It’s so nice to still see daylight at 6:30pm, isn’t it? The sun brings not only brings warmth, but positive vibes to the brain and thoughts of what will be, because very soon, our wardrobes will be mostly comprised of shorts, tanks, bathing suits and sandals. As you daydream about hitting the beach or the pool, you may also be thinking about how to reclaim that beach body. Now is the time to start getting ready for the summer months ahead!
There’s still time to get into shape for the summer and get into a healthy routine with your diet and exercise. But it begins right here, right now. Losing weight and getting fit is a simple math problem of expendure vs intake. You have to burn more calories than you consume without starving yourself. Things just don’t happen overnight, but just by taking the right steps you can go into the summer much more confident knowing the effort and doing the best you can to get into summer shape.
Start this process by making a plan and set realistic goals- maybe taking out some of your summer swimwear will be good motivation! Don’t forget this plan includes your food intake and exercise habits. Start by modifying your eating habits. Keeping a food journal is always a nice tool to track your intake. You might want to take a look back at the blog post Allyson, our JCC nutritionist wrote back a few months ago about how to stick to a plan: https://katzjcc.org/jblog-nutritionresolutions/
Now for the fun part – exercise, which is my personal favorite part of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. An ideal plan will incorporate at least three days a week of strength training and three to five days a week of cardiovascular.
But don’t be overwhelmed- I’ve got a great fat burner work out that you can knock out in 35 minutes the all killer with no filler workout! Do 1 rep of each exercise in a row..then 2..then 3… and work your way up to 10 reps for each exercise!
Push-ups with Jacks
Speed Skaters
Pull-ups (regular or modified
Burpees
Plank
Dips (careful of shoulders or do cable tricep pressdowns
Alternating lunges with curls (each leg)
Leg lifts
Knee ups
Ball slams with pick ups
Not sure what this all actually looks like? Check out this video that will show you the ropes.
You can also do some extra things in between your workouts to burn calories which include, but are not limited to: taking the stairs instead of the elevator, parking farther away from your destination to walk to the office, and take a break from work and if possible during lunch time take a walk.
What are you waiting for! Now is the time to make it happen! You can make this one of your best summers ever, but it all depends on only one thing…you. Take it from me: you’re worth it, because you’re awesome!
