There are roughly 26 days until the official start of swimsuit season—and there’s panic in the air as surely as there is pollen. Even if you don’t plan on playing beach volleyball in a string bikini, there’s still no getting around the fact that hiding extra pounds in the summer is a challenge. Here’s the upside: Losing even 5 pounds makes a BIG difference in how you look and feel. (Pick up a 5-pound dumbbell or bag of kitty litter and you’ll see what I mean.) And losing it between now and May 31 st is not only doable but actually pretty easy. Here’s your plan:
- Eat flat belly foods, otherwise known as MUFAs (pronounced moo-fahs). These are foods that contain monounsaturated fatty acids, which are proven to help get rid of belly fat faster than just plain old calorie cutting. And they’re foods you WANT to eat, such as peanut butter and chocolate (in moderation—click here to find out exactly how the Flat Belly Diet works).
- Burn stealth calories. I want to clear up a long held notion about exercise: that you need to do hours of punishing cardio to lose weight. That’s completely unrealistic. A better way: Do little stuff, all day long.
In fact, studies show that it’s the extra activity you do that adds up to more calories burned—and more pounds lost.
Here’s my favorite: Stand instead of sit for 1 hour and you’ll burn about 200 calories! Do that every day, and cut 200 calories (the amount in two sodas or a bag of chips), and you could lose about 4 pounds in a month—effortlessly. Second favorite: Do 25 to 50 crunches before you even get out of bed to burn about 20 calories in less than 5 minutes.
I’ll be blogging exclusively about getting in shape for summer for the next few weeks, but I want to know: What’s stressing you out about swimsuit season? And what are you doing about it?
Do More on Prevention.com:
Try on virtual bathing suits with our Weight Loss
Simulator
Reach your fitness and weight goals with our free My Health Trackers tool
Eat Your Favorite Foods and Lose Weight
[photo credit: Getty Images]
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