Although, if we are guided by the temperatures, it could be said that summer has already begun, the truth is that it will not officially do so until June 21. That is, we still have a few days to give a change of habits to our lifestyle and that translates into weight loss before the cold and short days return. Of course, as we always remember in trends, miracles do not exist. So, below, you will not find anything about slimming pills or about “the diet that will make you lose 3 kilos in a week without effort”. These types of miracle diets are dangerous for healthand the best way to lose a few kilos is progressively, thanks to a healthy diet and a physical exercise routine.
Although the important thing is to take care of food throughout the year for health and not only for weight but, if we have realized with the change of wardrobe, that the shorts, tank tops and swimsuits of last year no longer serve us. , “The most appropriate option to lose weight effectively is to follow those diets that focus on healthy eating”as explained by Iria Reguera, director of Vitónica.
How much weight can I lose?
Very restrictive diets work at first and in the short term, since what they do is create a very high caloric deficit and make us lose fluids. This can translate into a weight loss on the scale during the first few days. The problem is that they are diets that are only sustainable in the short term because they do not generate adherence and usually lead to a huge rebound effect.
Combining diet and exercise, the weight that you are going to lose between now and summer with a healthy diet It will depend a lot on the starting point where you are and your personal characteristics. As a general rule, with an adequate diet in which a controlled caloric deficit is created, we continue to provide all the necessary nutrients and also create adherence, the normal thing is to lose between 0.5 and 1 kilo a week.
However, before letting ourselves be fascinated by the figure, we must bear in mind that not everything is so simple and weight loss is not usually linearRather, we tend to lose more weight during the first few weeks of training and dieting, only to hit some plateaus afterward that require us to make adjustments to both. Also, a person’s weight can fluctuate on the same or adjacent days due to hormonal processes.
The dreaded fluid retention
We often realize that we have gained weight without even realizing it. In many cases this problem is due to fluid retention and, in the case that does not come from a pathology, an inadequate diet mixed with a sedentary lifestyle can help when it comes to making it seem. The experts from vitonic give us some tips to combat it:
Reduce dairy consumption It is one of the main recommendations they give us since they have a high concentration of sodium. Although the consumption of this type of food can be done as long as they have a low salt content. Canned foods are also not very indicatedas well as smoked meats, sausages and pâtés.
The salty foods such as chips, salty nuts, crackers… are totally contraindicated when it comes to preventing fluid retention. The same goes for convenience foods, processed foods, and sauces.
In summary, eat in the healthiest way possible is one of the best solutions against retention, just like play sports to activate circulation. As well as avoiding alcohol and tobacco, wearing very tight clothing, at the same time that we include foods rich in potassium in the diet and drink water and liquids on a regular basis.
eat more green
For weight loss to occur, there must be a caloric deficit. This is the first, and most important, requirement to start using reserves as an energy source.
Although for a specific moment and limited in time, low-carb diets, such as keto or ketogenic, currently have a lot of circulation, perhaps all we need is to change habits. Better than following this diet, Guille Andreu, nutritionist and personal trainer, considers “much more satiating and healthy” include vegetables in the base of our diet.
the keto diet
Although there is nothing we can do a week before going to the beach that changes our body, one of the most recurrent alternatives to burn fat and lose weight quickly is the keto diet. That which consists of minimize carbohydrates as the body’s main source of energy, so that our body will begin to burn fat and produce ketogenic bodies.
In addition, following this diet does not mean that we have to go hungry or that mealtime becomes a boring moment if we consider weekly menus like the one we leave you below, prepared by our colleagues at Vitónica. And it is that, so that you can have all the effectiveness that keto promises, it is essential do it guided by professionals since there are many foods that contain carbohydrates although at first it may not seem so.
How should your training be?
We should prioritize strength training over long-duration cardio. And it is that, through training, what we are going to achieve are aesthetic improvements, more than a weight loss.
It may take more calories to do an hour of cardio than an hour of weights. The problem is that If we always do cardiovascular training, our body adapts becoming more efficient: after a short time you will need to increase the intensity of the exercise or the duration of it to expend the same calories that you consumed at the beginning.
With strength training, what we achieve is, with a proper diet in which we have an adequate supply of protein, to create muscle mass. This muscle mass will need energy during and after training to repair itself.Therefore, in the long term, strength training is more effective.
In case we want to perform a cardiovascular training, the most appropriate would be HIIT training (High Intensity Interval Training or high-intensity interval training). A combination of strength training + HIIT can be one of the best options to consider if what we want is to reduce our body fat.
Photos | unsplash