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Spring is in the air, British Summer Time has given us an extra hour of daylight - it must be time to start the diet! All across the country, people see the start of spring as the ideal time to start getting ready for summer, and for many of us - up to one in three - that means losing weight before summer arrives.
It makes sense. After a winter spent huddled indoors, the appearance of the sun makes us want to get back outside, maybe even get a bit more active. The winter comfort foods that have helped us pack on the pounds since autumn start to seem less appealing, and we are tempted by the fresh fruits and salads that spring and summer produce.
According to research, most people who begin dieting at this time of year target the second bank holiday weekend, the traditional start of the BBQ season, as the time by which they want to have reached their goal weight.
So if you are one of the many people who wants to lose some weight between now and the summer, what is the best way to kick start the process and ensure that by the time the bikini season rolls around you can appear in public in a swimsuit without frightening small children?
Serious weight loss has to come from a two-pronged approach - diet and exercise. We put on weight because we eat more than we burn, so it makes sense that the only way to lose the weight is to reverse the process - that means you have to burn more than you eat.
The trouble is, most traditional diets simply don't work for more than a few weeks. The typical pattern is that you lose a few pounds the first week, then less and less over the subsequent weeks. Eventually you get fed up starving yourself, and quit.
Why does this happen? Because these types of diets rely on one thing alone - severely restricting the amount you eat. The trouble is, when you do that, the body reacts by slowing your metabolism - the rate at which you burn calories - so by the end of the diet, you are burning fewer calories per day than when you started. You come off the diet and soon put all the weight back on.
The alternative is to adopt a sensible diet, and combine it with regular exercise to increase your metabolic rate - so you will be burning more calories per day than previously. That way you will not only lose the weight, but be able to keep it off.
A sensible diet means eating moderate portions, and avoiding the foods you already know are bad for you - things like take-ways, crisps, fizzy drinks, ice cream, sweets, cakes and so on. Instead, base your diet around fresh fruit and vegetables, lean protein such as fish, chicken, and beans, and whole grains (brown rice, whole grain pasta and bread).
As the weather improves, you should see a steady loss in weight that will get you ready for whatever summer has to offer.
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