Summer bodies are made in winter. Ok, it’s not quite winter now but you still have time to get ready for the beach this Summer. If you’re heading off to the sun in July or August (or even June!), now is a great time to start getting ready. You can do a lot in six weeks if you put your mind to it.
GOAL
I’m not a great fan of the ‘quick fix’ method. I prefer to make lifestyle changes and think long term. However, there is nothing wrong with setting a six-week goal to motivate you. Picture how you would like to look on the beach in June and use this as a motivator every time you train and eat. This could be an excellent way to start your new healthy lifestyle. But you should set a short, medium and long-term goal. Perhaps your short-term goal could be to lose half a stone, drop 3% body fat or drop a dress size by June. A medium-term goal could be to achieve your ideal weight and body fat by Christmas. (a personal trainer will be able to guide you here). A long-term goal may be to maintain this so that you don’t have to get ‘beach ready’ next year. Think small changes. If you are not already training, then maybe the first change you can make would be to call your local trainer and set up a consultation. This can sometimes be a major step for people if they haven’t been to a gym in a long time, or maybe ever. Another small step could be to cut out sugar from your diet as much as possible. And so on. Make one small change each week and you will see a massive difference in six weeks, six months, a year…
GYM
If your goal is to lose weight, then as mentioned above, consult a professional trainer to see what your ideal weight and body fat should be. Don’t rely on the weighing scales alone as weight loss alone is a poor tracker of results. You need to know that the weight you are losing is body fat as opposed to muscle and the only way of doing this is to have your body fat checked at the start. Remember that muscle weighs heavier than fat. If you lose 3 lbs of body fat and gain 3 lbs of muscle the weighing scales won’t have moved at all. But you may have made a huge change in your body shape, your clothes may fit you better. You may have way more energy and find that you are sleeping better. These are all what I call real life tests. Your best progress tracker is your mirror, not the scales! And ladies, don’t fear that we are talking about bulging muscles here. We are talking about getting leaner and more toned.
The best way of shaping up and losing excess body fat is by doing the right kind of resistance training in a gym. This will firm up muscle tissue, shape the body and burn excess body fat by boosting your metabolic rate. You won’t need to spend endless hours in the gym while missing out on enjoying the summer weather though (assuming we are going to get some!). Gym training should only take about 30 minutes, three to five times per week. The idea behind doing this should be to get you into great condition so you can enjoy all your outdoor activities much better.
NUTRITION
As I said before, I’m not a great believer in quick fixes. Either in terms of training or dieting. I usually steer clear of the word ‘diet’ as this gives the impression that we are going to starve ourselves. It’s best to eat healthy as opposed to diet. Something you can do long term. I have gone through this on a previous blog; click here for details
Better still, make a consultation with us here at Lifegym where we can analyse your diet and lifestyle and give you a personalised nutrition plan.
To simplify it, Just East Real Food (JERF); unprocessed meat, fish, fowl; fruit, veg, nuts, some cereals, grains and dairy. Base 90%of your diet around these and you’ve made a great start.
