Along with warm weather comes picnics, cookouts and other parties that can take a toll on your healthy lifestyle.
To help you stay on track while you’re enjoying the sunshine and good times, Courtney McCormick, manager, Clinical Research and Nutrition at Nutrisystem, is sharing the top five weight loss blunders people tend to make this time of year and simple tips for avoiding them.
• Blunder 1: Crash dieting: The thought of putting on a swimsuit may entice you to crash diet. Crash diets are not only unhealthy, they tend to slow metabolism, making it difficult for you to drop more than just a few pounds. Also, any weight you lose short-term will be regained as soon as you resume eating normally. It’s best to stick with your healthy lifestyle year-round. Have a bad day? That’s okay. Vow to get back on track the next day.
• Blunder 2: Ordering smoothies and frapps: When the weather turns hot, a blended drink can seem like an ideal morning or afternoon pick-me-up. However, those from coffee shops and convenience stores tend to be loaded with sugar and fat. A 16-ounce serving may have more than 200 calories and 50 grams of sugar. Quench cravings by ordering unsweetened or lightly sweetened iced coffee or tea or opt for a protein shake.
“Being from the south, I love my sweet tea. To be sure I don’t overdo it on the sugar, I will use a little bit of honey as a sweetener instead,” said Julie Chrisley, Nutrisystem ambassador.
• Blunder 3: Not watching alcohol intake: Alcoholic beverages can be very refreshing in warm weather, but even a light beer or white wine is more than 100 calories, and today’s popular sweet drinks like hard cider and wine coolers have as many 180 calories each. To avoid over-indulging, alternate one or two drinks with fizzy seltzer over ice and a lime wedge.
• Blunder 4: Perspiring to lose: When you exercise in the heat, you may think you can feel the pounds melting off with each bead of sweat. And if you weigh yourself right before and after a workout, you may see a difference. The problem is as soon as you replace the fluids you’ve sweated out, you’ll see on the scale that you’ve lost little, if any, weight. Your best bet is to maintain a steady activity level every day so that you get at least 150 minutes of movement a week. Regular activity keeps your metabolism burning continually, even if you’re just walking inside an air-conditioned mall.
• Blunder 5: Loading plates with BBQ favorites: Backyard barbecues bring out many favorite classics, like potato salad and coleslaw. While those dishes start with healthful vegetables, they get weighed down with excessive saturated fats from mayonnaise and sour cream. What’s more, the loads of sugar in popular barbecue sauces can heap calories on a lean chicken breast. To manage intake, avoid creamy salads and dip chicken in BBQ sauce instead of slathering it on before grilling.
For more tips and tricks for staying on track with weight loss and healthy lifestyle goals, visit leaf.nutrisystem.com.
To overcome the most common warm weather weight loss blunders, it’s best to know what they are, as well has have go-to strategies to avoid them.
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