When beach season rolls around, we’d all like to have a perfect body. But how to achieve it – or at least get close? The best way, of course, is to start the preparation before the summer hits! Being beach-ready involves many parts of personal care. It involves dietary changes, physical exercise, skin care, and most importantly, changes in your way of thinking. So, start with visualizing your perfect body and take some actions on the way to your dream!
These tips will help you to get in shape and improve your health. Use these tricks to stay beautiful and toned up!
Exfoliation
Even if you are toned up, the state of your skin is essential. Due to dead skin cells, which appear on the outermost layer, even the most svelte skin may look very dry and scaly.
So, before beach season, exfoliation is downright essential. The ways to do it are various: you may buy body scrubs, which contain glycolic acid and salt, use body brushes with stiff bristles (not for the sensitive and injured skin), sponges, made of a natural fiber.
Also, you may make your own body scrub. For this, mix to a homogeneous consistency three tablespoons of coffee grounds, a teaspoon of cocoa powder and a tablespoon of coconut oil. On top of that, it will make your skin smooth, and reduce or make cellulite less visible and add a light bronzing effect.
Remove Body Hair
De-hair legs and bikini line and you won’t worry about pesky stray hairs. You may try wax, sugaring, threading or just shave at home. But after shaving, make sure to check your knees, ankles and the back of the hips because you may miss some strays there. After you are fuzz-free, avoid the ocean and the sea for some time, as the salt may irritate the skin.
As for wax, do this procedure a week before going to the beach. If you remove hairs too early, you may face a problem of re-growth and nasty skin. To take care of the bikini line, try a “Brazilian” or a “Hollywood” style wax hair removal and remove all hairs completely.
Moisturizing
Your skin needs protection and it is much more than only applying cream with a high SPF. Slather antioxidant-rich body lotion or lotion with aloe under sunscreen to keep your skin protected. But avoid products containing citric acid, as they can make the skin more sensitive to sunlight.
Regular Workout
When you are trying to slim down, you should work out on a daily basis. So, make up a training schedule and stick to it. To get in the best shape quickly, you should do high-energy cardio every day for at least 30 minutes. It’ll speed up your metabolism, melt fat and blast calories. Combine it with stretching and strength exercises.
Depending on your lifestyle, age, needs, and body’s capability to recover, choose either three days or four days split and make Sunday your day off.
For instance, you may consider the following four days split:
Day 1 – Cardio training plus strength training. Start with a 10-minute warm – up. Do intervals on a treadmill or bike. Work out hard for 30 seconds, then take two minutes of lighter recovery. Repeat 10 times and finish with a cool-down. Include weights in your strength exercises and focus on your upper body. Do three sets of kickbacks, back rows, and shoulder presses.
Day 2 – Start with cardio training and concentrate on the workout for the lower body. Perform low squats, step ups, resistance bands and side lunges. Do each exercise for three times.
Day 3 – Work on your upper body again.
Day 4 – Focus on core exercises such as one-legged deadlifts, side and front planks. Do each exercise for one minute and then complete three circuits.
Dietary Changes
The first rule is to eat six times a day in small proportions. Besides, make sure that meals in total don’t exceed 1200 calories. You should consume the majority of calories before 3 p.m.
There are some do’s and don’ts as for the diet.
Do’s:
- Add more fruit (grapefruit) and vegetables (broccoli, spinach, asparagus), their intake is pertinent to maximizing your fitness goals and they will detox the organism.
- Add white fish.
- Eat a lot of protein – the rule is one gram per pound you weight.
- Stay hydrated all the time. If you drink enough water each day (approximately 3-4 liters), then it can enhance the complexion of your skin and give you the appropriate recovery from a tough workout. On top of that, water cleanses the body of toxins and helps you to feel full without being bloated.
- Consume green tea, dark berries, salmon because they fight cellulite.
Don’ts:
- Don’t eat honey, dairy products, cheese, chocolate, or mayonnaise as they retain excess water.
- Give up on eating fatty sauces and ketchup.
- Watch the intake of high carb foods, as their excessive consumption leads to obesity. That is why you should avoid eating potatoes, candies, jam, bread, pizza, cakes. Don’t consume soda, sugar or syrups.
- Don’t drink alcohol, as it inhibits your ability to burn fat and it may dehydrate you.
Use Water-Resistant Body Makeup
Sometimes you need quick-working tools which will make you slimmer and make the skin smoother. Here a bronzer and tanning sprays or creams will help you. The bronzer will give you a sunless tan- just apply it to your body and a deep color will develop over the next four hours. And tanning sprays and creams will hide your stretch marks and you’ll feel more confident.
Hence, the onset of summer may be stressful and you should prepare a beach body in advance. So, have a positive mindset, define your goals clearly, follow these tips and you’ll fulfill your dream of a perfect body.
Written by Francesca Russo http://thecrossfitshoes.com/
Hi there ,how could you bronze your body and highlight ? many thanks
Thank you for reminding me that I should work out on a daily basis in order to lose weight for the summer body I’m aiming for. I’m just originally planning to follow a diet plan but you made me realize that it is really better to melt fat and consume the calories I ate through strength exercises. It might also help if I were to enroll myself in some workout classes in a nearby facility.