Swimsuit Ready By Summer, Even If You Are Over 40

It’s daylight savings time and I pretty much skipped here because it’s light out. This time of year, a lot of people are starting to think about summer. The nights are getting longer and we’re starting to get a little bit warmer. I don’t want to jinx it, I don’t want to talk too loudly because Mother Nature might be like, “Hey, you’re getting a snowstorm in two weeks.” So, I don’t want to jinx it, I just want to say that I didn’t feel the coldness that I normally feel when I’m outside.

Fit For Summer’

While yes you are looking forward to summer you are thinking to yourself, “Can I get fit in time for summer'” And today is exactly 100 days to summer. Now, I’m counting summer as being June 21st. I think it’s like the astronomical summer, I think that’s the technical name for it. Some people think of summer as Memorial Day; I’m thinking of summer as June 21st, because at least here in New England it doesn’t start to really get warm till around June. 

This summer I want you to feel fit and confident and comfortable in your body and with a hundred days you’ve got time. You really do have time. And I’m talking about there’s no deprivation, I’m talking about that you’re not going to be like that poor girl who’s having carrots and water while everyone else is enjoying things. I want you to be able to glide into summer, enjoy your summer and come out on the other side of summer and not feel like, “Oh crap, I got to diet because I had too much barbecue.”

I want you to really learn what it takes to have sustainable weight loss. I want you  to know what it takes to have a sustainable, healthy lifestyle without always feeling like you have these big highs and lows where you have to diet before your big vacation and then lose your stuff on vacation, then have to diet again to get ready for the next big thing, then lose your stuff again. If you are over that keep listening,

Keep It Simple

Right now some of you visualize summer and you’re just like, “Sweet Georgia Brown.” You are thinking ‘there’s no way my thighs with the cottage cheese on them are ready for prime time, there’s no way that’s ever going to happen, and thigh gap, I haven’t had that since I was 13’. And if you’re saying you’re not ready, keep reading because I’m going to help get you ready. It’s not going to be anything drastic or crazy like that. The biggest thing I always tell people is keep it simple, simple.

Women like to over-complicate stuff, ad nauseam, we like to take something simple and add 500 layers on top of it so that it’s so complicated that we’re like “Wah'” It’s worse than trying to put it together IKEA furniture, that’s how complicated we make stuff. So, I want you to keep it simple. I want you in your mind’s eye to think about what is going well today. What are you doing well, so that we can start to build upon it’

Are you going to the gym’ Awesome! How many times do you go into the gym’ What’s the duration of the time that you’re at the gym’ What are you doing at the gym’ And what tweaks can we make to what is already going well’

If you’re going to the gym and maybe you’re only going for 30 minutes and you’re walking on the treadmill, great. Could you take 15 minutes of that 30-minute time block and put in some strength training’ Could you add an extra 15 minutes’ Could that walk become a jog and a walk’ Could that 30 minutes turn into maybe a HIIT workout’ What can I take from that 30 minutes of time and how can I build upon it’

The same thing with your food – maybe you’re doing great with your food, awesome. When was the last time you changed something in your diet’ And by change, I mean I know there are some people who actually eat the same thing over and over and over again. Maybe instead of reaching for the sweet potato when you go to the grocery store, you reach for the beets; maybe you reach for a butternut squash. Instead of reaching for the brown rice, maybe you’ve reached for the quinoa or some chickpeas. It’s those little subtle tweaks I’m looking for. Maybe instead of always having broccoli you’ve reached for another green vegetable. Little tweaks that you can build on but still keeping it really simple. Because the more complicated you make it, the less likely you are to continue, and I want you to continue.

I like simple things. I did a Facebook Live in my group, Reality Diet, a few days ago and we talked about meal prep. I’m a simple girl, any vegetable that comes in a bag that someone has chopped, shredded, zoodled, it’s for me, those are the vegetables I will always buy. Someone asks, “How do you cook beets'” Well, I don’t cook beets because there’s this place called Love Beets and they make them, and all I have to do is open up the package and slice them and then I’m done; no need to cook the beets. So, I want you to think about that, what’s already working. What are some tweaks you can make to what’s already working’

Movement challenge

And I also want you to focus on movement. Now, that’s not sexy, I know, but what is movement’ Movement is acts of daily living. I’ve talked about this on previous shows. We don’t move a lot in our lives anymore, we’re very sedentary, like we go for a workout and then we sit all day working and not moving a whole heck of a lot.

