For those of you in the southern hemisphere, summer is just around the corner! Here are some practical tips and tricks you may not have thought of to help you get towards your weight-loss goals.

1. Have a weekly Epsom salt bath! That’s right! Epsom salts are packed full of magnesium and when placed in warm water, gets absorbed through the skin. The benefit of this is the magnesium helps to lower stress levels (and the fat storing hormone – cortisol!) plus it flushes out toxins from your body. By flushing out these environmental toxins, you will assist your body in dropping weight. It is also fantastic prior to bedtime as it is ultra relaxing and may induce sleep.

2. Include organic cinnamon in your diet on a daily basis. Did you know that cinnamon increases metabolism and lowers blood sugar levels by helping your body to metabolise sugars more efficiently? By lowering your blood sugar levels you will assist your body with regulating your energy levels and food cravings. Enjoy up to 1 teaspoon a day.

3. Ditch the plastic! BPA (Bispheno-A ) is a toxic chemical found in plastic containers, plastic bottles as well as canned food linings. The problem with BPA is it is an endocrine disrupter – it mimics our natural hormones, tricking the body into over-responding to the stimulus causing overproduction or underproduction of hormones and weight gain. BPA has been shown to trigger the conversion of normal cells to fat cells and also to increase the amount of stored fat in those cells…ditch the plastic! And look out for BPA FREE containers and bottles to store your food and water.

4. Eat loads more green veggies! Okay, for those who stop by my blog often, this is a definite repeat! But I’m going to keep plugging away at this one, as greens and plant material is essential for good health and for detoxifying estrogen. Want slimmer legs or want to lose the ‘man boobs’ situation? EAT GREEN 🙂

5. Start nurturing yourself more. Practice a lot more self-loving instead of self-loathing (I’ve written about this before, here). If you can learn to look at yourself in the mirror with love and kindness instead of negativity and disgust, your body will start to let go of whatever it is it’s holding on to. If you haven’t already read it, I highly recommend reading Louise Hay’s You Can Heal Your Life.

6. Set goals and be clear on your intentions…

• What is it that you want? Is it to lose 5-10kg? Do you want to increase muscle or reduce stress?
• Why do you want this? Is it for increased confidence? To look good naked? For a wedding or for great health?
• How are you going to make this happen? Are you going to hire a personal trainer? Seek nutritional guidance? Improve your sleeping patterns or even see a hypnotherapist perhaps?
• When are you going to do this and when do you want this by? When are you going to exercise? When are you going to schedule in your ‘treat meal’? When are you going to go to sleep every night?

Pull out your diary or a piece of paper and start writing out your goals NOW!

7.  Build lean muscle mass to sculpt your body and increase your metabolism making it a fat-burning machine! Don’t be scared of lifting weights ladies!

BONUS TIPS:

• Go on a holiday!
• Meditate and reduce stress
• Have regular massages
• Eat fat burning foods not fat storing foods…you know the ones!
• Enjoy more SEX
• Take fish oil supplements
• Stop being lazy! Get off your butt and make it happen 🙂

I hope this has been helpful. If you have your own tips & tricks you’d like to share with the rest of the LWER community, we’d luv to hear from ya! And if you’d like to spread the message, please share this post 🙂