Lose weight before summer: your essential slimming checklist!

1. Set yourself a reasonable target weight

The first thing to do before starting a slimming regimen is to decide on a weight loss objective – but be careful not to set the bar too high! Adopting drastic measures tends to produce the opposite effect from the one you want to achieve. The boomerang effect is a force to be reckoned with! Weight loss achieved too rapidly does not allow the body to stabilise. As soon as you start eating normally again, those lost kilos often come straight back – plus a few extra, to boot. Hence the importance of setting yourself a realistic goal so that you slim down healthily.

Remember: Forget crash diets – they are unhealthy and counter-productive. Choose instead an effective, long-term slimming programme and a realistic target weight. And make sure you use motivational slimming aids to help you reach your goals!

2. Plan for social occasions to stay in trim

As the fine weather returns, so our thoughts turn to relaxing evenings in the garden with friends and family. These are perfect occasions for sharing a nice meal and few drinks, but unfortunately, they are also the perfect occasions for consuming too many calories. No-one’s saying you have to turn down invitations just because you’re on a diet, but you do need to plan for these ‘deviations’ from your routine in order to minimise the consequences. A number of measures can help here. Firstly, light, balanced meals should be your default food choices in order to offset any excesses. In addition, you may want to try using natural substances that effectively reduce the absorption and storage of fat and sugar in the body. One such product is knotted wrack, a seaweed much-prized in phytotherapy, and present in the supplement Fat & Carb Blocker.

Remember : Don’t get demotivated by a few ‘wobbles’. It is totally possible to lose weight while allowing yourself some of life’s small pleasures as long as you plan ahead and limit the effects. As a rule, think low-calorie recipes, and consider phytotherapy with its many natural products for aiding healthy slimming.

3. Eat just until you’re full to avoid consuming excess calories

To avoid excess calories, it’s essential to recognise what your body actually needs in the way of food - though this often proves difficult. We frequently carry on eating past the point of satiety – the stage at which our food intake has satisfied our body’s needs. Nutritionists suggest various tips to help dieters eat just to the point of being sated and so avoid putting on weight. One such tip is to take your time over a meal, and if possible, eat sitting down. It takes an estimated 20 minutes on average for the brain to sense that food is being ingested and to trigger the feeling of satiety. To stimulate or prolong this feeling, certain plants are known to curb the appetite and reduce calorie intake.

Remember : Eat when you’re hungry but only to the point of satiety to prevent excess calorie intake. Take your time over meals to help register the feeling of satiety. Extend this feeling by taking natural slimming products that curb the appetite.

4. Prevent the urge to snack

Feeling a bit peckish? Are you genuinely hungry though? The sensation of hunger, like that of satiety, can sometimes be difficult to define. We often confuse hunger with other sensations in the body and it is often then that we are driven by the urge to snack. Little by little, these urges turn into bad habits which result in our consuming too much sugar and fat. Fortunately, there are natural appetite-suppressants that can help reduce these ‘snack-attacks’, such as the plant fibres in carob pods, which have been shown to offer natural appetite-suppressant and slimming effects.

Remember : Limit snacking to a minimum to prevent weight gain. If you’re hungry, choose a healthy snack or take a natural appetite-suppressant.

5. Burn more calories to get in shape before summer

To shift those kilos before the holidays, there’s nothing like a sunny day to get people moving and participating in sports. If you find it difficult to go back to – or maintain – a regular exercise programme, rest assured that you don’t necessarily need to engage in intense sports activity to burn calories. The most important thing is to choose a form of exercise you enjoy. To make it more effective, it’s a good idea to gradually increase the length and intensity of your chosen activity. You can also promote thermogenesis to burn more calories with the help of slimming products such as Paradoxine® capsules.

Remember : On fine, sunny days, take the opportunity to go out, get moving and burn more calories. Encourage friends and family to join you, so you have a good time while also losing weight. Consider fat-burning substances to stimulate weight loss.

6. Good digestion for staying trim

The secret to a flat stomach? Optimal digestion! A number of studies show that intestinal transit plays a key role in gaining or losing weight. As well as protecting against digestive disorders, good digestion prevents the accumulation of fat around the abdomen. There are a number of steps you can take to improve your digestive health, such as taking the time to chew your food properly as this reduces the stomach’s workload. Scientists have also identified probiotics as being key to better digestion. Essential for the balance of gut flora, probiotics are living microorganisms, available in the form of dietary supplements. Among the most widely-studied, the strain Lactobacillus gasseri is often suggested as a powerful ally in the challenge to lose weight.

Remember: Improve your digestive health to prevent the accumulation of fat mass. Take the time to chew food thoroughly and look after your gut flora with the aid of probiotics.

7. Flush out the body to encourage elimination of waste

It’s always advisable to drink plenty of water when following a slimming diet. We need water – which actually makes up 60% of the human body - in order to function properly. Having said that, some parts of the body can accumulate too much, in a phenomenon called water retention which amongst others, can be caused by heat, lack of physical activity and a high-salt diet. Water retention generally manifests as swollen feet, ankles and legs. To prevent this swelling which is responsible for cellulite, you should take regular exercise and eat a healthy, balanced diet. There are also body-draining products which encourage water to circulate. As well as reducing water retention, these products help eliminate toxins and waste products from the body.

Remember: Drink plenty of water while following a weight-loss diet, but prevent water retention by remaining physically active and minimising your intake of dietary salt. Consider boosting your body’s draining abilities in order to encourage water to circulate and eliminate waste.