It’s already June and the summer is fast approaching... the time has come to get beach-body ready! Making just a few simple daily changes, in terms of physical activity and diet, are all that is needed to hit the beach with confidence. Let’s start by looking at a few simple ideas and tips that will help you prepare for the upcoming swimsuit season.
Swimsuit season
When it comes to getting back into shape, it’s important that you leave enough time to safely and effectively lose weight, thereby avoiding any imbalances in terms of body composition. Losing weight in time for swimsuit season is somewhat simple if you focus solely on losing fluids, yet this is the worst thing that you can choose to do. To get back into shape in a healthy way you need to lose fats, whilst simultaneously toning muscle mass.
This is why it is essential that you combine a diet with physical exercise: the muscle activity will burn the surrounding adipose tissue and, as long as you exercise with some regularity, you will see visible results. In addition to a training programme, you can also choose to adopt a number of healthy habits on a day-to-day basis, so as to re-activate your muscles, for example:
- When possible, take the stairs instead of the lift. This is because aerobic activity helps to improve both your heart rate and pulmonary capacity, whilst getting the muscles in your legs working, toning your glutes and burning fat from the lower part of the body, thereby improving the appearance of cellulite. There are in fact a number of training programmes based entirely on this type of activity, commonly known in the fitness industry as ‘Stair Climbing’.
- If you use public transport to get to work, try getting off one stop earlier or at the next stop, so as to fit a little speed walking into your regime. If done daily, walking can help you lose weight, stimulate the metabolism and strengthen your cardio-circulatory system. When possible, we recommend walking in green spaces, since, in addition to the numerous physical benefits, it also helps to reduce the anxiety and stress that characterise the hectic rhythms of city life.
- If you have a pet, consider taking them for walks several times a day, venturing out of your surrounding urban spaces when possible. Besides being a healthy habit for your four-legged friend, it will also become an invaluable part of your daily routine.
- Make sure you're getting enough sleep: in fact, in addition to the many well-documented benefits, resting helps us to control stress, which is often the cause of nervous eating, leading to the consumption of less healthy snacks.
How much water should I be drinking per day?
With the arrival of the summer and rising temperatures, there is a greater risk of dehydration compared to the winter months. When we are dieting and exercising, the likelihood of losing fluids and salt minerals is significantly higher. We therefore should be taking on around two litres of fluids per day, through both drinking and eating. That said, knowing exactly how much fluid our body needs to ensure the correct level of hydration is not always easy, and sometimes, when caught up in the frenzy of work and distracted by our daily commitments, we forget to drink. There are a number of apps that can help you to calculate the amount of water to drink, enabling you to keep track of the amount consumed and alerting you, via notification, when it’s time to re-hydrate.
Apps to lose weight and stay in shape
Our smartphones can in fact help us get back in shape in time for swimsuit season. There are numerous useful apps to help you lose weight, including, for instance, those that count the number of calories consumed during meals and the nutritional values of food, in addition to those boasting training programmes to practise at home or in the park. You’ll be able to find both short workouts (taking up just a few minutes per day) and longer more intensive training programmes to be practised every other day, allowing for the sufficient muscle rest. You could also choose to opt for step-counter apps that calculate the number of calories burned based on your day-to-day movements.
