Looking Good on Your Summer Cruise: Weight-loss Tips for Moms

You’ve booked a summer cruise for the entire family, something you’ve been wanting to do for years. The plans are made, the dates are set, and now, your only worry is how you’re going to feel wearing a bathing suit in public. 

Cruises are a lot of fun, but part of having a great time is feeling good about yourself. As a mom, you’re often too busy to spend hours at the gym, and it can be difficult to follow a diet plan with a hungry family to feed. If you want to get fit for your cruise, you’ll need to find some sensible approaches to weight loss and fitness. 

Be Realistic

If you have a significant amount of weight to lose, starving yourself in the weeks leading up to your cruise will only cause you stress and make it less likely that you’ll reach your goal. Focus on a realistic goal for your weight loss. According to information from the Mayo Clinic, you can expect to lose a pound or two a week. It’s possible to lose more, but it’s always better to set a realistic goal and surpass it versus setting an impossible goal and feeling bad about failing. 

Make Movement Your Hobby

Not only are intense, rigid fitness regimens difficult to stick to, but they’re also less likely to help you reach your goals. The body tends to get used to things after a while, which means you’ll get more results from a certain set of exercises when you first start doing them. After a while, you might begin to plateau. Always look for new ways you can move and challenge your body. Rather than attempting to follow a boring routine of pushups and sit ups, go for exercises that offer a wide range of movement and room to grow and develop, such as dance and yoga. Also search “what is thrive” to find a product that adds some extra energy to your day. 

Make Changes You’ll Stick to

Crash diets don’t work because they’re impossible to stick to. There’s no point in stressing yourself about losing a large amount of weight before your cruise if you’re going to gain the weight back later. Rather than focusing on strict diets or harsh exercise regimens, look to make real, lasting changes to your lifestyle. 

Love Your Body

We each get one body to carry us through our lives. Hating your body and stressing over a few extra pounds will not help with your weight loss. Studies have shown that it can actually hinder it. According to a study from the Yale Department of Psychology, the stress hormone cortisol makes the body deposit fat into the abdomen. If your goal is a sexy bikini body, do yourself a favor and relax! 

Avoid Sugar

An easy way to pretty much guarantee you’ll lose weight and improve your health is to cut the sugar from your diet. Most Americans are consuming up to 19 teaspoons of sugar a day, which is far too much. This is bad for your blood sugar and insulin response, and it’s also contributing to extra weight. 

Learn to Enjoy Eating Healthy

The best way to make sure you never have to diet again is to fall in love with healthy foods. You might assume that you don’t like vegetables, but that’s likely because you’ve never had them prepared by a chef who knows what they’re doing. If you’re clueless about how to cook, consider signing up for a healthy food delivery service. It’ll make life easier as you’re planning and preparing for the vacation, and you’ll learn some things about long-term healthy eating as well. 

Above all else, remember to enjoy yourself on your cruise. Your new body might still be imperfect, but it’s yours. The point of life is to learn, grow and have a great time, so cherish these moments with your family, and take advantage of all the activities your cruise offers to keep your healthy lifestyle going while you’re away.