So, I challenge you, if it’s not a Fitbit, use your Apple watch or whatever and get in at least 10,000 steps a day. Just focus on having those acts of daily living. Take the dog for an extra 10 minutes on the walk, grab your kids and go for a walk around the block after dinner now that it’s a little lighter outside and a little bit warmer outside. But keep those thoughts.

Be Consistent

Ask yourself, “Is this something that I can do for the next one to two months’ Is it something I can do for the next one to two years'” Because if it is, guess what’ That’s called consistency, and you know how I feel – I create good habits, I get good results, and my results lead to consistency, and that’s how you win. It’s not this magic meal plan, it’s not this magic super food, or this list of inflammatory foods, it’s literally, “What can we do on a consistent daily basis'”

Sustainable and healthy goal’

The second piece is what is your overall goal’ And I ask that because I find that most people aren’t clear about what their goal is, and then the second piece is that they’re not realistic about what it takes to get there. So, six-pack abs — everyone is like, “Six-pack abs, I want to have six-pack abs.” Well, in order to get to six-pack abs, one, it has to be genetically possible for you. Not everyone is genetically predisposed to six-pack abs. You’re predisposed to have a flat stomach, but to get the six-pack abs I need to have a certain percent body fat. In order to get to that certain percent body fat, I don’t have a lot of wiggle room in my nutrition, I don’t have a lot of wiggle room in my workout, so if I want that six-pack abs, I’ve got to work my tushy off. I got to work my tushy off in order to get that. Take a listen to a FB Live I did on this subject.

Now, I want you to ask, “Is working my tushy off to get the six-pack abs sustainable'” Because I work with fitness and figure competitors and for a lot of those girls, abs are like an honored guest.  They show up the day of the show and they’re the first to go because as soon as I start to put in some water back into my system, as soon as I start to put some sugar, as soon as I start to increase my carbs, increase my protein, my abs are like, “See ya, wouldn’t want to be ya!” So, I really want you as you’re doing this to be crystal clear about what you want, like punching it into a GPS, it’s 123 Main Street, not just punching in Main Street. 

And then I want you say, “Is my goal realistic for what I’m willing to do’ What am I willing to do to get this goal'” And when I say willing, I’m not talking 90 days, I’m talking 900 days. Could you do this for 900 days’ And if you could do for 900 days, is it healthy’ Because I know that some of out there is like, “Girl if it’s a six-pack abs, I can do anything for 900 days.” Then it’s like but would that turn into something detrimental to your long-term health’ Because at the end of the day I want everyone who works with me to be healthy. I want everyone who works with me to say, “That was a great experience.” Not like, “Ugh. Girl, I worked with her and she killed me. I felt hungry. I felt angry. I just literally thought I could kill people because I just didn’t feel that I had enough substance in my body.” So, if you’re picking up when I’m putting down, that’s what I’m talking about. So, I want you to think about what could be achieved in this next hundred days. 

Do sprints

And I like to take my hundred days and break them down into five 20-day sprints so that each time I can say, “This is my long-range goal, and then in order to get to my long-range goal here’s step one, two, three, four and five.” And that way I’m starting to feel successful, I’m starting to get some wins under my belt, I’m starting to get that motivation, I’m starting to be like, “Yeah, I got this, I can do this.” And the mini goals could be changing up your food, setting a bedtime and actually getting six-plus hours of good sleep a night.

Maybe you decide you want to work out in the morning, or maybe you just want to say, “I’m going to consistently get in three to four workouts no matter what.” And maybe throwing in a little meditation. Whatever it is you’re just like, “I’m making me a priority, and I’m setting me as a goal.”

Process It

The next phase is creating a process. If you ever go to any store there’s a process that if you return something here are the steps that the cashier has to take in order to return your merchandise. Or if you buy something, here are the steps, this is how they have to punch it into the computer in order to take your money.

