bikinify your bod

Today marks only 4 weeks until my much anticipated spring vacation to Cuba! Unfortunately, my body hasn't been exactly where I would want it to be for a week at the beach. While I am normally a big fan of the post breakup "heartbreak diet" or the post Cuba, "sick-with-a-parasite diet". Neither of those options are available to me right now. Thus, I've had to get creative and develop some new ways to get my body bikini ready! Here we go!

1. Find an exercise you like! This probably seems obvious to many of you but I for one have never been a fan of the gym or any particular sport so it was a great place for me to start. In the name of fitness I have tried: pilates, yoga, kickboxing, personal training, jazzercise, aquafit, zumba, crossfit, running and spinning. Some I liked, some I hated (SPINNING) and some I liked enough to stick with. Right now I've been enjoying Body Pump and Zumba which I take at Good Life Fitness and Yoga which I practice at Power Yoga Canada
2. Make an awesome working out playlist. I'll be honest, usually the only thing that keeps me on the treadmill for longer than 10 minutes, is the flow of some good music on my ipod. Some of my favourites include: Cinema - Benny Benassi ft. Gary Go, Marry the Night - Lady Gaga, Danza Kuduro - Don Omar & Lucenzo, Dreamer - Livin' Joy, Take On Me - a-ha, Shout - Isley Brothers.
3. Treat yourself and shop for some new work-out clothes. For whatever reason, I still like to look semi presentable when I work out. Two of my favourite work-out pieces come from lululemon. I love the wunder under pants and the cool racer back tank.

Photo Source: Lululemon

4. Ponder over your favourite healthy foods. For me, healthy eating always seems like a bit of a chore. I'm not ashamed to admit that I love fatty foods, I'm very likely addicted to sugar and I very much enjoy salt. YUM! To make matters worse, I don't enjoying cooking and most healthy meals require a lot of preparation. However, I have to come to realize that there are quite a few healthy foods that I love to eat! Blueberries, tomatos, shrimp, rice crackers are just a couple of examples or healthy foods that I love and can feel excited about eating!
5. Prepare Food. Just to add to my healthy eating habits, I also love my fast food. I can fool myself by going to places like Subway and pretending I'm eating healthier but we all know fast food is not good for your body, or your wallet. I've gotten myself in the habit of bringing my lunch to work and that way I'm not easily swayed to go out.
6. Watch your liquid calories! I do a lot of drinking and most of it isn't water! I usually have 2 coffee's a day, I'm ashamed to admit I still drink pop and I would probably enjoy a glass of wine everyday if I could! However, I don't even think of beverages as calories but they are, and its amazing how much I can lower my daily caloric intake when I hold off on that second coffee, do away with the pop and save my wine for the weekend.
7. Step Away From the Scale. At first glance this one may seem counter-productive but I know in my experience, when I set out to lose some weight I only get side tracked when I get preoccupied with a silly number. It might be nice to weight yourself once in awhile but don't let yourself get obssessed with a weekly weigh in. Go by how you look, feel and how your clothes fit, those are usually better indicators.
8. Appreciate Your Body Here, Now, Today. Just be thankful that you have a healthy, functioning body to "obsess" over. It's easy to lose sight of.
9. Drink Water. When you're thirsty, drink water... when you're hungry, drink water... It always quenches, even when you think it won't.
10.Change your Thoughts. When trying to accomplish something, nothing can be more important than thinking positive empowing thoughts.

I will eat healthy.

I will exercise.

I will lose weight and tone my body.

and repeat...!

Good luck everyone!

Ash