As Chicago weather begins to warm, you’ll likely remember that beach season is quickly approaching. If you’d like to lose weight before summer, you still have a few months to make that happen. Here are some healthy ways to increase your weight loss regimen’s chances of success before summer:
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Keep your eyes on the prize
One of the best ways to improve your odds of success is to have a consistent reminder of your goal. Having that reminder with you throughout your day will reinforce your willpower and help you stick to your weight loss plan. Whether that means putting a picture of your favorite summer vacation spot on your bathroom mirror, or keeping an old picture of you in the best shape of your life on your phone, it’s a great idea to give yourself a daily reminder of what you’re striving for.
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Clean out your pantry
Eating well is much easier if you don’t have temptation 10 feet away from you at all times. To give yourself a break, throw away all unhealthy foods and restock your pantry with plenty of healthy options you can turn to when you get hungry. If you can manage to only restock your pantry with healthy items, it will be much easier for you to make healthy choices.
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Treat yourself, but only out of the house
Occasionally, all of us slip up on our diets and eat something that is delicious and not totally healthy. The best thing you can do is accept that this will happen but contain the slip-up by limiting yourself to a one-time treat and only outside of your home. For example, eat a piece of cake at a restaurant or a bakery; don’t buy a whole cake that will linger in your fridge and tempt you until you finish the entire thing.
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Up your protein intake as you cut calories.
To lose weight, and do so quickly, you’ll have to either cut calories or ramp up your exercise regimen, or both. During this lifestyle change, your body will begin to use its stores of fat for energy, but it will also inevitably break down some muscle tissue. It’s important to keep your protein intake high in order to avoid the latter from happening, because muscle mass is important to your body for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that it helps you burn more calories even while you’re at rest.
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Don’t drink any calories.
Drinking calories is much easier than eating them, and studies have shown that people tend to underestimate the number of calories they ingest by drinking. How much you can cut out will depend on the specifics of your current diet, but if you are able to cut out soft drinks, alcohol, and even fruit juices (it’s much better to eat the fruit in its entirety), you may find that you’re easily cutting out several hundred calories a week, which would quickly turn into shedding pounds as you keep it up. Obviously, you can still enjoy as much water, tea, and coffee (not the overly sugary variety) as you’d like.
Follow these five relatively painless tips to get a head start on summer and lose that stubborn winter weight before beach weather arrives on the shores of Lake Michigan.
