7 Ways to Perfect Your Beach Body

As soon as any hint of summer starts to descend upon us, it would be fair to say that there is fright in a lot of people’s faces. They suddenly realize that they are entering the era of the beach body – and they need to make changes quickly in a bid to strut the streets with utter confidence.

Whether you live next to the beach or in the hustle and bustle of the city, there’s no doubt that this is the period of the year when there is a lot more flesh on show. As such, you need to take more care than ever before in your bid to live healthily; this time, there are no coats or other bulky items of clothing to cover up your own bulk.

Following on from the above, we have composed today’s guide. It’s all about focussing on seven different areas of eating that won’t just cut the fat, but might also help you build a bit of muscle as well (providing you are training, of course). With that, let’s take a look at the seven rules in-detail to help you along your way.

 

Make sure you set (achievable) goals

Firstly, we can’t reiterate enough the importance of having achievable goals. A typical example might be to lose one pound per week. Of course, you should look to extend this to perhaps six pounds over six weeks, to give yourself a little extra leeway to help you along your way.

Sure, you might not be able to hit this goal. However, it will at least give you something of a starting point and if you find that you are significantly short of it, you can adjust accordingly and create a realistic goal on top of it. Either way, it’s crucial for motivation purposes.

 

Avoid going out for food too much

It might sound boring, but unfortunately going out for food is going to do absolutely no favours to your waistline. On the contrary, this is something that is instead going to wreak havoc with it.

The problem with dining out at restaurants is that quite often, unless you choose a premium establishment, you will be subjected to ingredients which are of a much lower quality than usual. Not only that, but in a bid to provide as much flavour as possible to diners, restaurants will commonly add toppings and sauces that contain huge amounts of sugar and other preservatives that our bodies really could do without.

This isn’t the only problem, though. The next point is that it becomes very difficult to track those macros that you have set for yourself. Sure, we’re starting to get more into the era of restaurants providing nutritional information for each of their dishes, but this is by no means a rule. As such, it becomes very difficult to follow any sort of diet as soon as you start dining out frequently.

 

The perils of processed foods

Something that hasn’t helped the nation’s obesity problems over the last few years is the rise of processed foods. For the purposes of today, this includes the likes of sugar, simple carbohydrates and also alcohol.

The problem with these processed foods is that your blood sugar levels are going to skyrocket as a result of them. The knock-on effect of this is that your testosterone levels are going to be all over the place, making it harder to burn fat and even harder to build muscle.

If you have your heart set on sweetening your food, turn towards a natural sweetener instead of sugar to help you along your way.

 

Join the craze: HIIT

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last few years, you will probably have come across the HIIT philosophy. Short for High Intensity Interval Training, this doesn’t even have to be performed in a gym yet the results can be out of this world. It primarily targets those of you who are looking to burn fat, and it is loved by the nation because it only requires very short sessions.

Your body will be working at a high intensity for a short period of time, before reducing this slightly. The sequence continues and due to the effect that this has on your metabolism, you will be burning calories long after your workout has concluded.

 

Be boring; measure your portion sizes

It might be tedious, it might be boring, but we can’t emphasize enough the importance of monitoring your portion sizes. When we say “monitoring”, we are perhaps underselling the philosophy somewhat. After all, you should be getting out the weighing scales and measuring each and every dish that comes into contact with your mouth.

Of course, this isn’t much of an issue for those of you who might be bulking, but considering the fact you are aiming for that desirable summer body we’re going to assume you are in the cutting group. It’s here where you really have to be careful when it comes to your measuring, and ensure that each and every calorie you consume is logged. It’s at this point you are able to really understand how your body is reacting to your portions and ultimately, you can fine-tune them as things progress. You can use a calorie counter like probody.com or myfitnesspal.com

 

Use a fat burner, but be wise in your choice

If you have researched fat burners over the last few years, you’ll probably know all about the variety that is available on the market. There are umpteen types that are currently out there and suffice to say, some work a lot better than others. At the same time, some plainly don’t work.

Don’t believe everything that you read about fat burners. Some sources are quick to dismiss them, but utilized properly and they can make a monumental difference to your training. They are designed for people who are training correctly, not for those who just sit around and expect the calories to fall off. In other words, you must be training properly and fat burners aren’t going to be a magic solution.

Click here to use the product finder, select “Fat Loss” as a goal and see which product is best for your needs.

 

Monitor your water intake

A common misconception when it comes to cutting your body to perfection is that the whole equation only revolves around food. Well, as this heading might have already given away, let’s dismiss that pretty quickly.

Water is another key principle of a solid diet, and this can be emphasized through the fact that 70% of your body is composed of water. It is a liquid that will transport all those vital nutrients around your body and if you are lacking it, your body will just not be reaching its potential. In relation to the gym, this means you won’t be lifting weights to your maximum, whilst your cardio will also suffer.

When we talk about water, we’re not referring to just the drinks that contain water either. In other words, soda doesn’t count, for the simple reason that it contains a ridiculous amount of sugar. Coffee is another no-go area as well; this will simply dehydrate you and undo a lot of the water you have already taken in.

Try and arm yourself with a water bottle through the day, and keep sipping from it to make sure you perform in this regard.

Our goal is to encourage the use of LEGAL supplements when it comes to bodybuilding. Please use this product finder to determine which product suits your goal and workout routine:

 

If you are having difficulties using the product finder, please click here.