It’s that time of the year again…
The sun is coming out more often, it is getting warmer, and people are planning their summer getaways.

Are you looking for ways to tone up your body so that you can be confident that you look good in a bikini when you hit the beaches this summer?

Although there is no quick fix (since fitness is a lifestyle), check out these tips that can help you get into shape for the summer (and beyond).

1. First, take a hard look at your diet. Diet is just as important (if not more so)as exercise when it comes to getting in shape and staying there. I am not an advocate of depriving yourself of things that you like to eat, but if you are eating cake, ice cream, Kraft dinner, chocolate cookies, and potato chips every day, you are doing yourself a disservice.

I find it helpful to write down what you are eating every day, and adjusting your portions accordingly. Often times, we don’t realize how many calories we are actually taking in, and by writing it down, we are able to think about what we are eating and how much we can cut out without depriving ourselves.

I believe that it is not very hard to cut out about 250 calories from your diet per day. 1 Chocolate chip cookie and a can of soda equate to approximately 250 calories.

2. Try not to drink anything with calories. It does not mean that you can’t enjoy a glass of juice once in a while, but did you know that a glass of juice is anywhere between 100-200 calories, not to mention that there is often sugar added? Instead, substitute your juice (and other caloric beverages) with water or green tea, both of which are good for your health.

If you are still craving juice, you can dilute it by adding water to it, and that way, the concentration of sugar will be reduced and you can still enjoy the flavour.

According to my nutrition notes, you should divide your weight in half, and that is the number of ounces of water that you should drink. So, I’m 118 lbs, which means that I should be drinking 59 ounces of water per day.

3. Figure out what exercises you enjoy doing. I hope that my earlier post on “creative ways to get fit” can give you a few ideas.

4. Write down what you did for a workout every day. Personally, I find it useful to get a calendar and put a check mark on every day that I worked out. If you really want to get detailed, you can actually write down what you did for that day… for example: Wednesday, April 20th-went for a jog. Writing things down keeps you aligned with your goal and keeps you on track.

5. Find someone to work out with. Working out is much more fun when you have someone else with you who enjoys the same activities as you do.

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What do you like to do for exercise?

I hope you found this helpful!

Aviva =)