3 weight loss tips to sizzle in that little Halloween costume
October 13, 2016 Ashley 0 Comments
You already chose your Halloween costume months ago.
Harley Quinn. Naughty Nurse. Sexy Harambe.
Okay, I might’ve just made up that last one – but tell me it wouldn’t be cool.
(Nevermind… someone beat me to it.)
But the fact remains – the second that pumpkin covered carb infused everything hit the shelves, your willpower hit the floor. Then, all those outdoorsy workouts spontaneously lost their allure that fateful morning you opened your weather app and read “40 degrees”. The result? Now, the scale numbers are slowly starting to veer into “we can’t blame this one on water weight anymore” territory. Or, maybe, that one freak warm day we’re having is a bit’ve a reality check. Ya know? When your fave summer tee suddenly feels a li’l snugger than usual? A couple chilly weeks of “treating yo-self”, and boom. Now you’re seriously wondering whether your trick or treat day gear will fit.
No need to fear, says I.
Assuming you’ve only been on this kick for a brief bit, it’s totally fixable.
So, how do you get your sexy back? (And front? And sides?)
Simple… with this pre-Halloween workout:
1. Cardio candy
Okay, so that outdoorsy run’s suddenly less fun when you’re layered up like the “Christmas Story” kid. I get it. However, cardio’s an important part in burning off those pumpkin buns. That said, there’s a workout workaround. And that’s to treat your cardio like candy. Not feeling your current flavor anymore? Try something new! Hit the gym’s elliptical. Hit the heavy bag. Hit play on the Fitness Marshall’s latest video. (And move along, obviously.) Cario’s crucial in weight loss – but that doesn’t mean you have to hate it. On the contrary, if you’re digging what you do, you’re more likely to connect with it and use your body’s full fat burning potential.
2. Be a kitchen witch. (With a capital “B”.)
“Double double cheese, toil and trouble for these…” (*points to thighs*)
This doesn’t mean you can’t have “cheat days” anymore. But, let’s be honest here. Haven’t you maybe (possibly, probably?) been treating nearly every day since the release of those cinnamon drizzled nut loafs like cheat day? Be honest. ’cause your scary scale (and the seams of that Ho-ey Hillary Clinton costume you’re so looking forward to rocking) sure will in a couple weeks. The answer? Start just getting honest with yourself. Nix the processed stuff. Monitor the pastry intake. And eat more green so you won’t have to be blue on all Hallow’s Eve. (And I don’t mean blue as in sad – but because your clothes’ll be suffocating you.) Think you can just eat crappy now and work off your rumpkin later? False. Not unless you invest a lot’ve time. ’tis far, far easier to simply use your culinary warlock level sorcery for whipping up waistline cinching snacks. But don’t listen to me. Listen to someone like Shawn M. Talbott, PhD. He’s a nutritional biochemist and the former director of the University of Utah Nutrition Clinic. And what’s he got to say on the matter? That there’s no “CTRL + Z” function for eating badly when it comes to exercise:
“As a rule of thumb, weight loss is generally 75 percent diet and 25 percent exercise. An analysis of more than 700 weight loss studies found that people see the biggest short-term results when they eat smart. On average, people who dieted without exercising for 15 weeks lost 23 pounds; the exercisers lost only six over about 21 weeks. It’s much easier to cut calories than to burn them off. For example, if you eat a fast-food steak quesadilla, which can pack 500-plus calories, you need to run more than four miles to ‘undo’ it!”
3. Sinister intervals and spooky strengthening
Apologies for that over-the-top attempt to Halloweenize my subheaders.
(And the image of a phantom pumping iron.)
I’m just trying to keep everyone’s mind on why we’re torturing ourselves like something out’ve a “Hostel” movie, though. Especially when we start talking about interval and strength training. Technically, the interval work could go under the first point (cardio). However, because it’s less candy-like and more a necessary evil, I’mma drop it down here. Thing is, after you start a ritual of high intensity intervals, they can actually get kind’ve addictive. You go HAM on rapid fire cardio moves (like sprinting, cycling double fast, or doing a series of high knees as quickly as you can) for a set amount of seconds, slow down in between, and then continue. The idea behind this, is that it raises your BMR so you’re burning scads of fat long after you stop exercising. (More so than with run of the treadmill regular cardio.) Likewise, strength training has a fat blasting after effect as well. Why? Well, because laying down muscle’s tantamount to building a calorie eradicating landscape across your body. Per WebMD:
“10 pounds of muscle would burn 50 calories in a day spent at rest, while 10 pounds of fat would burn 20 calories.”
So, there you go.
When you’re eyeing that fourth pecan pie slice you’ve had this week, snoozing through the only time you’ve got for cardio, or skipping squat day… try to remember these tips. That way, there’ll be no more need to give your band-aid sized duds the side eye. (Or settle for going for going as a slutty mummy when it spontaneously shreds upon you entering it.)
The real trick to getting a treat out of this though?
When you decide to make these habits stick long after Halloween.