If you’re looking to lose weight in a sustainable way with strategies that you can start applying immediately, you’ll love our 4 easy ways to get beach body ready!

We’re sharing:

1. one thing you must include at every meal if you want to get AND stay beach body ready even though you probably think you need to avoid it. We’ll show you how and why it’s such a simple secret to long lasting weight loss.

2. the scoop about a fat-burning nutrient that’s getting overlooked as plant-based eating is becoming popular and how simple it can be to include it in your diet.

3. a delicious way to whittle your waistline as you train your taste buds to enjoy less sweet tasting sweets.  It will also help with blood sugar control and make your food taste incredible.

4. a big fat mistake that we see most of our new clients make. Pun intended!

We’re so excited to share these with you because they are simple strategies that make a world of difference and our clients tell us they wish they had known about these simple techniques years ago.

You can watch the video for the full details or if you prefer you can read the transcription which is the straight facts– minus the details, jokes and fun. 🙂

 Here are our top 4 easy and effective ways to get beach body ready!

1. Eat ½ cup of wholesome carbs at every meal.

If this excites you to know registered dietitians are telling you that you can eat carbs– and must eat them to lose weight, great! If the thought of eating carbs makes you gain weight and is making you nervous, then you’ve been doing it all wrong!

But don’t worry, that’s why we’re here. We’re going to help you!

If you’ve gained weight when you’ve eaten carbs in the past, it’s not your fault, you just didn’t know how to eat them for sustained weight loss.

If you’ve only lost weight going without carbs, you probably couldn’t sustain that eating style and ended up eating carbs again and gaining some weight back. The truth is that you need one half cup of wholesome carbohydrate at each meal for nutrients, fiber and to keep you feeling satisfied. And while this may seem like a small amount, when you are also eating a satisfying portion of protein, tasty veggies and healthy fats, the wholesome carbohydrates are the perfect accompaniment to give you a satisfying boost without weighing you down.

One half cup of wholesome carbohydrates gives your brain fuel, so you don’t crave a quick fuel source like sugar. That’s right, having wholesome carbs that contain fiber actually stave off cravings for carbs.  It will prevent you from feeling deprived and physically craving them. And you’ll feel light and satisfied after you eat them. In the meantime, you’ll know you can have some at each meal and that alone gets rid of deprivation.

There are 3 simple secrets to know when it comes to eating your carbs and achieving weight loss.

• Eat one-half cup at each meal. This portion is king. (More will make you feel heavy and gain weight while skipping them will leave you craving simple, dough and sugary carbs)
• Make sure you are having wholesome carbs and not refined, doughy carbs. Doughy carbs spike your blood sugar and cause cravings and cause weight gain (video dives in deeper)
• Make sure you’re not loading on fatty condiments. For example, if you’re having a small whole-grain waffle, don’t slather it in butter, or if you’re having a small baked potato, don’t pile on the sour cream—it will add far more calories than the carb itself and it can really add up.

Summary: The very simple thing you must do to lose weight and that you can start doing immediately is eat one half cup of wholesome carbs at every meal. We’re talking whole grain carbs like oats and wholesome carbs like pulses, sweet potatoes, fruit, quinoa, etc.   SO… to get beach body ready, you’ll eat one-half cup wholesome carbohydrates at every meal. Not doughy, refined carbs and not, slathered in fatty condiments.

2. Bump up the protein.

With plant focused meals, almond milk, almond yogurt, rice milk, and other plant foods are getting a lot of attention, and the protein is getting forgotten.  You need protein to keep you satisfied. Without it, you’ll be hungry and satisfy your hunger with more carbs and fat. Get more protein, you’ll eat less.  We’re seeing avocado toast and smoothie bowls that are delicious, but they lack the protein for staying power. They end up being high in calories. Veggie burgers also are an example and they are often high in carbs and fat.  We’re finding that new clients are coming to us and are trying to eat a more plant-based diet and are actually gaining weight as they’re ending up feeling hungry and overeating.

We’re totally all about being plant -based and we’re the first to say that the more plants in your life you eat, the better off, hands down.  You just have to make sure you’re also getting plenty of protein. Get 20 grams of protein per meal. This will keep you satisfied and prevent you from overeating at snacks and your next meal.  We’ve also had countless clients coming to us and finding themselves turning to snacks soon after meals. It turns out they were hungry and they weren’t getting enough protein at their meals. As soon as they bumped up the protein, they didn’t even need snacks and the pounds came right off.

