DID YOU PILE on a few unwanted pounds over the winter months? It’s not too late to shed them in time for swimsuit-and-shorts season.
Start right now and you could drop 5 pounds or so before Memorial Day. You could double that loss by July 4 and be in even better shape by August. To help you meet your goal, we asked several diet book authors and leading exercise experts to offer their best eating and workout tips.
Dawn Jackson Blatner, author of “The Flexitarian Diet”: Ask yourself these three magic words before eating anything: “Am I hungry?” It is a quick way to be more connected to what is causing you to eat — whether it’s physical hunger or emotions such as stress or boredom.
Write down your calorie intake. It can help keep you honest and increase weight loss.
Aim to have snacks that are a combination of produce and protein. Produce has water and fiber to fill you up, and protein has staying power. So try a pear and string cheese or eat peanut butter on celery or apple.
Satisfy your sweet tooth with tasty trade-offs. Choose individual servings of desserts such as dark chocolate-covered frozen bananas or try dessert-flavored tea such as English toffee.
Bob Greene, best-selling author, Oprah’s personal trainer and one of the authors of “The Life You Want: Get Motivated, Lose Weight, and Be Happy”: Free up 30 to 60 minutes a day to exercise. “I have heard every excuse on the planet — except a good one,” he says.
Distract yourself while exercising. Work out while watching TV show or a movie or listening to music. Social people should walk or work out with a buddy.
Organize your eating into three meals and one or two snacks a day. And when you find yourself eating outside those times, look at the possibility of that eating being emotional in nature. Write in your journal what might be the source of the emotion causing you to eat.
Write down ways you could treat yourself that don’t involve food as well as ways that you could improve your life.
Bill Phillips, author of “Transformation” and the best-selling “Body-for-Life”: Weight-train intensely for about 45 minutes, three times a week, such as Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Do 20 minutes of aerobic exercise three times a week — Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Take Sunday off.
Alternate training the major muscles of the upper and lower body. For example, the first week, train the upper body Monday, the lower body Wednesday and the upper body Friday. The second week, train the lower body Monday, the upper body Wednesday and the lower body Friday.
Always plan your training. Plan what time you are going to exercise, which particular exercises you’ll be doing, how much weight you’ll be lifting and how long it will take you to complete the session. Keep accurate records.
Bonnie Taub-Dix, author of “Read It Before You Eat It”: Motivate yourself. Get a pair of jeans or pants that are too tight and hang them in the kitchen instead of the closet to keep yourself inspired.
Get plenty of sleep. Scientists have found that sleep deprivation increases levels of a hunger hormone and decreases levels of a hormone that makes you feel full. The effects may lead to overeating and weight gain. Try a late afternoon nap instead of cookies.
Pay attention to portions. A 3-ounce portion of meat, poultry or fish is about the size of the palm of your hand or a deck of cards; 1 teaspoon of butter or margarine, a standard postage stamp; a cup of cold cereal, berries or popcorn, a baseball.
Eat out without expanding out. Take a look at the menu online in advance. Get salad dressing on the side.
Louis Aronne, co-author of “The Skinny on Losing Weight Without Being Hungry”: Eat a high-protein breakfast such as Greek yogurt, egg whites or cottage cheese. It helps you avoid hunger and cravings later in the day.
Eat as many raw or cooked vegetables as you can. At meals and between meals, it will help fill you up, if you eat them first.
Try to drink water, unsweetened tea, green tea or plain or flavored seltzer before each meal.
Eat from appetizer-size plates. Research shows that small plates make food seem larger and may help you eat less.
Eat slowly. That allows fullness signals more time to reach your brain. Eating the lowest-calorie foods first, such as vegetables, will have the same effect.
