{This post was written my fitness column on LA’s the Place – “The Fit Life.” It gives you some quick and easy real life tips on getting in shape for the summer. . ~Helen}

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You’re standing in the fitting room filled with dread. The harsh overhead lights don’t do anything to ease your fear of the garment clutched in your hand. You slowly strip down, peel on the suit. And scream. Yup, it’s bathing suit season once more.

It may seem a daunting task to fit into that suit (or swim shorts), especially if you have more than a few pounds to lose. There is no quick hacks to safely losing weight, however, but there are some simple steps you can take to get you there faster.

1.     The magic weight loss combo
You need to both firm up your muscles and burn the layer of fat over them to put your best body forward. Doing just cardiovascular activities (ones which raise your heart rate) will help with fat loss but won’t change your basic underlying shape. Strength training will help firm and sculpt your muscles, and burn some fat, but may not be enough to trim that pesky layer. Cardio and weight training together is the magic combination for a new and improved physique.

2.     Be a better body time-saver
Performing both aerobic exercise and strength training seems like it would take a lot of time, but it really doesn’t have to. The secret is working harder, smarter and being more efficient. Walking on a treadmill for hours on end is great for your overall health, but it’s not going to do that much to stoke your fat burning furnace. You need to work focused and targeted. Pick a challenging activity such as Spinning®, running, swimming or step aerobics (yes, that’s still around and better than ever). Or perform plyometric intervals like jump squats, knee tucks or side jumps. When you strength train, do exercises> that use multiple muscles at once – push ups, squats, lunges, walking lunges, planks and pull ups. These burn more calories and work more of your body faster. The best of both worlds? Kettlebell training. Kettlebells are incredibly challenging cardiovascularly, and also strengthens your muscles. Kettlebell training burns a ton of calories and turns you into a fat burning machine (read my column on kettlebell training to learn more).

3.     Supercharge your diet
Start your morning with a protein-rich meal to keep you fueled throughout the day. Low fat cottage cheese (without any sugary additives) is an excellent choice. Sprinkle some almonds and fresh berries on top to give you staying power and better heart health. Another benefit to eating a high-protein breakfast is you avoid the “afternoon slump” that plagues so many of us. This bout of fatigue often causes you to rush for a sugary, fattening snack to help keep you awake. Sugar in the afternoon does not help you fit into that bikini.

4.     Carbs: To eat or not to eat…that is the question
Carbohydrates (breads, pastas, rice, sweets, cakes, tortillas, chips, candy, even some vegetables and fruit) are often villainized. In truth, we need carbs in our diet. What we don’t need are processed foods high in simple carbohydrates with little nutritional value. Whole grains, fruits and vegetables are an important part of most diets. However, it’s easy to overdo “carbs” overall and if your goal is to lose weight quickly, backing off on the carbs might be a help.

What works for many is to limit “obvious” carbs to once per day (this does not include fruits or vegetables). You might have old fashioned rolled oats with your cottage cheese for breakfast and that would be your carb for the day. Or you choose an “extra fiber” bagel with lunch. Perhaps save your carb for dinnertime. The best time to eat a carbohydrate, by the way, is immediately before or after a hard exercise session. So if you really want that muffin, time it to correspond with your workouts.

It’s all a matter of finding what works for you. Too few carbs can leave you exhausted. Too many and you don’t lose weight. Chart what you eat and how you feel. Base your carb intake on that. There is nothing wrong with cutting back for a short period of time. But for the longer term, we all need the fiber and other benefits whole grains provide. Just use common sense and try to eat a balanced diet.

5.     It’s all in the ‘tude
One of the easiest ways to look good in your bathing suit? Wear your smile and a happy attitude. It sounds hokey, I know, but if you think you look good, other people will think you look good, too. Stand confident. Stand tall. Be happy. Think of all the things your body has accomplished. Every scar, every stretch mark tells the story of your life. Remember – you are your own harshest critic. Others don’t see the faults you do. Cut yourself some slack.

Work hard. Eat smart. Wear a smile. It really is that simple.

Helen M. Ryan is an ACE-certified trainer, Spinning® director, author and speaker. Follow her on Twitter & Facebook.

“Turn and face the strain, ch-ch-changes.” ~David Bowie

The single most effective tool in weight loss is unpredictability and change.

What do I mean by that? Not letting your body know what to expect or what’s coming up next. Shocking it on several levels to keep it on its feet and your metabolism fired up.

You hear about “shocking” you body with exercise, but how about shocking your body with your eating habits? If you are like most people (myself included since I start 360 mornings a year with oatmeal), you get used to eating the same foods day in and day out. It’s surprising to realize that you really do eat close to the same number of calories every day, be it a higher number or a lower number. Your body knows this and depends on this information to keep you fat.

If you are focused on eating only 1,200 calories a day your mind will find a way to throw a whole pizza in there just to keep your fat stores happy. Just sayin’.

If you vary what you eat, how much you eat, and what you do for exercise, something magical happens. Your life becomes more unpredictable and your body starts to respond…so does your brain. Humans thrive on variety. Surprising your body with both food- and exercise changes has the added benefit of empowering your mind.

