Here is the thing with the holidays and the ability for us to hide under heavy clothes, winter is often a time for weight gain. After it is over and once spring comes, many head straight to fad diets for the quickest way to shed excess weight and look their best.

But what many don’t realize is that summer is actually a great time for weight loss as well. You might associate summer with dinners out, drinks, vacations, and more lounging around outside. However, this doesn’t mean it’s impossible to maintain your weight or shed pounds.

Though you may not want to wait to shed your weight until the hot weather has already arrived, there are steps you can take to slim down if you’re in this position. This article discusses those steps and why, against popular belief, summer is a great time to get in shape.

5 Steps to Summer Slim Down

Fill Your Home With Seasonal, Healthy Foods

Depending on where you live, it may be difficult and expensive to keep fresh fruits and vegetables in your home during the colder months. When warm weather hits, so do farmer’s markets, and produce prices often decrease in most grocery stores as well.

During the summer months, increasing your intake of fresh fruits and vegetables is essential for weight loss. Consuming foods like watermelon, berries, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, and other foods will keep you hydrated and full, all for fewer calories than processed snacks or summer treats.

By filling your home with fresh, whole foods, you’ll have no choice but to grab for healthy options when you’re hungry. This will help you lose weight and keep it off.

Avoid Alcohol (at Least Sometimes)

Between cookouts, pool days, and other outdoor activities, alcohol consumption often increases for many throughout the summer. If you want to maintain or lose weight, you should cut out the drinks at least some of the time.

Chemically speaking, alcohol is similar to sugar, causing almost identical effects in the human body. Excess sugar, not including fructose or sugars from other whole foods, causes weight gain because it spikes blood sugar and insulin production, promoting fat storage in the body.

By replacing some of your alcoholic drinks with water, you can cut calories and avoid the sugar highs and lows that often cause weight gain.

Get Outside and Get Active

If you don’t like going to the gym and live in a cold climate, staying fit in the winter months can be difficult. With nice weather in summer, you can get out, get active, and complement your healthy diet with exercise.

Summer offers you the ability to walk, run, swim, bike, play sports, or do any other physical activity you want. With so many options available, it’s impossible to not find one you will enjoy. So step away from the television or computer and get outside, you only have a few months to do so!

Cut Out Added Sugar and Calories Where Possible

Between iced coffees full of added sugar and cream as well as smoothies that are more ice cream than fruit, summer is full of treats that don’t seem like treats on the surface. However, added sugar does nothing more for your body than add inches to your waistline.

When you want to slim down, try making your own smoothies at home using healthy alternatives like almond milk and whole, natural fruits. When you have iced coffee, opt for black or add a small amount of creamer or milk rather than the full amount you usually would.

Calories from beverages are one of the most overlooked sources of weight gain, especially during the summer. By getting this under control, you can make the summer months much more slimming.

Get Enough Sleep

It can be tempting to stay out late since the weather permits, but you shouldn’t.

A lack of sleep increases ghrelin production, stimulating appetite. If you chronically lose out on sleep, you’ll crave noncomplex carbohydrates which, when consumed, increases glucose and insulin production. This will cause your body to store fat and promote nighttime overeating, which is linked to weight gain.

You should enjoy your summer, but make sure you’re still getting adequate sleep. Doing so will influence your weight more than you think.

Summer Makes Dieting Simple, But You Can Still Use Some Extra Assistance

From the abundance of sunlight that increases serotonin and reduces food cravings to the broad range of outdoor activities available, summer is a season made for weight loss. By following the five steps above, you’ll set yourself up for a healthy summer and achieve the body you want.

Of course, no one likes waiting for the weather to get warm to get in shape. When you want to speed up your results, PhenQ can help. It’s a complete nutritional supplement that burns fat, prevents additional fat storage, suppresses appetite, and increases energy levels (so you can go out and do everything you want to do).

Summer is here. Are you ready? If not, integrating PhenQ along with the tips above is the best way to feel confident again!