Fitness Coach Shares "3 Easy Steps" to Lose Weight Before Summer

The days are already getting longer—and now that we're midway through March, temperatures are warming up as well. But with the onset of spring, summer is that much closer, and we'll all be showing a bit more skin soon. If you're looking to start your weight-loss journey ahead of warmer weather, it's not too late, and a few small changes can have a big impact on reaching your goals. Read on to discover "three easy steps" that fitness coach Jenna Rizzo recommends to lose weight before summer.

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In a Feb. 27 TikTok video, Rizzo—who specializes in women's weight loss—says the worst thing you can do when starting your weight loss journey is "try to go zero to 100 overnight." Instead, you can make a few easy shifts "that will get you results" before the summer season. Even better, they don't require you to change every aspect of your life.

First, she recommends "gamifying" your activity.

"You never have to spend hours in the gym, but you should get your body moving—and a way I like to do this with my clients is setting up a challenge for yourself," Rizzo shares. "This could be a step challenge, or hitting at least 30 minutes of exercise every day."

To encourage yourself to complete this challenge, you "incentivize yourself with a reward or prize," she says.

"Let's say you hit your challenge of getting at least 30 minutes of activity for four days straight, you might reward yourself with like a pedicure, or a bubble bath, or something that entices you," Rizzo says.

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Next up on Rizzo's recommendations is following the "one-scoop rule" at meal times.

"Instead of trying to change your entire diet overnight, start by adding one scoop of fruits or vegetables to your current meals," she says. "A little psychology sprinkled in here: Over time, this will compound and help you make healthier decisions for your meals in the future."

Rizzo's third and final rule—which she says is her favorite—is about sleep.

"Sleep is important for a ton of reasons, but lack of sleep can cause a really big disrupt in your hormones, which can cause mood swings, crazy cravings, things like that," Rizzo explains. "Getting a minimum of seven hours of sleep per night is going to increase your body's natural ability to burn fat."

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In a separate TikTok video, Rizzo also shares three things she wouldn't do if she were trying to lose weight for the summer. First and foremost, she advises against being overly restrictive and only eating "clean."

"I'm not telling you to go eat Oreos every day and expect to magically lose weight," she says. "What I am saying is, I would not go zero to 100 and change everything about my diet overnight—when you do those extremes and take out all the food that you love and enjoy, you're setting yourself up for failure because it's not something you'll be able to do consistently enough to actually lose weight."ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb

Second, she warns against doing random workouts "that have no rhyme or reason to them" that you find on the internet. Instead, Rizzo recommends "following a very structured strength training program" to really see progress.

Lastly, coinciding with her advice about prioritizing sleep, Rizzo says you should avoid staying up too late.

"I would not waste my precious sleeping time on scrolling through social media," she tells viewers. "Sleep is such an underrated factor to weight loss, and the overwhelming majority of the population is not getting enough."

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