Are you ready for summer… and SWIM season?!! It’s just about here….with Memorial Day typically being the “official” kick-off for the summer season. The topic du jour at the gym and around the office is getting swimsuit ready! Losing weight is simple math, really. You’ve got to burn/take in 500 calories less a day in order to lose one pound a week. I think it’s easiest to do it by adding an extra 100-200 calories of activity coupled with a reduction of 250-300 calories a day. You can get there with a focus on food and fitness–two of my favorite things! (This btw, reminds me that in future blogs I am going to share a few of my favorite things! I hope you do, too.)
If the 500 calorie a day deficit seems too aggressive, losing half a pound a week is much easier–and definitely doable–especially for the ladies since our daily calorie needs are less than the guys. A 250 calorie a day decrease and/or exercise burn is easier to reach consistently.
For the fitness angle, get moving! No way around that one. For at least three workouts that include 20 minutes of resistance (minimum), 20 minutes of cardio and 5-10 minutes of stretching. (For why, look at past blogs on the importance of muscle and its calorie burning effect.) If you need some ideas for exercises, two sites I really like are Fitness Magazine where you can tailor your workout to your time, location, and equipment (if any). You do need to join the site, but it’s free and from there you can design a workout just for you, change it as often as you like, and see how to do the exercises. Another good site with exercise ideas is Runner’s World which also contains videos of the movement execution with verbal descriptions. Gotta love technology!