5 Tips to Losing Winter Fat

Teresa
4362 days ago.

scale I’m not sure about you, but I’ve gained some weight over the cold months. It’s hard not to with the tasty pies and casseroles family and friends tempt you with. Now that it’s getting warmer, I want to be able to wear cute outfits and go swimming without being judged. I’ve put together 5 helpful tips for you to consider while working on your summer body:

1. Less Booze – I’ve read many times in news and magazine articles that booze will make you gain weight. Elle says that just a 5 oz glass of wine is 150 calories. Sheesh! The good news is that you don’t have to cut it out completely–God knows I won’t. (I mean heck, Jesus turned water into wine… I can’t go against his first miracle now can I?) But the truth is, it’s just better for your overall health to cut back a little bit on the ‘drinkie-poos.’ I don’t think I need to start quoting heart, liver and other doctors for you to know that.

2. Eat at home more – Ok, I know we live busy life styles with work, relationships and kids. The truth is, when you eat at home, you know what’s in your meal. You can control how many pounds of grease, sugar and butter enter the meal without paying super high prices at a restaurant that has actual healthy food. My friend uses Pinterest to cook only once per month. If you are busy (which I’m sure you are!) this once per month thing will really help you out. Typically, I will make a very large portion of something healthy on Sunday so I have at least one meal per day ready to heat up.

3. Exercise – I know, the bad “E,” word. The truth is, you just can’t lose weight without exercising. Now that it’s pretty outside, you can do something natural like go for a walk, play catch or roller blade. The CDC recommends at least 150 minutes per week of moderate intensity aerobics. This is only 22 minutes per day of walking, biking, etc. They also say to work all major muscle groups 2 days per week (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest,  shoulders, and arms).

4. Get your beauty sleep – Yes, among many other benefits, sleeping a full night will help you lose weight. According to WebMD, you will need to get your energy from somewhere. You didn’t sleep last night, so your body makes you hungry to get more energy. Your matabolism also gets slower when you are sleep-deprived. Eat More + Metabolize Less = Weight Gain

5. Treat yourself – You deserve it. Treat yourself with a “bad snack,” every so often. The Body for Life diet insists that you take one free day per week to boost your metabolism. I’ve read this in other diets as well–the basic idea is that your body can plateau with a low calorie diet and it may stunt your weight loss. However, if you ‘shock’ your system by eating something bad every so often, not only does it help you lose weight, it makes you feel better and helps curb cravings. I prefer to have one naughty food item per day because, well, a week is just too long to wait!

I’ve been in gyms and on diets for years. The best way I’ve found to lose weight and keep it off is to be realistic and do it with diet and exercise. You may need to make life changes for this–like not eating out as much or drinking as much (boo!) but it’s worth it in the end.

Photo courtesy of pleaseenjoy.com
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Teresa

Teresa likes a little spontaneity in life so she always has her passport up-to-date. She loves good food, has a sweet tooth and will try any happy hour once.

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