Summer Bods! Summer Slim Down! Get Bikini Ready!
This is the season for a lot of pressure to get your physical self "ready" for the beach vacations and pool parties and, while I am definitely on board for working toward whatever health and wellness goals you have, these sentiments are exactly what keeps us yo-yo-ing, feeling guilty, feeling like we're failing and all that other not-awesome stuff we feel about ourselves and our bodies.
The truth is, bikini ready summer bods are whatever we want them to be! No quick fix or fad diet will get you there. It starts inside and that spills over to the outside. Love ourselves and treat our bodies well and they will be where we want them.
So for those who didn't hop on my Spring Clean YOU Challenge this time around, I've got some tips to help you get summer ready - SAVAGE STYLE!
Before you try out a 30 day diet or kill yourself getting to the gym every day for a month, start here. Give yourself 30 days to live more Savage, stay consistent, and see the transformation you're looking for!
Start inside
Decide to choose to prioritize how you FEEL and stop focusing on your scale weight (even those of you with weight loss goals, start here and that will come!).
Focus on making choices that feel good. It's easy to push off weight loss "until tomorrow" or try to "solve" our bad decisions with decisions that don't feel good. So focus on eating for health and energy, sleeping well (late night snacks and frequent alcohol interrupt those sleep cycles) and getting active because it feels good.
Learning to love yourself and speak kindly to yourself goes a long way toward staying consistent and making the choices you want to be making! Try these:
Give yourself a power statement that you say to yourself in the mirror every morning and empowers you to love and value YOU.
Meditate - I LOVE guided meditations. There are plenty of apps for quick ones that can help stir up and release negative emotions or for my Virtual Gym members, we have a lot of great tools and resources from Lisa Abramson of Wise Mama. But even just going of a walk or run outdoors (see my next point) or sitting in quiet can help you get in touch with you.
Journal or find a close friend or partner to open up to. Talking or writing about your feelings helps release their power over you. Anxiety, worry, fear, shame - when you get it out from the corner of your mind you've been pushing it to, you can see it for what it is. A thought - and once it's out in the open, it's hold on you can often be easily released.
Clean up your diet
Okay, I know I said no diets necessary, but we're focusing on taking action so we FEEL good. Donuts, burgers, pasta, candy and milkshakes all taste good in the moment, but think about how you feel when you eat them. Especially if it's frequent or in large quantities.
You're not only physically full and tired and a bit tummy achey, but you will often get those dark thoughts building up - guilt, shame, and just all-around not-proud of your choices.
Remove the processed foods as much as you can.
Take some time to decrease your sugar intake significantly. Once you're released from the cravings, small treats and bites of sugar here and there will feel good and controllable. You will be back in the driver's seat and that comfort food that makes you bummed about your body won't be calling to you anymore. And when it does, you can go for it.
Figure out clean versions of the things you love and find a way to NOT deprive yourself of them in your healthy lifestyle. Love pasta? Buy some organic pasta and toss a serving into a salad mixed with tons of veggies and a light oil and vinegar dressing. Cutting things out completely can work in the short term if you're able to stick to it, but it will all come rushing back when you're done. And then some.
Once you've got your healthy baseline set up, you may start dropping weight as you go, or at least you'll have a perfect template to implement a couple tweaks to get the weight off for good.
Get active daily
Notice I didn't say get to the gym a ton or do long grueling workouts to burn off your sins! 30 minutes a day (or more!) - stay consistent and do it. Short strength workouts done at home consistently will get you stronger than the occasional sweat shesh you're actually making it to. I know you want to go more and you want to hit it hard, but life moves fast and it's hard (and expensive!) to get to classes enough to see the results you want over the long term.
Empower yourself to get in the activity YOURSELF.
Go for a walk, park far away, take a jog, do a home workout (my members get a weekly email with a workout of the week - just sayin'). I guarantee you can find 30 minutes. And if you can't, we need to talk!
And, honestly, there are days you won't make it happen. It's a choice. Not always a good one but it happens! So then let that be a reminder to prioritize it the next day, and the day after that. It's easy to get too busy to do it, but it's also easy to find that time for yourself. So do it. Even 5/7 days will do ;)
Check out this testimonial (spoiler, it's me and I'm really just doing what I listed above!):
"Starting a business has done a number on my self care (and emotions!) this year. I've been doing the Spring Clean YOU Challenge and I'm not going for weight loss, just healthier habits - the scale hasn't changed at all but I'm feeling better in a swimsuit than I have in AGES! Clean eating, staying active, great posture, not feeling deprived and loving ME - it's happening and I feel (and look!) GOOD. "
Get after it, mamas! Let's hit this summer hard with our Savage selves. Unleash those (already!) bikini bods and live healthy AND be happy!
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As always, I'd love to hear from you! Respond here and let me know you're committing to getting Savage for 30 days! I'll set an alert in my calendar and check back in with you!
You're a bright and shining start and you look DAMN GOOD in a bikini!
Love,
Shannon