There comes a time in everyone’s life when you’re looking to improve yourself. If it’s your habits, your lifestyle, or your appearance, we all want to make the best out of our life. When the warmer months start to creep up, everyone wants to improve the way they look in their swimsuit.

Too many times you start working towards this goal when it’s almost too late to really see results. Procrastination is an ongoing problem for the majority of people out there. So why do we wait till the last second to try and get what we really want? Most of the time it’s because we don’t have a plan to reach our goal. I thought I would try and help those out there that don’t have a plan of action. I’ve decided to put together this 8 week program to help you lose those unwanted pounds before it’s too late to fit into that new swimsuit. Get ready to enjoy that new beach body!

Prepare for Hard Work

The toughest part of getting into any exercise routine is actually committing to it. The first week is very important. You have to make sure you get into the habit of eating correctly and exercising. Make a choice right now to work hard and accomplish your goals. You need to make sure you have the motivation to lose weight.

Here are some tips that will help you stay on track toward your goal:

• • • Make a fitness journal.

      • Start writing down everything you do in your exercise routine. One workout routine or exercise may work better for you than someone else. You can learn quicker what works best for you if you see exactly what you’ve done in the past and what results you’ve gotten from it.

• • • Make a nutrition journal

      • This has the same principle reason as the fitness journal. When it comes to getting the perfect body, what you eat will play the deciding factor in the long run. Determine how much food it takes for you to lose weight, maintain your current weight, and also add quality muscle.

    • Take measurements

      • Without measurements you can never really tell if what you’re doing is working. I will talk more about this in the upcoming section.

There are many more things you can do to keep yourself on track, but I like to keep things simple. These 3 things will help motivate you to continue each day. When you start to see good results you will only want to do more. Here are 10 strategies to transform your body.

Measurements

Now is the time to take measurements. You always want to know exactly where you’re at so you can know where to go. You can measure as many parts of your physique as you want, or you can just focus on one or two areas. Here are some common areas I like to keep track of. Anything listed in bold is the important measurements that you need to focus on unless you’re wanting to change certain areas of your body.

• Weight

• Body Fat Percent

• Waist both at belly button and at your belt line

• Chest

• Neck

• Shoulders

• Bicep

• Forearm

• Hips

• Thigh

• Calf

I like to keep track of everything personally, but that’s because I focus a lot on muscle development even when I’m trying to shed my body fat. I know many of you are wondering why I didn’t include weight as a major measurement to pay attention to. Well weight is very important, but many times people get to invested in seeing their weight going down. They don’t realize they may be getting great results with your weight staying the same or even going up. Body fat percentage is the most important number to look at. By dropping body fat percentage, the toned look will begin to show and that is what a beach body is. So keep track of as many measurements as you want, but don’t forget the premise on how to get toned.

Don’t try and measure yourself everyday. These things don’t just all of a sudden happen over night. Your body requires time to adapt to the stress you are putting it through. As a good rule of thumb in a normal exercise routine, measure once every 4-8 weeks. Be sure to keep track of this in one of your journals. For this program, I want you to measure yourself every 2 weeks.

Nutrition

Let’s start to think about what what you’re eating. When it comes to lasting results, nutrition will be very important. From my past experiences with clients and myself, getting the body you want comes 80% from eating right.

After writing in your nutrition journal for 2-3 days, go back and take a look at what your normal day looks like. Focus on things you can eliminate to help decrease your calories. Don’t make it difficult on yourself. What are the unhealthy parts of your current diet? Take out fried trans fat foods, high sugar foods, and anything high in saturated fats. If you’re a numbers person like I am, search the calorie value of each food. You can easily see what you’re getting from the foods you eat. I like to use FitDay.com. It’s a great software tool for creating diets and calculating how many calories you intake. It also provides a free calculator. There are many more calorie calculators out there and many of them are similar. Find one you really like and stick with it.

Here are some easy things to help improve your eating habits:

• • • You should be having 5-6 small meals a day. This will really help increase your metabolism and energy levels. Make sure to pay attention to the portion size of each meal. Don’t eat more than what a small tupperware will hold. Many times I hear complaints that this isn’t possible with your living situation or your work schedule. This is completely untrue. I have been able to eat 6 meals a day with the most hectic work schedules possible. It just takes some planning.

    • Cook your meals in bulk. I cook all my meals on Thursday and Sunday. I keep all my meals in tupperware in the fridge. This makes it very quick to have a meal anytime, anywhere.

    • Increase your intake of fruits and vegetables. The extra fiber will absorb more water in your gut and ease the feeling of hunger.

    • Begin replacing your white foods with whole grain foods. Whole wheat pastas, brown rice, and whole wheat bread are all great choices. Here are a list of healthy foods you can make your meals out of.

    • Have a glass of green tea each morning. The tea will also boost your metabolism for the day. The green tea is also full of great antioxidants to help your overall health.

I know many of us cook for more than just ourselves and you don’t want to hassle our families with a bland diet. All healthy meals can be made delicious with just a little bit of work. There are many great recipes out there to help with this. During this program, I suggest trying to be as strict as possible on yourself so that you can get the best results possible.

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