The simplest way to excite your body and your mind is to plan each week as something different. The first week you might eat fewer carbohydrates (carbs) and more good fats, and the second week more carbs and less fat. The third week you might want to try vegetarian (which requires more creativity) and see how that works for you. Cycle back to the first week and start again, or plan something completely new. Make it unique and different.

Change the actual number of calories you eat each day, too. For a couple of days eat fewer calories, then eat in the mid-range. Eat fewer calories again,  then mid-range. Never let your body know what your brain is up to. Do not let your body predict how many calories are coming in. Once  your body knows that you are restricting calories it will start to slow down its metabolism to compensate for the perceived “famine.” Don’t let it think the famine is coming by alternating your calories.

Also allow yourself one day per week to not pay attention to how much and what you are eating. I’m not saying go whole hog on the binging. I am suggesting eating as any “normal” person who is not watching their weight would on a relaxed day. Just eat and enjoy. Then start with lower calories the next day again and cycle through your calorie-varying trick.

As an example of the “free day,” yesterday I went to the movies and ate movie theater popcorn. As most of us know, movie theater popcorn is loaded with fat and calories so we avoid it like the plague. I ate the butter-laden popcorn guilt-free (not so good for the heart) because it was part of my planned day of “diet rest.” I enjoyed it and today I had zucchini and egg whites for breakfast. My body is questioning my judgment right now but my head is happy. A happy head equals diet success because you don’t feel deprived. Once a week take this planned “rest” day and see how well it works.

With exercise, instead of sticking to your usual routine, follow the same “week by week” cycling as with the food.  While keeping a balance, one week perform more cardio, one week more strength training, and one week add something completely different (Spinning, Zumba, TRX training, kettlebells, dancing, BOSU, Spri 360, Gliding Discs, ropes, boxing….). Some weeks work with heavier weights and lower repetitions, then other weeks work with lower weights and higher repetitions. Change the tempo (faster, slower) and even add intervals. Work with free weights some weeks, then body weight and exercise tubing other weeks. Look for options. As a Spinning instructor I am often locked into a Spinning schedule for cardio, but some weeks I teach more, some weeks I teach less and I always, always change up my strength training routine (it’s no routine!)

So be unpredicable. Be fearless. Make change.

Onward and forward.

The answer is no, at least according to a Time Magazine article published last week, Why Exercise Won’t Make You Thin. In fact, it is their thought that exercise might even make it harder for you to lose that excess weight.

Could this possibly be true?

As someone who has lost 80 pounds and gone from a size 20 to a size 4 by exercising and making moderate changes to her diet, I can confidently state “not very likely.”

Why would Time Magazine makes those claims if they are not accurate? Because study results are always open to interpretation – and because we are talking about that very article right now. Buzz is good for business. That’s why.

When I first read the article on why exercise will not help with weight loss, I did so with an open mind. I analyzed the studies presented, examined the facts, and listened to the experts. Putting my own bias about the many obvious benefits of exercise aside, I found the article itself had many biases against exercise.

Dr. Timothy Church, chair in Health Wisdom at LSU, and quoted in the Time article, has since stated, via the American College  of Sports Medicine, that his “professional opinions were misrepresented,” and adds, “Exercise and diet go together. Weight management is most successful when careful attention is given to both physical activity and proper nutrition (ACSM, 2009).” ACSM has also released their own opinion on the subject in a press release dated August 7, 2009.

Your Self-Control Is Getting Weaker…

Despite article claims that exercise increases hunger (which it can, for a bit), or that people feel justified to eat more if they’ve exercised (it certainly happens), the oddest assertion is that your self control weakens the more you use it. In essence, the author seems to be telling us that if we use our self-control to make ourselves exercise, we won’t have any will power left later to control what we put in our mouths.

The Examiner looked at that statement, and the underlying study, and found that [the author] “…mistakenly misinterprets two psychologists who claim that “self-control operates like a muscle or strength… [a] limited resource that is depleted afterward (Muraven & Baumeister, 2000).  Cloud states that “will power, like a muscle, weakens each day after you use it.”  First, muscle actually gets stronger after continual use, which is a basic, fundamental concept in exercise physiology.   Cloud also misrepresents Muraven and Baumeister’s will-power model.  Although the authors say that self-control is reduced under stress, Cloud interprets this as after a person goes for a run, s/he will eat a pizza rather than a salad.  However, once again, he fails to see the bigger picture. In their review, Muraven and Baumeister recognize  that “not only does self-control show short-term fatigue effects like a muscle does, it also shows long-term improvement, just as a muscle gets stronger through exercise.  In other words, there is a long-term effect of gaining strength with practice.”

In other words, when you first start using your self control, it may be weak. But with continued and regular use, it will grow in strength. Sounds just like a muscle, huh?

The Flip Side

To learn some positives about exercise and how it can improve your life and health, Fitness has put together 10 benefits of exercise for you to review. Don’t cancel that gym membership quite yet…

The electronic version of my “Living the Fit Life” is here. >Download your copy now. It’s free! (Courtesy of LA’s the Place.com.)

Post any comments you might have about it. I’d love to hear your feedback.

(by Helen Ryan. written for LA’s the Place)

Not much happening in the metabolism department? Need a change to get things going? Here are eight (nearly) painless ways to stoke your metabolic fire.

Continue reading at LA’s the Place….