Weight Loss Tips for a Swimsuit Body

Weight Loss Tips for a Swimsuit Body

Spring is here and swimsuit weather is just around the corner.
If you’re like many of us, you start panicking about all the
weight you need to lose to fit into your favorite swimwear. Some
need to lose 5 to 10 pounds of extra fat while others require 20
to 30 pounds, or more. Most of us know that to stay trim all
year round would require an improvement in lifestyle. Easier
said than done. “Yes but what do I do now?” you ask. Do you
diet, exercise or both? Keep in mind that although weight loss
through various diet methods may improve your appearance, it may
not have a positive effect on your health. According to studies,
repeated periods of weight loss followed by weight gain can be
harmful to health. (1)

This is why it is very important to maintain a stable weight
with proper eating and exercise habits year round. “Yes but I
want to lose this weight now”, you say. Well, first of all you
need to realize how you gained that extra weight. Unless you
have a medical condition, you probably put it on by eating too
much, not exercising enough or a combination of both. The bottom
line is that you have been eating more calories than your body
could burn over a period of time. This surplus of calories was
stored in your body as fat.

What’s the best way to tackle this problem? You could hit the
gym for some cardiovascular training, or work out right at home.
Exercises that use large muscle groups such as jogging, cycling
or aerobics are best for achieving quick weight loss. These high
impact exercises, however, are more efficient for rapid weight
loss in younger people, for a couple of reasons (there are
always some exceptions). Let me explain. These exercises could
help melt away pounds in a short time period for someone who is
25 years of age for example.

Once you surpass the age of forty, for example, you have to rely
more on diet to complement exercise, for quicker weight loss.
This is because a person’s metabolism slows down with age. A
forty five year old performing the same exercise would actually
burn fewer calories than someone 20 years younger. Furthermore,
a person over forty (there are exceptions) could not train at a
high intensity level for long durations as could a twenty five
year old.

It doesn’t mean, however, that older people shouldn’t use high
intensity exercise methods. If your doctor gives you the green
light, then by all means go for it.

Older individuals need to rely more on calorie restriction than
younger individuals. That’s not to say that younger people need
only to rely on exercise for weight loss. Exercise for them
ranks higher on the weight loss efficiency scale. They could
often get away without reducing their caloric intake during
periods of exercise and still lose weight quite easily. The
older generation, however, must rely on a combination of
adequate exercise participation and proper diet.

Unless you are extremely over weight you should eat ten times
your weight in calories to maintain a particular weight. In
other words to maintain a body weight of 140 pounds you would
have to eat 1400 calories daily.

So, where do you start? Let’s begin with diet. The first thing
you have to do is to cut back on your daily food intake. Then
you need to replace the bad foods with the good. Use good
carbohydrates at the expense of the bad. Good carbohydrates
(carbs) are high in fiber and low in calorie contents. These
include fruits, vegetables and whole grain products. Bad carbs
are processed carbohydrates with most of the essential fiber
stripped away and often replaced with fat. These include white
bread, products made with white flour, processed fruits and
vegetables and products containing sugar such as cakes, candy
bars, etc. These foods along with fried foods are high in
calorie and fat content and should be avoided or extremely
reduced. Although good carbs are wiser food choices they should
still be used in moderation, because calories still do count.

Is a high protein, high fat type diet effective for fast weight
loss? The Atkins diet, although very controversial has
maintained popularity. This and other similar diets, like the
Zone and South Beach diets can cause initial weight loss –
especially in very obese people. This weight loss is really
water loss. The same is also true of every calorie restricted
diet – regardless if it’s high in fat, low in fat, high in
carbohydrates or whatever. The point is that they are based on
low calorie content. Remember that this is all about input and
output.

If you eat more calories than your body can burn you will gain
weight. If you eat less calories than your body burns you will
lose weight. It’s as simple as that. Your body turns all surplus
calories into fat. That includes extra calories from fat,
protein and carbohydrates. The key is to ensure that your daily
caloric intake doesn’t exceed the amount required to maintain a
desirable body weight.

At the same time, it is important that your diet includes a
balance of all food groups including fat, carbohydrate and
protein. Intakes of saturated and trans fats and bad
carbohydrates should be avoided or reduced. Although unsaturated
and non-hydrogenated fats are healthier choices, they should be
used in moderation, because they are still fats and loaded with
calories.

It’s important to keep in mind that while striving to attain
weight loss, good health should not be compromised. Snack foods
that induce further eating such as potato chips, salted nuts and
chocolate should be avoided.

One diet method that is very effective is to cut your meals in
half and add 2 extra meals (equivalent to half the quantity of
your normal meal). Let me explain. Let’s say you normally take 3
meals a day each consisting of 1000 calories. You would cut
those meals to half the content – which would now consist of 500
calories – and add 2 more meals also containing 500 calories
each.

Let’s compare. Originally your 3 meals, each containing 1000
calories, would total 3000 calories a day. If you change that to
5 meals a day at 500 calories each, that would total 2500
calories. So in this example you would be saving 500 calories a
day. This is a very easy and effective method to start
implementing right away because you don’t really have to do any
calculations. Just visualize what your normal meal would consist
of and cut it in half. Then add 2 more similar meals. It’s that
simple.

Increasing the daily number of meals also helps to make this
transition easier. You would be eating less per meal but you
wouldn’t have to wait as long for the next one. Furthermore,
studies have shown that more frequent smaller meals increase the
body’s metabolism. (2) And we all know how important an increase
in metabolism is for weight loss.

An efficient weight loss system must include an adequate amount
of physical activity – more so for people over 35. It seems that
I’m picking on the older generations here. The reason why I keep
bringing up the subject is because I’m talking from personal
experience. I’m 37 years old and I know exactly how much more
difficult it is to shed weight today as opposed to ten or
fifteen years ago. In my twenties, whenever I noticed extra
weight creeping in, I would start jogging 5-6 times a week for
30-45 minutes and within a few short weeks (sometimes 2 weeks)
the extra weight was gone. It was that easy – and without any
adjustment to food intake.

Today I would need a combination of exercise and proper dieting
to reach that goal. And it would still take a longer period of
time. How much should you be exercising? Well it depends how
much weight you want to lose. By the way, besides weight loss,
exercise participation results in many other health benefits. It
improves flexibility, strengthens the musculoskeletal system,
improves blood circulation and heart condition, just to name a
few.

To start getting results in weight loss you should be exercising
5-6 days per week for 30-60 minutes at a comfortably vigorous
intensity level. Once you lose the desired weight you can then
tone it down to maintain the weight loss. For weight loss
maintenance you can reduce it to 3-4 days a week, 30-45 minutes
at the same level of intensity. Be sure, however, to get
clearance from your doctor first.

Eat healthy, exercise, live a healthy lifestyle and have a great
summer.

References:

1.http://www.newstarget.com, “Yo-Yo dieting weakens immune
system”, retrieved 22 April 2005 from <
http://www.newstarget.com/001427.html> 2.University of
Massachusetts Medical School, “People who eat smaller meals more
often during the day are less likely to be obese”, retrieved 15
April 2005 from <

http://www.umassmed.edu/pap/news/2003/07_11_03.cfm>

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