Almost everyone that signs up for a gym membership is looking to lose a little weight. Many times we have no idea how to do this and is probably the reason you signed up at BayWay CrossFit in the first place.

One of the great things about a CrossFit program is that the exercise part to your weight loss is already taken care of. You just show up and we do the rest for you! But at some point our weight loss from exercise alone starts to plateau. This is when the real work begins.

Most of us have a general idea of what we need to eat in order to lose weight, but we have conditioned ourselves to eat a certain way for 20+ years and those habits are harder to break than walking into a gym to exercise. We got together and gathered 10 tips that we think can help you drop a few pounds this summer!

1. Eat! – To many times we hear of people eating at this extreme caloric deficit that is probably doing more damage than good. Try to eat five meals per day and prep them out in advance. If you are super busy set a timer for when you are suppose to eat so that you are reminded every day. By not eating your body will go into a fat storage mode and you will be doing the opposite of what you want.
2. Drink Water! – Another common thing but often over looked when people are trying to lose weight. We should shoot for at least 120 ounces a day which is right around 8 bottles of water. By drinking enough water and staying hydrated you will subconsciously keep yourself from having excessive food cravings or over eating. Also studies have show that by staying hydrated throughout the day can raise your daily energy expenditure.
3. Give Up the Bad things Slowly – We all know by now what we should and shouldn’t be eating or drinking. If you are soda drinker you should stop drinking sodas. If you eat Oreo’s every night you need to stop that as well! But the question is how? My suggestion is give it up slowly. If you are someone who drinks 4 sodas a day maybe try only drinking 3 for 1 week. Then the next 2, and so on until you are not drinking them any longer. This will help with that craving and allow you to wean off them at your pace.
4. Fight Cravings with Gum – Obviously make sure that your gum is sugar free 😉 but during those times when you have cravings pop a piece of gum in to help battle them. Many times we are just bored and go to the easiest thing to eat and that item is usually never good for you. Buy the desert flavor gum and have a piece after a meal. There is even an old wives tale that cinnamon gum will help eliminate cravings from something as strong as cigarettes.
5. Don’t Eat Out! – “But I got something healthy!” is usually what people say, but what’s hidden in the foods is the issue. Many restaurants use preservatives or have serving sizes that are much larger than the ones you should be eating. If you eat out more than twice a week and are struggling with weight loss stop and see if it helps.
6. If you are going to CHEAT only CHEAT with ONE! – When we are trying to be the best versions of ourselves we are avoiding things like bread, sugar and alcohol. But not everyone is perfect and we are going to have some cheat days from time to time, but it is important that when you do cheat that you do not go overboard. For example if you are having a cheat meal and you are not eating bread, sugar or alcohol. Don’t go to Outback Steak House order a 32oz Fosters, eat all the bread and after the meal have chocolate cake. A cheat meal should be on a rare occasion and should only consist of one!
7. Have Snacks Ready! – As I said before many times we eat bad food because we are board. We are sitting at our desk around 2:00pm ready to go home and we hit the vending machine for some potato chips (yes even the baked stuff falls into this category). There are so many healthy options for snacks from nuts and seeds, beef jerky, cheeses, some fruit (not dried stuff), vegetables and many different bars. Plan out your snacks ahead of time and make a game plan!
8.  Don’t Eat Fruit! – Well not all types of fruit. Certain fruits have a different effect on your glycemic load. Some examples of fruit to avoid are bananas, mangos, pineapple, watermelon and grapes. If you are wanting some fruit with your meals or snacks try to stick with apples, pears, prunes, peaches, oranges and grapefruits. The reason to avoid certain types of fruit is because of the effect they have insulin levels. By raising your blood sugar your body is having to produce more insulin to bring it back down. Insulin is what stores sugar, and if you already have your glycogen stores filled it will be saved as……FAT!
9. Stop Drinking Sodas & Fruit Drinks! – The obvious reason to stop drinking these is the amount of sugar in each one. A soda has about 35-40g of sugar in each can and fruit drinks are just as bad (orange juice 30g, apple juice 40g, pomegranate juice 45g). Combine the sugar in the soda along with the phosphoric acid and high fructose corn syrup sodas are a recipe for obesity and cancers. Although fruits are high in nutrients when they are converted into juices they lose the majority of these from pasteurization and filtering thus leaving you with just a sugary fruit flavored drink…..kool aid.
10. Track Your Food! – Where most people go wrong is they do not keep track of what they are eating. Some people say, ” I eat really clean and good!” but after tracking their food realize they eat way to many carbs or not enough food at all. The other big mistake people make is they do not track all of their food. For example, you have a handful of m&m’s off the secretary’s desk but don’t track them. This is important information that you should be keeping track of (sugars). Track everything and see the results.

Obviously these won’t work for everyone and there are probably people who eat fruit everyday and are super toned and perform well, but for the majority of people these guidelines will help you drop those extra pounds! Try a few out and get your body ready for the beach!