There’s a lot of people worldwide who are looking to lose their ‘COVID-induced’ weight for this summer, and there’s no better time for it. Being outdoors more, warmer weather, and feeling more optimistic all tend to help with appetite control, and weight loss too. This is all great news if you’re overweight and looking to change that fast.

Excess weight not only leads to lower self-esteem, but it also leads to a range of health complications. From diabetes, to increased risk of stroke, to insomnia, the list goes on. So it’s important to get it sorted this summer if this applies to you, and that you can do it in a sustainable manner by making these changes a new lifestyle.

Let’s get into the big four tips for summer weight loss:

1. EAT PLENTY OF SALMON/CHICKEN SALADS

The summer is the perfect time for salads, so why not get into the habit of preparing a large salad bowl that you can have at lunchtime and dinner?

If you include plenty of onions, olives, olive oil, tomatoes and cucumber, then not only this a healthy meal option, but it’s also highly satiating per calorie. Meaning, you’re not really consuming that many calories at all, but you’ll be full quickly from all this food. Not to mention that when adding salmon or chicken to this salad, you’re getting all the protein too, which is critical for maintaining satiety during a diet.

If you’re like me and you intend to prep some enormous salad bowls, you can easily leave any extra salad in the fridge for a couple of days afterwards, then add your ‘protein of choice’ to this whenever you’re ready.

2. TRY INTERMITTENT FASTING

While you can eat all the salmon salads you like later in the day, try skipping breakfast in the morning. Before the “that’s starving yourself” shouts begin, let me give you a couple of tips:

• Drinking coffee in the morning makes it much easier
• Upping your water intake does the same
• When you eat a high protein diet, this makes fasting easier too

You also simply get used to not having breakfast, and after a month or two, breakfast will absolutely feel ‘weird’, I can guarantee it. So why does Intermittent Fasting work so well?

The reality is that when you eat lots of small meals throughout the day on a diet, unless you’re a professional athlete burning 8k calories per day, you’re not going to be getting many calories from each meal. This is what a lot of fitness models with perfect v-tapers call ‘poverty macros’ – it’s not fun. Whereas when you have two big meals later in the day, you get a lot more food and more choices.

It’s a far more enjoyable dieting system, and you simply feel fuller and more satisfied from your food. Another nice benefit is that when you’re having summer barbecues, or nice meals in the outdoor terrace in your favourite restaurant this summer, this is almost always later in the day. You don’t want to be sat there with only 400 calories left for the day, while your friends and family are stuffing their faces.

Intermittent Fasting allows you to simultaneously lose the body fat AND enjoy yourself at nice occasions.

3. DRINK ICED SPARKLING WATER

What if I told you you could have a nice, refreshing drink that tastes good, fills you up, and has absolutely zero calories. Not just this, but it actually expands your stomach and keeps you fuller for longer.

Well, that’s exactly what this drink does.

Put plenty of ice in the glass, a slice of lemon and lime, and then the sparkling water. It’s the perfect summer drink, and it’s the perfect fat loss drink. An added bonus is that you can look like you’re drinking alcohol (while all your friends/family are), without drinking a drop. It feels more ‘socially acceptable’ in an alcohol-fuelled -environment, when you’re trying to lose weight.

A number of social media followers of mine have told me that this also is a massive help for them in the evenings when they normally get cravings for junk food. Telling someone to “quit junk food” is accurate, but not helpful. They already know that that’s the answer. But giving someone a drink that will reduce their cravings is much more helpful, in addition to this basic advice of “junk = bad.”

4. GET A FUN CARDIO ROUTINE NAILED

Cardio needs to be fun, otherwise it’s not sustainable.

Again, it comes back to the bland advice of “do more cardio”, or “eat less, move more”, and while all this is true, it’s utterly unhelpful. You have to pick a form of exercise that suits you, your preferences, and is actually enjoyable. If it’s not enjoyable, you’ll just end up yo-yo-ing like the other 97% of the population.

For some, this may be outdoor cycling. With other more crazy types, it could be hill sprints. For me personally, swimming is the most enjoyable/cool form of cardio – I love it and am happy to do it 2-4x per week. Do whatever excites you, and that is what will keep you going during the tough parts of a diet, and will lead to the best results over the long run.

It may even be a mixture of different types of cardio. Whatever you like to do, do it.

SUMMARY

Weight loss isn’t as simple as “eat less, move more”. You have to find strategies and systems that make it far easier and far more enjoyable to achieve BOTH, over the long-term. If you can do that, then you’re going to have a great summer, and a fantastic body that will make all your friends jealous.