Why Personal Trainers say Spring Is the Best Time to Start Losing Weight
New Year Resolutions may be long forgotten, but personal trainers say the spring season offers a surprising array of advantages that can help you lose weight.
The milder temperatures of spring are making it a great time to get out and explore London’s bustling outdoor fitness scene. In modern districts like Westminster and Canary Wharf on the eastern end, people are discovering the appeal of outdoor gyms, rooftop yoga sessions, and even enjoying warm swim sessions at London Fields Lido, which maintains its waters at a comfortable 25C (77F) year-round.
Personal trainers would all agree that any time of year is a great time to start getting in better shape, but the spring season itself can be the secret to discovering new fitness habits that can lead to a trimmer figure.
Frankly, it’s not uncommon for many people to make weight loss a springtime goal for a variety of great reasons. Blooming flowers and budding trees can often be associated with “new beginnings” and that can mean a renewed focus on everything from mental wellness to the simple desire to look attractive in clothing that’s suited to those oh so eagerly anticipated warmer temperatures.
We spoke with a number of Canary Wharf personal trainers and others throughout London who offered us a whole host of examples as to why spring can be the best time of the year to commit to a healthier, fitter version of yourself.
Here are a few of the ways that the spring season can serve as a crucial ally to those of us who want to start losing weight this summer…
More Sunshine Means the Desire to Stay More Active
I don’t know about you, but I absolutely love it when I get out of work knowing I’ll still get to enjoy a few more hours of sunlight. Taking advantage of this abundant sunlight is vital in helping our bodies generate more vitamin D – often referred to as the “sunshine vitamin.”
Vitamin D is a crucial micronutrient with major health benefits, including improved cardiovascular health, better mood, and, yes, even weight loss. In fact, it only takes as little as 10 to 30 minutes of exposure to the sun to feel the positive impact. Though there is more research to be done, many personal trainers we talked to had enormous confidence in the connection between lack of vitamin D, insulin resistance, and obesity.
If you're low on this micronutrient from spending too much time indoors, replenishing your vitamin D levels by getting some sunshine while you diet and exercise can yield greater weight loss success than just dieting and exercise alone.
(BTW, if getting more sunlight is a struggle for you, try and augment your diet with foods that are rich in vitamin D like tuna, egg yolks, or fortified sources of orange juice.)
Green Leafy Veggies are More Abundant…and They Can Help Our Bodies Burn Fat!
Curious how? When we include green vegetables in our diet, the more effective our bodies will be in achieving lower levels of insulin.
Here’s the chemistry behind the scenes – elevated levels of insulin cause our bodies to store fat. However, when we include more green vegetables in our diet, our bodies will naturally operate on reduced levels of insulin. That means more stable blood sugar levels which can help us lose extra weight.
As green veggies become more abundant this spring and summer, personal trainers suggest including more of them in our daily diet.
Here’s another benefit of including more green veggies in our diet – they often contain ample amounts of dietary fiber. Fiber can slow the absorption of glucose into our bloodstream thereby preventing spikes in blood sugar and subsequent insulin releases.
And that can be the secret to controlling those pesky cravings for sweets that so often upend our dieting efforts!
Rising Temperatures Mean a Decreasing Appetite
Did you know that we consume approximately 100 more calories per day in the fall than we do in the spring? It’s true. 100 calories may not seem to be all that much, but it’s foolhardy to think that it’s completely insignificant. It adds up…as unwanted fat.
The truth is that we often tend to feel less hungry in the spring and summer due to combination of social and physiological factors that are in play.
Consider our digestion process and the role it plays in managing our body temperature. The digestion process takes up energy and thus generates heat which can be a good thing for staying warmer in the winter, but not so much in the spring and summer. The truth is that our bodies will likely minimize hunger cravings as the temperatures become warmer, making it easier for us to honor our dietary commitments or simply eat less!
Take Advantage of Hydration and Sip Your Way to a Trimmer Figure
Not only will the warmer temperatures suppress our appetites, but the seasonal heat can also influence us to drink more beverages as our bodies crave hydration. If weight loss is your goal, you should be trending toward ice-water, green tea, or other beverages that don’t include sugar or excessive calories. In fact, one Canary Wharf personal trainer we spoke with really championed the advantages of drinking green tea for weight loss.
“EGCG is a key component of green tea; an ingredient that’s been associated with appetite suppression, fat burning, and weight loss,” he told us.
Frankly, there are also a variety of ways that simple ice-water can support your weight loss efforts. By drinking water that’s chilled with ice our bodies are forced to expend more energy to raise the temperature of the water to match our body’s core temperature. Voilà! More calories are burned!
Water is also pivotal in our body’s ability to break down fats (a.k.a., lipolysis). In other words, it’s more difficult for the body to burn fat effectively without adequate hydration.
So, when our bodies cry out with thirst this spring and summer, personal trainers recommend we hydrate using ice-water or unsweetened tea, especially green tea.
Conclusion
Understanding precisely how the spring season can support our weight loss goals is just one of the many areas of expertise that personal trainers can offer. If you’re hoping to lose weight in time for summer, reaching out to a personal trainer can prove to be a valuable investment. Not only can personal trainers show you how to take advantage of the change in seasons, but they can also provide workout advice that’s tailored to your lifestyle, accountability, and, ultimately, accelerate your weight loss progress!