10 suggestions to get into the summer in shape

During the winter months, both activities and water consumption decrease and night eating increases due to long nights; It has made excess weight inevitable for many of us. However, with the spring months, it is possible to roll up your sleeves and enter the summer season free of excess weight. Nutrition and Diet Specialist Nilay Kayım listed 10 methods to get into the summer in shape and made important warnings and suggestions; He also gave a recipe for ‘metabolism-accelerating salad’ and ‘edema-relieving drink’.

1. Do not reset oil consumption
When we say diet, we should not think of completely zeroing out fat consumption! However, foods with high saturated fat content, such as fast food, packaged foods and fried foods, should be avoided. Adding foods such as walnuts, hazelnuts, avocados and olive oil to the diet instead of these types of foods makes weight loss easier, contrary to popular belief.

2. Don’t be afraid of carbohydrate intake
Carbohydrate intake is of great importance in fat burning metabolism. Uncontrolled removal of carbohydrate-containing foods from the diet, except for special diets; It may cause you to feel more hungry, have a sweet tooth, and cause your portions to become larger. You should add healthy carbohydrates with high fiber content (bulgur, buckwheat, legumes, whole wheat pasta, oats, etc.) to your diet by controlling portions, and remove foods containing carbohydrates that cause weight gain (foods such as desserts, sugar, fruit juices, pastries) from your diet.

3. Avoid low protein intake
Insufficient protein intake; It reduces metabolic rate and muscle synthesis, causing increased edema. Exercises especially for fat loss and muscle gain must be accompanied by adequate protein intake. You can increase the protein content of your diet by adding more fish, kefir and eggs to your diet.

4. Move more
The increase in air temperatures also reduces the excuses we make to move less. Moving speeds up metabolism and increases motivation to diet through hormonal changes. The World Health Organization recommends at least 150-300 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per week. Make sure to take a brisk walk for an hour at least three days a week.

5. Add vegetables to every meal
Vegetables contain high fiber, vitamins and minerals. Especially vegetables with high potassium content (such as spinach, chard, lettuce, parsley, carrots) facilitate the removal of edema. In addition, the duration of satiety is extended by consuming vegetables. You can ease edema and stay full for longer by preparing main meal salads that include all food groups. However, kidney patients should be careful when consuming vegetables and consult a nutritionist.

6. Pay attention to your sleep patterns
Disturbances in sleep patterns cause imbalances in hormones that affect hunger and satiety. In addition, cortisol release increases with insufficient sleep and a tendency to high-calorie/carbohydrate foods is observed. Fatigue resulting from insufficient sleep affects both food intake and decreases physical activity. At least 7-8 hours of sleep is recommended for adults. Therefore, be sure to pay attention to your sleep pattern.

7. Be careful with sugary drinks!
As the weather gets warmer, consumption of ice cream, sugary and carbonated drinks, fruit juices, coffee with cream/syrup increases, and this causes weight gain. You can replace these types of foods in your diet with plain mineral water, unsweetened cold coffees and homemade unsweetened vegetable/fruit drinks.

8. Avoid crash diets
Crash diets that contain very low calories or a single type of food cause muscle and fluid loss. Those rapidly decreasing numbers on the scale do not actually reflect fat loss. In addition, nutritional supplements used uncontrollably for this purpose can cause serious damage to health, especially the liver and kidneys, and may even lead to life-threatening risks. Therefore, definitely stay away from crash diets.

9. Increase water consumption, limit caffeine
Your daily fluid requirement is weight (kg) x 30-35 ml. However, you should not include tea and coffee in this consumption because they contain caffeine. Caffeine dehydrates your body by creating a diuretic effect. Taking the amount of fluid you need daily accelerates the metabolism, eliminates edema and purifies the body from toxins.

10. Support your gut health
Intestinal health is among the factors affecting weight loss. To maintain or improve intestinal health, you should get the fiber you need daily (25-35 g), consume fermented foods such as kefir, and benefit from probiotic supplements by consulting your doctor when necessary.

Metabolism boosting salad
7-8 leaves of lettuce,
½ bunch of parsley
½ bunch of dill
1-2 boiled artichokes
3 tablespoons boiled mung beans
2-3 strawberries
1-2 spoons of olive oil, plenty of lemon juice
1-2 spoons of apple cider vinegar (preferably)

Preparation: All ingredients are chopped and mixed (greens can be increased). Add olive oil, lemon and vinegar. Preferably, spices (chili pepper, sumac, etc.) can be used instead of salt. It can be consumed as a main meal with a glass of kefir on the side. Don’t forget to add meat group to your other meal.

edema reliever drink
1 bottle of mineral water
2 slices of pineapple
1 cucumber
1/3 bunch of parsley
1/3 bunch of mint
Juice of ½ lemon
100 ml green tea

Preparation: Green tea is brewed in 100 ml of water and cooled. Add mineral water, pineapple, cucumber, parsley and mint and blend. Finally, add lemon juice and drink with pleasure.