Some Tips To Keep off the pounds this Summer!

Summer Fitness Tips to Keep the Pounds Off!

Food and Beverage choices (80%)

• Keep the fried foods, fast foods, processed foods and red meat to a minimum.
• Look for words like: blackened, grilled, & roasted.
• Go for fruit instead of refined white flour baked goods.
• Eat lots of greens. They fill up half of your medium sized plate.
•  Ask for a doggie bag to put half of the meal to go. Or share with a companion.
• Alcohol is basically liquid carbs and over 2 beers is illegal to drive! 
• Not a good idea on a family vacation!
• 1 oz. of alcohol is 80 - 100 calories
• Drinking alcohol not only gets you drunk, but it also dehydrates, fills you with empty calories which equals weight gain and water retention.
• Keep hydrated with water!
• In the hot sun without water can lead to dehydration and heat exhaustion.
• Sodas, Teas and coffee are also diuretics! 

Activity Level (20%)

Just a reminder: The less activity you do without making proper food choices, the more weight you will gain.

Just because you are on Summer vacation doesn't mean you stop working out and taking care of

your health. 

• Keep the cardiovascular training going!
• 2 – 3 x a week is adequate to maintain a strong cardiovascular endurance
• Walk, jog or run on the beach, city or country side
• Ride a bicycle or mountain bike
• Go hiking on a hill or mountain side 
• It will make you feel like a kid again
•  Play volleyball at the beach or regular outdoor activities.
• Resistance training is also just as important!
•  The more muscle you retain the stronger immune system you will have with proper
• nutrition.
• Muscle weighs more than fat, but takes up less space on the body.
• Each pound of muscle burns an additional 14 calories per pound.
• More muscle equals higher the metabolism
• A minimum or 2 – 3 times a week is adequate for weight and core training
•  Most hotels and resorts have small fitness rooms with Tvs!
• Resistance bands are great for traveling
• They can be used to train:
• Biceps
• Triceps
• Shoulders
• Glutes
• Hips

• Calisthenics: Body weight exercises
• Pushups
• Crunches
• Wall Static Squats
• Superman
• Single-leg stiff-leg deadlift
• Inclined Plank
• Single-leg calf raises
• Side plank

Falling off the band wagon for too long will make it very HARD to get BACK ON TRACK. You will have to grow through the soreness and stiffness all over again! Why go through that? I'm a bodybuilder and post contest we usually take 1 - 2 weeks off to heal from the extensive resistance training from the contest prep. However, I can only stand taking 1 week off. I get very sore once I start training again. I can only imagine 2 whole weeks off!