Be Summer Ready: Lose 10 Pounds in 5 Ways, Part 1

‘Tis the season: Time to scramble to lose the last few pounds before baring your body in shorts. Think you’re out of time? Think again! Below is part one of the Poise Fitness Be Summer Ready series, which will help you melt pounds healthfully yet quickly by asking you to change your lifestyle, not banishing the fun from your life. Read on to boost your metabolism, beat bloat and more!

1. The Protein Way

The Scoop: Get 25 percent of your calories from low-fat protein, which will keep you fuller longer. When women cut calories, they tend to eat salad, which leaves them famished not long after. Add lean protein to meals and snacks – aim for 90 grams a day and 1,400 calories total.

Think protein means chicken, meat or fish only? Some of the best choices are actually dairy foods, beans, and nuts. Some ideas include: 3 ounces roasted chicken or beef sirloin, 4.4 ounces 1% fat cottage cheese,  half a cup kidney beans, 1 ounce cheddar cheese, 22 almonds (1 ounce), 1 hard-boiled egg, 6 ounces light yogurt (try 0% Greek).

Time to Lose 10: In about eight weeks with just this one strategy!

2. The Three-Change Way

The Scoop: Ban three high-calorie foods. Most likely there’s a high-cal coffee drink, hunk of bread or piece(s) of cheese in your day. This approach calls for you to cut out these kinds of foods: Creamy, syrupy coffee drinks (about 240 calories), half a bagel (150-200 calories), one slice of cheese (about 111 calories).

Time to Lose 10: In about three months.

3. The Eat-Breakfast Way

The Scoop: Consume 300 calories at breakfast and your daily total will be about 100 fewer calories. People who eat a morning bowl of cereal are less likely to become overweight than those who pass up their a.m. meal. Why? Breakfast skippers tend to overeat at lunch because they’re famished. They’re also more likely to snack on high-cal food all day, and justify it by saying, “I didn’t have breakfast.”

Try a rotation of these three healthy starts, which contain between 200 and 300 calories each:

• A bowl of high-protein cereal or oatmeal (6 to 7 grams of protein per serving and no more than 200 calories), such as Kashi GoLean Crunch, with a half cup of fat-free milk.

• An egg sandwich: A toasted whole-wheat muffin with one scrambled egg and half a slice of melted American cheese.

• Yogurt parfait: A container of fat-free yogurt with a half cup of berries and an ounce of almonds.

Time to Lose 10: In about seven weeks, if you combine this tactic with the above “Three-Change Way” and “Protein Way.”

4. The Eat-Three-Fewer-Bites-Per-Day Way

The Scoop: A little bit of portion control can add up to a lot of weight loss. Leave three generous bites of your muffin at breakfast, pizza at lunch and steak at dinner on your plate and you’ll save between 50 and 75 calories at each meal.

Time to Lose 10: In about five to eight months (but wow, is it easy!). Combine this with your choice of the other four ways here and see results faster.

5. The Burn-Fat Way

The Scoop: Blast more calories in less time and fire up your metabolism with interval training. Adding several short bursts of high-intensity exercise to your walking routine can burn up to 100 calories more in the same amount of time. Doing so also boosts your metabolism. Kick up your workout with this routine:

Alternate walking at moderate intensity for three minutes with speed-walking or jogging for two minutes. Do this for 30 minutes, then add five minutes of moderate walking at the end. Not challenging enough? Alternate between jogging and sprints instead. Try it five times a week and you’ll burn 500 more calories weekly than you would with a moderate routine.

Time to Lose 10: In about a year. Combine it with “The Protein Way” and “The Three-Change Way” and see results in just seven weeks!

Stay tuned for Part 2 in the next newsletter!

Meet the Trainer

Crystal is a certified personal trainer through
the National Sports and Conditioning Association (NSCA). She has a passion for helping others live a healthy lifestyle and coaching tm to push their limits beyond what they think they are capable of.

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hip tips at www.poisefitness.net