Bikini Season Bootcamp Part One: The Beginning

After attempting (and failing) to get into a khaki pencil skirt that I fit into just one month ago, I realized it's going to take more than just light jogging to get in shape for bikini season. I need to shift some of my food choices, plus do a little more exercise. I already eat pretty healthy, I just need to curb a few bad habits, and get my booty moving on the daily. Here's my plan:


Eat this not that:

-Oatmeal with cinnamon for breakfast, not cereal. I just use quick oats and add skim milk. I find I don't miss the sugar, but you can add a little Splenda/sweetener if you want. 

-Mixed nuts instead of candy. Costco has some great mixes right now, PS.

-Eating fish at least once a week. This is hard because my boo is allergic, so I have to grab some sushi or fish tacos on my own. Usually it's a lunch meal.

-Switching to all natural coffee creamer, such as Natural Bliss in Sweet Cream. Read your labels, your creamer should only be cream. 

-Eating fruit every day. I hate bananas, but I eat one a day. Or I try to eat an apple. 

-Swap my chip intake with Greek yogurt. 

-Drink less soda. I used to avoid the stuff, but my boo got me addicted again! (Not really, I just caved, but it's nice to blame someone else for your vices, right?)


Keep track of my water intake:
-I'm aiming for 60-80 ounces per day. I've heard a few different rules about your daily recommended water levels, so I just try to sip all day long and get as much in me as I can, without feeling like I just drank the ocean.

-Tea and lemon wedges are nice additions to plain water too.


Getting up at 6:30am to do this:

on my pinny 

Or this:

on Refinery 29

Running, 3-4 times a week, for 1-2 miles. Then a huge run on Saturday.

-I'm going to try to run on the beach on the weekends. All I need now is a playlist to get pumped up to!

Feel free to join in with me, and read up on the Anti-Diet by The Londoner, she's got the healthy-living lifestyle down pretty well!

Fitness and Body Image

These past couple of weeks I've been trying to get back into "bikini" shape, but it's brought up a bunch of my old friends, namely Poor-Body-Image and Never-Thin-Enough-Depression. I didn't realize I had such a poor body image of myself until my besties and hubs told me that I needed to stop losing weight. This was around my wedding, so I know I was working out a little too much. But that really stuck with me, and I thought damn, I have a horrible image of what my body is "supposed" to look like. If it wasn't for them, I probably would have worked out forever until I disappeared! 

Maybe it was ballet? I was a ballerina as a kid and teen, and was constantly reminded of the ideal body type to succeed in that world...

Maybe B-Spears had a hand in it, since I basically idolized her (lets be honest, she's still awesome in my book)...

Barbie? Maybe? I don't think so though.

Victoria Secret catalogs? Oh ya, you beat-chya! Those women look fantastic, but not everyone has a model body type...

In college I gained a ton of weight. Like 35+ pounds of weight. I went from a size 00 to a size 5, and was TOTALLY HAPPY WITH IT. I was finally a medium! I had always wanted to be a medium, just a normal, middle range size that's always available. But I was way out of shape, and I needed to work out again. It was getting hard to surf and snowboard, not to mention walk across campus. So I lost all the weight, started eating healthy, and got back to a size XS. But lately my medium cravings have been bubbling up, one cookie at a time. And my skinny jeans have been a little too skinny for me too. So I decided yesterday (it's still fresh) that I'm going to be as toned as possible. No more get-as-skinny-as-possible, or guilt-trip-starving. I'm going to eat healthy, and as much as I need/want/feel like, and I'm going to workout and tone the crap outta myself. Because that's what I think true women should look like now. I'm going to change this dumb self body image I have and make it healthy. So there! (And maybe have healthy-ish cookies too!)

Anyway, here is what I plan on doing, so follow along if you want!

-Run 3-4 times a week. I usually like to do 1-2 miles, depending on time of day and the wind factor. It's ridiculously windy every day in this town, and it blows in every direction--sooo annoying!!

-Squats, lunges, arm workouts, planks, crunches, all that good stuff. If you want a great resource, Lauren Conrad actually has some fantastic routines on her sight, check it HERE, HERE, HERE, and  HERE. She recently teamed up with Tone it up, HERE, and they seem to have some great exercise options too. I just got some dumbbells from Target, 3lb and 5lb sets, and use them when I work out. Also, a yoga mat is nice even when you are at home. My carpet makes my feet sweat! (gross!)

-And get some cute outfits to work out in too! It'll make you want to exercise more, trust me:

from my Pinny

A tank/t-shirt and leggings or shorts are what I usually like to wear. Comfy, flexible, and versatile--perf!

Happy exercising!

Adventure Time: Barre Fitness

Hey Peeps,

I've been looking for a new gym ever since my last one closed down unexpectedly last year, and have been taking my sweet time. I hate working out! I've never been that crazy into it, but I do like activities that get me moving and keep me interested, like dance. I used to do ballet forever, and I just found the perfect place to dance my way back into shape: Barre fitness classes (pronounced like "bar"). I'm taking the beginner class at Assets in downtown SLO on Saturday. I hope I like it so my (very lazy and slow) search can be over! Here's their website if you want to join me.

Since I've never done barre fitness before, I looked up some tips to help me prepare:

-Great tips from POPSUGAR.

-Bring a yoga mat if you have one.

-Here's some outfit options: think yoga clothes

I definitely want to dress with some neon flair. 

I'll let you know if it's worth the time and money.

HM