.

See: Boost Your Workouts With This Zero-Calorie Nutrient

2) Ditch sweetened drinks. Soda, energy drinks, and sweetened coffee and tea add a LOT of calories to your daily intake, and very often just cutting these out of your diet will result in a few pounds weight lost. If you’re drinking 8 glasses of water a day, you certainly won’t feel thirsty so eliminating extra beverages shouldn’t be difficult.

See: Are Your Liquid Calories Making You Gain Weight?

3) Get moving. The more physically active you are, the more calories you burn, and the more fat you will lose. Engage in a few different physical activities each day to burn calories. You can take brisk walks, attend a gym, play with your children in the backyard, join an athletic club . . . any kind of physical movement burns calories.

See: Easy Metabolism Boosting Exercises to Burn Fat

4) Fuel your body. Be sure to start each day with a healthy breakfast, and then eat something every 3-4 hours minimum throughout the day. Eating more frequently keeps your metabolism running strong so you lose weight more easily. When you don’t eat often enough, your body slows everything down so losing weight becomes much slower and much more frustrating.

5) Protein power. Try to include a source of protein in each meal and snack because protein is digested more slowly than carbohydrates, which means you don’t get hungry as quickly. Good sources of protein are lean chicken or turkey breast, fish and seafood, lean cuts of beef and pork, nuts, eggs, and low fat cheese. Good vegetarian sources of protein are beans and tofu.

See: Do You Eat These High Protein Diet Foods?

6) Veggie power. Include plenty of fresh vegetables in your daily diet, especially the ones with a high water and fiber content, like lettuce, spinach, cucumbers, tomatoes, and peppers. Vegetables are excellent weight loss foods because the high fiber content helps you feel full while adding very few calories to your diet.

See: Top 5 Healthy Dark Green Vegetables

7) Natural sugar for sweet cravings. Finally, if you have a persistent sweet tooth, start getting your sugar fix from natural sources of sugar like fresh fruit. You may be surprised just how easily you can quiet a sweet craving with a banana or an apple. If you want to add a little more staying power, add a tablespoon of peanut butter or low fat cream cheese for added protein and fat.

See: 7 Healthy Snacks to Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth on a Diet

These actions are simple enough that you can easily incorporate them into your daily activities, yet they really work! Within a few weeks you’ll be able to see the results, both on the scale and in the way your clothing fits. Not to mention your energy levels and concentration will probably improve too, so you’ll not only look great this summer but feel great too.

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