We have always preached about health and fitness being a long term investment that will benefit you for many years to come.

…but we also live in the real world and know that summer is coming and many of you reading this will have holidays booked. When heading to warmer climes you simply want to look good when you have to show a bit more of your body in summer clothes.

So here is our 4 step guide to getting in better shape this summer!

1. Make Some Strict Rules With Your Diet

A good way to look at the diet side of trying to lose weight for the summer is that it is only going to be a 6-8 week commitment. This will hopefully make it seem much more achievable and get your mind focused (time is now not on your side 😊)

There are so many ways to skin a cat when it comes to losing weight but ultimately what your main aim will be is to reduce your weekly calorie intake.

How you achieve this can be very personal to you. For me, when I need to lose some weight my target is to make a hard and fast rule of how many meals per day I am going to eat and then out with that – I will only drink water. For most people if you stick to 2-3 meals per day and eliminate all the extra snacking you will likely lose weight.

The key to this is also to make sure you stick to it on the weekends. If you are going out for a meal that may be a bit higher in calories but you limit your calories the rest of the day you should stay on track with your weight loss.

Also in that 6-8 week block I would suggest that you aim to keep your alcohol intake to an absolute minimum.

2. Aim to Move as Much as You Can

Getting in as many steps as you can in that 6-8 week window will only help to enhance the calorie deficit that you are trying to achieve.

Make a concerted effort to get a decent walk in most days and wherever possible take the stairs, volunteer for jobs that are manual, spend social time with your friends doing activities that burn energy (walking, playing sport, gardening) and try to play games with kids/grandkids that burn up energy.

3. Strength Train 2-3 Times Per Week

Diet is by far going to be the biggest contributor to your endeavours to lose weight. However strength training will have a massive impact on the aesthetics of your body shape. A person who lifts weights is going to look much firmer and more toned than someone who achieves weight loss through diet alone.

Lifting weights will also give you a slight metabolic boost that further enhances your weight loss and will certainly contribute to making the next phase of weight maintenance easier.

Aim to do 2-3 full body workouts working on the big compound movements to reap the benefits of strength training.

4. Get Into a Good Sleeping Pattern

Before we even venture into physiological impacts sleep can have on weight loss we have to consider the simple fact that if you are tired sticking to rules 1-3 are going to be decidedly harder!

If you’re tired you will reach for energy dense foods to get you through the day. You are also much more likely to move less and will be more likely to skip gym sessions because you simply do not have the energy to face a workout.

So please, please don’t underestimate the importance of getting adequate sleep to make this 6-8 week ‘get in shape for summer’ plan to be successful.

Thats It!

Hopefully now that you have seen it down in black in white you now have a clearer plan of how to get in shape for the summer.

There is so much noise out there when it comes to weight loss but the above four steps are really all you need to do to achieve a better body for the summer. Simple but very, very effective steps.

For anyone looking for some help with this, why not sign up for our 6 Week to a Better Body Program?

We will be there in your corner supporting you and encouraging you every step of the way, whilst also making sure that your plan is maximised for you to achieve the best results possible.

If you want to book in with us drop us an email at info@www.getresultsfitness.co.uk

Are you interested in one to one coaching, or our online training? You can book a phone call with Scotland’s Personal Trainer Of The Year finalist, Paul using the form below:

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