Top 3 Summer Prep Tips

As summer quickly approaches, I’ve pulled together a few quick, effective prep tips that will help improve your metabolism and tone up your body for summer!

1. More weights, less cardio:

When the time comes to drop your winter coat, many of us immediately start thinking of the endless hours of sweat we will need to put in on the treadmill. Well, it’s time to change your thinking and switch up your workouts! Adding weight training to your daily fitness routine not only benefits your weight-loss goals, it also provides your body with the strength it needs to fight injury and build a better posture. When we add weight training to our workouts, we can burn up to twice as many calories we would have in a typical cardio workout. Also, the lean muscle your body is building, will continue to burn calories for hours after your workout. Check out these fun facts…

• 1 pound of muscle burns up to 50 calories per day and is continually helping your metabolism burn off excess fat and toxins.

• If you’re looking add lean muscle to your body, without the bulk, stick with 12-15 reps per exercise. The goal is to lift your bum, shape your abs and define your shoulders.

• If you are looking to train your body for endurance,complete 15-20 reps per exercise using a weight that feels challenging towards the end of your reps. You will find these type of workouts in Barre class, Pilates bootcamps and full body spin classes.

• Remember to continually switch up your workouts! Take a day off  off from your typical workout and head to your favorite yoga or spin class. By keeping your body moving you’ll keep your metabolism in high gear.

2. Avoid Crash Diets:

These days, many people want a quick fix or magic pill to solve their health needs. The unpopular truth is you’ve actually got to put some work in to get results. Crash diets do not promote healthy balance and have us putting on more pounds than we started with. These diets tend to slow down our metabolism and send our bodies into a fat-preserving survival mode.  They also can cause our brains to suffer from a lack of nutrition causing headaches, foggy thinking and exhaustion.  In most cases you are not detoxing, you are starving! So before you sign up for the next dime sized diet or spiced water miracle potion, go to your local health food store stock your fridge up with whole foods that are actually going to fuel your body. If the task seems overwhelming, we’ve got additional tools and support at DailyRoutineFitness.com waiting for you.

Sample Day of eating:
Breakfast –
Eggs
Vegetables
1 Piece of sprouted grain bread
Snack
1 Apple
Almonds

Lunch –
Quinoa Vegetable salad
Snack
Protein Shake

Dinner –
Lean protein
Veggies
Brown rice or yams
Sautéed in coconut oil
Snack
Plain Greek yogurt
Fresh berries
Raw nuts

3. Get More Sleep:

Your body is meant to rest and recharge during the night. Lack of sleep can cause our hormones to go crazy and our weight-loss dreams to fail.  When we operate under little sleep we cause a hormone called Leptin to fluctuate in an unhealthy manner, increasing feelings of depression, anxiety along with increased emotional eating. Our bodies are suffering so they start craving sugar and different types of carbohydrates to keep us going. This is why women who have newborns often crave sweets and will describe it as almost uncontrollable. Thankfully, it is controllable! Put down your phone, get off Pinterest and  nap with your new baby as often as you can. A rested body can figure itself out.

Still having trouble sleeping? 

Tips for a more restful sleep-

• Drink warm decaf tea before bed.

• Lavender essential oils sprayed on your bed help to calm the body.

• Journal-Empty your mind before bed