Restriction and reward can also lead to weight gain
How will you achieve that bikini body?
The first day of summer may have been last week, but it's only this week that the weather has begun to perk up. We draw nearer to the end of June and that means we are creeping more towards our summer holidays.
Which can only mean one thing - it's bikini time.
It seems that one little sentence can fill us with dread, fear and a whole bucket of anxiety - and then the one word that will usually stick with us, diet. We want that instant fix, something that means we can eat and will still look like Jennifer Aniston in a two-piece.
A new study, commissioned by LA fitness has found that we think that Essex is the region which boasts the best bodies, London came in second, then Manchester and Liverpool came in fourth.
Tony Orme, LA fitness Marketing Director says: "Perhaps Essex aside, the results certainly suggest that we're a nation of body conscious Brits overwhelmingly unsatisfied with our physique as we hit that crucial beach holiday season."
However, the results show that the most unflattering sights on the beach are overweight men in speedos, with 62 per cent of the vote. Thankfully, that's something that us women don't need worry about.
But it does seem that as third of women will put more pressure on ourselves by buying a bikini in a size too small for us to encourage weightloss.
The study of 2,000 women found that half feel self-conscious about wearing summer clothes as they don't like the way they look in more revealing clothes.
Helen Golstein, psychological expert for the LighterLife weight management programme who conducted the research, says: "The poll showed that two thirds of all women go on a pre-holiday diet every year and while it is great to have an incentive to lose weight such as summer holidays, this can pile on unnecessary pressure. Restriction and reward can also lead to weight gain."
Nine out of 10 women who were asked said that diets are more successful when there is a holiday incentive - the thought of putting on a bikini is unbearable for some women who flat-out refuse to wear them and will be sunbathing in a swimsuit instead when it comes to the sunshine.
Helen warns that whilst losing weight is a great thing, people need to be made aware that keeping it off is the hard part, she says: "We know losing weight is one thing but to keep it off in the long term it's essential to explre reasons for overeating and address behaviour change as part of your weight management plan
"It's interesting to see the role of incentivised clothes buying when it comes to the summer months but if you are thinking about losing weight before your holiday, or at any time, your diet should be safe, simple and sustainable."
This advice is something that people should listen to, as many will resort to fad diets to lose the pounds instantly - but these no doubt lead to more weight gain when you switch back to food that we would normally consume.
It seems that a fifth of wome usually start putting the pounds back on whilst they are still on holiday, no doubt due to all them ice-creams and alcohol drinks that we treat ourselves with as we sun ourselves by the pool.
But it seems that sleep is a huge factor in helping us to lost weight, so just snooze away the extra calories. Researchers at the University of Chicago found that people who had an adequate nights sleep lost over 50 per cent more weight than their sleep-deprived counterparts.
But surely that's too easy, more sleep equals to less weight - it definitely seems like something to try.
Femalefirst Taryn Davies
Tagged in Healthy Body fitness tips