Most women aim to achieve a ‘tight’ body, with a slim waist and beautiful, round buttocks. Although it would have been best to start getting your body ‘summer-ready’ in winter, fortunately, it’s never too late to begin.
You can disregard magical supplements promising wonders, and you can steer clear of friends suggesting a 500 kcal protein diet. Instead, focus on the following 5 points. They aren’t miracle solutions, but they are the only things that will help you lose fat mass and regain strong, firm muscles.
Pay attention to your calories, but don’t obsess over it!
Due to the popularity of superfoods, paleo, and ‘clean eating’, we almost forget, but calories do matter. If you eat too much, you will never burn fat mass and still won’t have a tight belly next summer.
To provide a good guideline: make sure you consume about 20% fewer calories daily than you expend. This can help you quickly lose fat mass while remaining sustainable without feeling hungry or compromising your sports performance.
You don’t need to count calories all day, every day, as it can cause unnecessary stress. By keeping track of what you eat for a while, you’ll naturally gain insight into the energy content of certain products. There are plenty of apps available to make it easy for you to understand how much you’re consuming.
If you want to know how many calories you need, use this tool to calculate your calorie needs.
Consume more protein and vegetables.
By increasing the percentage of your calories from protein, you’ll lose more body fat, feel less hungry, and build more muscles, such as in your buttocks. If you lower your calorie intake, as indicated in point #1, but you don’t increase the amount of protein you consume, you’re at a high risk of losing muscle mass. This is definitely not what you want when aiming for a tight beach body.
Many women mistakenly believe they get enough protein from the yogurt and nuts they eat. Unfortunately, these contain very little protein. Instead, focus on eating more eggs, meat, poultry, and fish to make a real difference.
Eating enough vegetables also helps with increased satiety and gives you a beautiful complexion. Preferably focus on dark green vegetables, as these stimulate collagen production the most.
Ensure an adequate amount of sleep.
Good sleep works wonders for your fat burning and gym performance. Moreover, being well-rested will help you make better food choices and stick better to your intended daily goals.
Meditation, abdominal breathing, and a relaxing walk help you process stressful situations and promote better recovery. Regularly schedule time for activities that give you peace and relaxation, such as listening to your favorite music or getting a massage.
Stop cardio and start sprinting
Running as most people do it is slow, boring, and not very results-oriented. Your body quickly adapts to the load, and it only burns calories during your run in the park. Prolonged cardio training without strength training almost guarantees a lean but shapeless body.
On the other hand, sprinting, especially hill sprints, not only burns a lot of calories, but it also gives you a significant metabolic training stimulus and strengthens your muscles.
In addition to your strength training, do a high-intensity interval training once or twice a week, preferably hill sprints.
Celebrate your success!
Regularly set goals for yourself, write them down, or share them with others. After all, working without a goal often leads to mere dreaming and no results. When you achieve your set goals, celebrate them. Acknowledge your achievements and be proud of yourself. The next time you set a goal, remember how happy you felt after your previous success. This will help you focus and give your actions new impetus.
By following these 5 steps, you are guaranteed to see beautiful results in the next 3 months! The basics are the most important, and you can safely ignore all sorts of magical supplements and hours of cardio training or abdominal exercises.
Focus on what gives you the most ‘bang for your buck’, and you’ll be amazed by the results.
