A wedding, a pool party, a reunion, or just for the heck of it; these 5 fitness tips to look extra lean can be used all year long! Bring on the gatherings and do away with extra water weight, swelling, and bloating.
Don’t Do Abs Before Your Big Day
If you’re on the floor doing 500 crunches like Britney Spears back in the 90’s, you’ve missed the memo. Doing abs the day before the event is a big “no, no.” While core work is always a plus, abs are still a muscle. They swell with blood to heal muscle tissue that’s been used. To make sure you look extra lean, stop doing large amounts of abs 2 days before your big day.
Fitness Tips: If you’re getting ready for a big event, the plank exercise is always a winner, it uses the transverse abdominis which is the muscle behind the 6 pack. This muscle tightens everything similar to a corset. Flatter, tighter abs from the center to your sides!
Eat Low Carb in Advance
While eating moderate to low carb is always advisable, it may be harder from some to maintain for long periods of time. However, short bursts of reduced amounts of carbs can make a huge difference in water retention. Since carbohydrates pull water into the cells, cutting carbs can help the body release stored water. Eating moderate to low carb for 3 – 5 days before your event will give your body enough time to cycle out water and give you a sleeker, leaner appearance.
Grains Be Gone
Along with eating low carb, removing grains can also have an impact on water retention. This is due to lectin. This is the protective shell that all grains possess. It’s the same shell that prevents animals from killing species of rice, corn, wheat, and beans. Lectin can cause excess irritation and toxins in the system causing the body to react and inflame if over eaten. This is even more important if you have an autoimmune issue.
Lectins are a form of protein found in nearly all plants and animals. They bind to the sugar molecules called polysaccharides that cover the surface of most cells in your body.
There are countless varieties of lectins in nature, and we have used them for more than 100 years in medical testing laboratories because they stick to red blood cells very effectively.
Plants evolved to reproduce. They actually have no interest in being a food source for you, or even for insects or fungi. Since they are not good at running away, plants developed natural pesticides and repellents to protect themselves and their seeds from hungry animals. Since the cells in your body use lectins as one way to communicate between each other, plants evolved to create their own lectin to “hack” the human cell communication by disrupting it. Does this make plants the original biohackers (source)?
Sweat it Out with Cardio (not weights)
While you don’t want tons of blood in your muscles (recovering tissue from your workouts), cardio is a great way to sweat out extra water retention. It’s also a way to flush out toxins from your system that are creating extra swelling. So, turn your music up and get into the groove! Normally, weight training is always a good thing, but before a big event avoid heavy weight training to avoid some of the swelling that comes with the recovery process. Then, hit you weights hard after your party.
Digest
Many foods create gas and bloating. That doesn’t mean you have to eliminate them completely, but for your big events, you should limit them during this time frame. Things such as the legume family (beans, peas, nuts) should be avoided. Also meats that take long periods of time to digest such as red meats should be avoided. Also some vegetables cause gas and bloating such as cauliflower, broccoli, and cabbage. If you want to digest you food in a snap and not carry it around for several days, steam your non bloating vegetables and cook them well so you body is able to break them down more easily. I also always recommend 2 of my favorite supplements to help with digestion, digestive enzymes, and Ultra Benfotiamine.
Use these fitness tips to look extra lean for all of your big events through out the year! If you are looking for lasting weight loss, I encourage you to look at our newest program, The Body Burn 28 Day Quick Start. It’s everything you need to maximize you fat loss potential!
Adria Ali
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