4 Simple, 'Skinny-Jean' Strategies To Whittle Your Waistline!
If your skinny jeans aren't fitting as well as they did before all of your holiday indulging, then you need to get refocused for 2014 to get fit, healthy and look better than ever in your skinny jeans.
These strategies will help you to lose weight fast and allow you to keep the weight off.
[See: Best Weight-Loss Diets.]
1. Know Your Number! This important number is protein. Calculate your protein needs, and make sure you are getting protein throughout the day. You should aim for about .7 grams of protein per pound of body weight. Make sure you get protein at breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Generally, aim for at least 15 grams of protein at breakfast and 25 to 30 grams of protein for lunch and dinner. Protein provides satiety and long-lasting energy. This can also prevent mindless eating.
Research also suggests eating protein may help to boost your metabolism. Sources of protein include eggs, milk, beans, lentils, fish, lean beef, chicken, cottage cheese and Greek yogurt.
[See: Unusual Uses for Greek Yogurt.]
2. Eat three meals per day, not five or six small ones. I know this goes against popular nutrition advice and the idea behind many diets. However, as a registered dietitian for over 16 years, I have seen countless people who are trying to lose weight graze all day long, and they just never stop eating.
Shifting to a three-meals-per-day mentality helps people focus on eating three satisfying meals during the day and stop the nonstop eating that never leaves them feeling completely satisfied. This will likely decrease your caloric intake and put you into a caloric deficit.
[Read: How to Survive a Diet-Challenging Vacation.]
3. Start doing high-intensity interval training (HIIT). So often, people stick to the same 'ole exercise routine at the gym and never see major results. Change up your routine if you want to see major results.
The great news is that high-intensity interval training is highly effective and efficient. It's is an excellent way to boost your metabolism and burn the fat. High-intensity exercise burns nine times more fat per calorie than low-intensity exercise.
My personal favorite method that I recommend and do myself is Tabata training. The Tabata Method was developed by Izumi Tabata, a former training coach for the Japanese speed skating team and a professor at the Faculty of Sport and Health Science at Japan's Ritsumeikan University.
[Read: Why You Should Try Tabata Training.]
The basis of his method is to work at an extremely high level for short periods of time. Each workout is four minutes long, consisting of 20-second, high-intensity work followed by 10 seconds of rest; this continues for a total of eight cycles.
This is the method of training that I use in my latest book, "The Pinterest Diet: How To Pin Your Way Thin," and it has been transformational for many of my clients. Some examples of these exercises would be jump squats, burpees and mountain climbers. For example, a jump-squat Tabata would entail eight rounds of jump squats for 20 seconds followed by 10 seconds of rest. I aim to do two or three Tabatas during my workouts, which total 8 to 12 minutes of high-intensity training.
[Read: Mitzi's Food and Fitness Diary.]
4. Stop eating when you are satisfied. This is a key to weight-loss success. The important component that helps you reach this goal is to slowly savor your food. Truly enjoy it. This means eating it slowly, evaluating the flavors and textures in your mouth. Truly experience the flavors while you are slowly savoring.
When you eat more slowly, you are also more likely to stop eating when you are satisfied. When you savor your food slowly and stop eating when you are satisfied, you will eat less food.
Eating less food and moving more with Tabata training will jump-start your body into shape and help you fit into your skinny jeans!
[Read: 10 Hot Food Trends to Expect in 2014.]
Hungry for more? Write to eatandrun@usnews.com with your questions, concerns, and feedback.
Mitzi Dulan, RD, CSSD, is a nationally recognized nutrition and fitness expert who inspires people to lose weight and get fit. Mitzi is team nutritionist for the Kansas City Royals and served as team nutritionist for the Kansas City Chiefs for several years. She coauthored, with NFL Future Hall-of-Famer Tony Gonzalez, The All-Pro Diet, which helps people eat clean and get lean. Her latest book is The Pinterest Diet: How to Pin Your Way Thin. Follow Mitzi on Pinterest at NutritionExpert.