If you have a salad at lunch and you order it at many places, they’ll take a tong full of protein or a sprinkle of beans and it’s not enough. It’s often not even 10 grams of protein, let alone the 20 that you need.

How can you do this easily?
Three ounces of fish or chicken breast is going to give you about 24 grams of protein.  If you’re a vegetarian, turn to eggs, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese and fish, if you eat them. Also have vegan options like tofu, lentils, beans, edamame, pea, hemp and rice protein powder as well as whey protein powder (not vegan).  Nuts and nut butters also can bump up your protein intake. Just be aware that they also contribute most of their calories from fat and to get 20 grams of protein all from nuts, the calories would add up and would likely contribute to weight gain.

If you find your protein intake at a meal is low and you can’t reach 20 grams per meal, try a sprinkle of nutritional yeast, hemp protein powder or other protein powders.

When you start getting 20 grams of protein at your meals, you’ll notice you’re less hungry and you don’t need to turn to snacking!

OK, so let’s review, so to get beach body ready and stay that way, starting today, you’re including one- half cup of wholesome carbs at all meals, without fatty sauces.  This means no doughy carbs, and 20 grams of protein per meal.

3. Add cinnamon to naturally sweeten foods.

This calorie-free, sweet spice adds health benefits and sweetness to your foods and will save you hundreds of calories. And here’s the really cool thing– it will help to train your taste buds to like naturally sweet foods rather than intensely sweet foods like sugary candies. This means you’ll soon crave fruit over a jolly rancher or jelly doughnut.

Cinnamon almost plays a trick on your taste buds! You perceive foods as being sweeter. Anytime you’d use sweetener, swap it for cinnamon. In coffee, cereal, toast, oatmeal, yogurt, sweet potato, you name it.  And when you’d turn to a sugary dessert, go for a fruit that’s enhanced with cinnamon. Try our Fat Burning Cinnamon Oatmeal or our Ginger Cinnamon Apple Chips. Or for example, slice up an apple or pear, sprinkle with cinnamon on all sides, add a few teaspoons of water and pop in the microwave and it will taste very sweet. For exact directions, and one of our favorite cinnamon treats, check out our Copy Cat Comfort Food Apple Pie– Comfort food Reinvented Apple Pie.

(In the video we reminisce about when we realized that cinnamon had this sweetening effect and what food we’d pour it on).

Sugar causes inflammation, which ultimately makes your body hold weight.  Cinnamon reduces inflammation and is calorie free. As you do this over the next weeks, you’ll see your body transform as you cut the sugar.

If you’re someone who loves a sweet breakfast or snack, it’s the perfect time to have one-half cup oatmeal (wholesome carb), cinnamon, and some berries with a Greek yogurt on the side.

So to review the action steps you can start taking immediately to get the beach body that you want and to stay that way, you’re going to eat one half cup of wholesome carbs at every meal without fatty or salty sauces and oil; you’re going to bump up your protein to 20 grams per meal; and you’re going to replace all sweetener and artificial sweetener with cinnamon. And now for #4…

4. Portion your fats.

If you’re looking to lose weight, healthy fats are great, but portions do matter. This is not the time to twin it. Fat portions add up quickly.

• ½ an avocado is a serving—that’s 120 calories.

Double that and eat the whole thing—it’s 240 calories.

• 1 tbsp of oil is one serving and 120 calories.

Just 2 tbsp of oil, is 240 calories.

• A serving of Peanut butter is 2 tbsp and 190 calories.

Have 2 servings –4 tbsp and that’s nearly 400 calories.

• This is not the time to twin it.  In fact, we suggest putting liquid fats in a spray bottle to get the flavor and disperse the fat and calories….

So there you have it! Starting today, you’re going to have one-half cup of wholesome carbs at every meal without fatty or salty sauces and oil, you’re going to bump up your protein to 20 grams per meals, you’re going to replace all sweetener and artificial sweetener with cinnamon. And you’re going to portion your fats.  Leave a comment below and let us know which of these will be the easiest for you.