Slimming Down for Summer

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Parent Category: News and Stories

Posted in: Beauty n Fitness on Wednesday, 04 April 2007 00:00

If you want to lose 12 pounds quickly so that you can wear white jeans on vacation in June. You probably can't. To drop 12 pounds in a month, you would need to cut 1,400 calories a day. You'd essentially have to starve yourself and exercise 2-plus hours a day—a punishing regimen that you're unlikely to keep up for long.

Even if you succeed, it's likely to backfire because eating too little can cause you to lose calorie-burning muscle and slow your metabolism by up to 100 calories a day, making future weight loss that much more difficult.

I have a better proposal
Before your vacation, aim to lose 5 to 6 pounds, a more realistic amount that won't require draconian measures. In the meantime, buy a new pair of jeans (you'll look thinner in clothes that fit right). Don't deprive yourself while you're away, but don't go overboard on the piña coladas and crème brûlées, either. Then, after you return from your trip, continue your weight loss efforts, and by midsummer you should be back in those white jeans.

To lose about 5 1/2 pounds safely:

Limit your food intake to 1,500 calories daily.
Burn off 300 calories a day, 6 days a week, with aerobic exercise, such as walking.
Lift weights 3 days a week, focusing on your arms, shoulders, and upper back.

The aerobic exercise and calorie cutting will shed pounds, and the weight lifting will give you firm, shapely muscles. Show them off with sleeveless or low-back outfits, and no one will notice the few extra pounds you're still carrying around.

Here are some proven ways to maximize weight loss that have helped me slim down before filming Prevention's exercise videos.

Keep a food diary
Research suggests that you're more likely to lose weight if you monitor what and how much you eat by writing it down.

Replace carbs with protein
In the short term, low-carb diets (high in protein-rich foods such as eggs, chicken, and fish) tend to cause more rapid weight loss than low-fat diets (often high in carb-rich pasta and cereal) by suppressing appetite.

Pick up the pace
Adding 1- to 2-minute bursts of high-intensity activity to whatever exercise you do cranks up calorie burn during and after your workout. Aim for five or six bursts per session.

Get automatic portion control
Reduced-calorie frozen meals such as Healthy Choice and Lean Cuisine make calorie counting easy.

Turn in early
Studies show that a lack of sleep alters hormone levels that can make you hungrier and shift your body into fat-storage mode, making weight loss more difficult. To help the scale numbers move in the right direction, get at least 7 hours of shut-eye a night.

Skip a meal
Not literally, but instead of your typical lunch, try a meal replacement bar. Dozens of studies have shown that liquid meal replacements help people lose weight; a new study suggests that bars, which can offer similar benefits, satisfy your hunger for 2 hours longer than shakes.

And when you're tempted to indulge, remind yourself that it's only for a few weeks, and you can enjoy some treats while you're on vacation.