Are you ready for your bikini?
We're getting ready to head out on our holidays and we need some little quick fixes to help us trim a couple more pounds. Follow these tips to make sure that you're bikini ready.
- To avoid mindless snacking, make time for breakfast; By eating breakfast each day you are much more likely to avoid the mid-morning munchies and overeat later on. Prolonged fasting can increase the body's insulin response which in turn leads to an increase in fat storage and potential weight gain. Your metabolism naturally slows down during the night and will not pick up again until you next eat.
- Always eat protein with carbohydrates; Combining protein with carbohydrate slows down the breakdown of carbohydrates. So essentially, the food that you have eaten spends more time in your stomach, leaving you feeling fuller for longer and less likely to snack.
- Avoid crash dieting; If you are intent on losing excess weight, avoid crash diets at all costs. Instead, lose weight safely by reducing calories slowly, focus on controlling portion sizes and making healthier food choices, support your dietary changes with a suitable exercise regime and think of this as your new way of life as opposed to yet another diet.
- Replace fizzy drinks with water: Drinking sufficient amounts of water prevents you from mistaking thirst for hunger.
- Cleanse internally; An indirect way of cleansing your system is to increase daily activity levels by incorporating exercises such as walking or yoga into your everyday routine. Exercise enhances digestive health by toning the large and small intestines, supporting peristalsis the movement of food through your digestive system and complimenting the natural rhythm of your digestive process.
- Ensure adequate fibre consumption; Fibre helps to maintain regularity by adding bulk to stools and drawing water into the digestive tract. It stimulates the nerves in the intestine, causing contractions of the colon which helps to move waste through quickly. Without fibre, effective elimination of waste does not take place and the colon becomes lined with toxic faecal material. Not only does this create a lot of uncomfortable symptoms such as wind, bloating and cramping, but it can also affect your ability to lose weight.
- Chew chew chew; Gas and bloating are signs that you are not digesting your food sufficiently. The first stage of digestion begins in the mouth and involves chewing your food properly. Aim to have reduced your mouthful to liquid mush before swallowing. And don’t get into the habit of bolting your food down; relax and take time to eat.
- Eat early; Late night eating is a recipe for weight gain as the body stores more food during sleep when the metabolic rate naturally slows down.
- Say goodbye to alcohol; Alcohol weakens the liver which is one of the most important organs for fat metabolism. Beer and wine are also high in sugar, whilst all alcohol generally stimulates your appetite.
- Drop a few pounds; try a slimming supplement such as NEW African mango alongside a healthy diet to help you lose those final few pounds
African Mango capsules £9.99 for 60 capsules available from Holland & Barrett
African Mango is thought to act as a natural appetite suppressant, supporting weight loss when used alongside a healthy diet. Studies have shown that seeds from the fruit cause significant weight loss and improve blood sugar levels. Trials carried out in 2005 and 2009, published in the Journal of Lipids in Health[i], found that participants taking an African Mango supplement before meals, three times a day, lost 5.3% of their body weight, compared to 1.3% of those taking a placebo.
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