Lose the Muffin Top Fast By Following These 4 Simple Steps!

Oh yes. It’s time to stop pretending that those 2014 body resolutions are going to take care of themselves. It is January now but before you know it, we will be heading into winter at an alarming speed beautiful, and if you’re anything like me you know what that means!

Before you know it, it’s going to be no longer ‘almost the middle of the year’, but ‘almost the end of the year’. You know that thing we all say each year about how fast time goes? It’s already happening for this one, isn’t it?

And I know you know what that means???

It means you need to take action stat! Not because you ‘must’ stay in a certain shape or even get there at all, but because I know you want to feel great about yourself. In control. Happy. And confident, sexy and free.

 All that good stuff.

And if you’re honest about the fact that wanting to lose weight and feel better about how you look matters to you, then it means not having yet another year pass by in which you don’t meet your body goals.

And yes, I know I could be telling you that you are a beautiful woman just as you are and that there are more important things to think about and that maybe you’re being too hard on yourself or too obsessive or that you just need to let go a little.(You can take that as being told, because I do believe all of that is likely very true. Except the beautiful part which is definitely true, just because you’re you ;))

But just for a moment let’s pretend we don’t only care about the ‘what’s inside that counts’ stuff and put aside the corniness and platitudes. Say after me – “I just wanna look hot and feel confident and sexy for the whole of 2014!” (You can say it regardless of where you live in the world and regardless of whether you will be donning a bikini in the first few months of the new year!) And you know what? It’s okay. I won’t tell anyone you’re so horribly vain. You know what else? Me too.

Check out my own personal ‘before and afters’ from following my bikini body shape up plan myself late 2012, right before getting pregnant with our second child (who is now 15 weeks old). These photos are 7 weeks apart.

So yes, I definitely care about how I look, and you know what? Even though I most definitely was not out of shape in the first pics I was not feeling comfortable about myself, nor proud of how I was treating my body. My training, nutrition, and my mindset weren’t at the level I knew they could be and the biggest driving factor for me in embarking on my photo-shoot journey was to feel proud about myself.

I know that you too have a deep internal driver for wanting to change your body. Possibly you’re not sure what that is, but it sure goes beyond just wanting to look good. All that being said, the truth is that vanity doesn’t make either of us a bad person! It makes you an honestperson who cares about how she treats her body and who knows that the outer reflects the inner health, vitality and balance.

So.

What I’m thinking, is you need a bit of an action plan, yes?

Your ‘Whole Of 2014’ Bikini Body Shape-Up Plan: In 4 Simple Steps!

I used to be one of those women who would watch the date of my upcoming holidays or special events drawing nearer with a mounting dread. Each day I’d tell myself that this was the day I’d get my sh&t together. Each evening I’d tell myself that tomorrow was definitely the day.

My nutrition and training habits would veer from good to great to panicked to I’m not really sure the heck what I should be doing anyway so why even bother. To say it was hard to stay on track and actually feel excited about getting in shape is an understatement. My whole approach to getting the body I wanted was about fear, panic, overwhelm, uncertainty and self-doubt.

Now, I can honestly say that I am in a shape I am so damn proud of and I just feel great both inside and out.

And if I want to lean up a bit extra, like for the photo-shoot I did, I know exactly which changes I need to make. I know it’s a combination of the right nutrition, training and lifestyle changes but also the right support and accountability, as well as dealing with the mind stuff. That last bit, as well as having the right support and accountability, is the ‘make or break’ for me, and for pretty much every woman out there who is not in fact a robot.

Special events aside, I love that I can now enjoy the body I walk around in without it dominating my every thought or choice. I love that I can go out for a meal or a social event and not freak out. And I definitely love that no matter what the time of year or season of fashion, I can wear clothes I feel great in!

So.

I want to share with you some of the things that have been crucial to my success in getting the body I want and that I know need to be an essential part of your lose the muffin top/get your bikini body plan as well!

Mind Stuff

You have to understand your ‘underlying motivation’ for wanting to change your body, or you won’t stick to it. Goals need to be clearly defined. Losing weight is not a goal. Fitting into your size ‘x’ dress or jeans is a goal. With my private fat loss clients I insist on dealing with thoughts and beliefs as just an important part of the process as what changing nutrition and training is. Sometimes more important.

Food Stuff

I teach my clients to work on changing one meal at a time. Creating habits. Over the course of several weeks we put strategies into place that set them up for nutritional success for the rest of the day; minimise cravings and emotional eating. Keep blood sugars stable and allow them to release fat. This stuff has to be layered or it just doesn’t stick. One simple thing you can do towards is eat a protein and good fat based breakfast within 30 minutes of waking.

Training Stuff

I’m never unrealistic in my expectations with the women I work with. I am honest about what you need to do to get results, but I’m skilled at making it doable. I adjust training to be gym or home based, and teach my clients how to train for results in 2 hours or less per week if need be. Just start with what you can do, even if it’s 10 minutes each morning of squats, lunges and push ups. Just start.

Motivation, Accountability And Emotional Eating

This is huge. HUGE. Many women I’ve worked with have truly put everything into place when it comes to food and training but haven’t stopped to learn how to stay on track when life happens. Or when they get run down. Feel blah. I am big on getting to the heart of this stuff before it happens. I teach systems for dealing with emotional eating, weekend eating, or a simple case of the can’t-be-bothered’s. Daily journaling is one way you can keep your mind focused on what you want and stay on track. There are loads of cool motivational exercises and ‘mind tricks’ you can do to release old fears and beliefs and naturally want to do the right thing. But journaling is an awesome place to start right now.

(Bonus Step!) Support

You have to have the right support to get to your bikini body goal and then also maintain it. You simply have to. It doesn’t necessarily have to be working with a private coach such as myself. That’s one thing you could do. But you could also join an online community, a bootcamp, a forum, engage some friends and keep each other accountable. Good support is partly just having someone or other people there for you, and it’s partly having someone to provide you with actionable steps to take each week in all of the above areas as well as strategies for moving on when life does happen.

After all –

Life is Now. Press Play.

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