I want you to think about that as you go through what you’re trying to do. How do you make this into a process so that you’re not jumping from one thing to the next thing to the next thing’ I see it all the time. People start over here and they’re like, “Oh, I’m totally doing Keto.” And then they can’t stick with Keto because it’s too challenging, it’s too much for them. So, then they jump to, “Oh, I’m going to do Paleo.” Or, “Oh, I’m going to do this.” Or, “I’m going to do this.” And they jump around like a Mexican jumping bean and instead of saying, “My destination is 123 Main Street and the GPS coordinates says I have to stay on this road for a mile. I challenge you to stay on the road for a mile, and when you get to that mile then make a determination. Is there traffic on the road’ Is there an obstacle on the road’ Or are things flowing smoothly that I can take the next step’ And that’s where those 20-day sprints come in so that way you stay firm on the goal but flexible to the approach, if that makes sense.

Then, I want you to keep on whatever goal you set, just keep chipping away at it so that you can look back and say, “This is what I did, I started tracking my food and that was really telling, so then I could see where I was doing amazing, or what kind of sent me off the rails and what was what was triggering me when I went on a bender, if I didn’t sleep.” That way I’m able to kind of start seeing what’s going on and I can start to create this process.

The other way to help create a process is when you work with someone that they can be a second set of eyes. We are very close to ourselves and sometimes we don’t see the trees for the forest, and so you need that person who kind of looks over your shoulder and can point out, “Oh, did you notice that when you sleep less than six hours, you drink 400 cups of coffee and you mainline M&Ms'” You might not see that correlation but someone else looking over your shoulder might be able to see that correlation for you. Maybe you are like me, you are eating clean foods, but you are

Set up  boundaries

Review your obstacles. As you’re going down your roads there might be construction, there might be a giant pothole. (This time of year, we’ve got potholes for days around here.) There might be a pothole, there might be a person crossing the street, you might get a flat tire. Take a look at anything in the past that may have stopped you and do your best to foresee that so that you can say, “There are times that I might have to work late, there are times that I might not have childcare, there are times that I just might be dead dog tired. There are times that I might…” I don’t know, think of a reason excuse. But I want you to really think about every time that you’ve kind of zigged when you wanted to zag. What has been that obstacle’ That way you can foresee it.

For me when I was working in corporate, my boss would literally come at 5:00pm and dump a pile of junk on my desk, and of course it had to be done by 10:00 a.m. the next morning. So, of course, being the good worker, I would stay doing all of my work and then forgo going to the gym or forego going to meet friends. And so, I had to set my boundaries. I finally had to create a boundary.  I found a class that I absolutely loved and it was on a class pass – you buy a certain number of classes and you got a go or you lose your money. And so, I sat down with my boss I said, “Hey, I’m really going to start exercising, I just feel like crap and I know when I exercise, I feel much better, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays I have to leave at [5:00].” And I was scared, my knees were knocking, but it was what I needed for my mental sanity.

Maybe that’s something you need to do. Maybe you need to have a discussion with your partner or with your boss that I need this time for me. Since then I’ve shifted to working out in the morning and for me it just sets the tone for my day. Yes, getting up sucks, but I know that by 7:30am  I’ve done Kim stuff and the rest of the day can happen and I don’t feel like I’m going to miss out on my workout, because when I do miss out on my workout, if my day sucks the life out of me.

Get Support

Then the last piece is support; we all need support. Some days you are just like, “I can do it all.” You’re standing on the top of the mountain; your cape is flying behind you. And then other days you just feel like crap, and you’re just like, “I ain’t got this.” And you just want to go to your bed and just put the covers up over your head. It happens, we all have those days.

Like this morning I wanted to put the cover up over my head because I was exhausted. I’m probably going to go to bed again at 9:30pm, like I’m five years old.  Who’s in your corner’ Who’s going to be that person who’s going to check in on you’ When you said, “I’m going to the gym three or four days a week”, who’s going to be that person’s going to be like, “Hey girl, what did you do'” And it can’t be someone who’s going to let you off the hook, it has to be that person that’s going to be like, “Hey girl, what did you do’ Why not’ How come'” And call you on your shit, because sometimes we need to be called on our shit. And who are you going to tell your why’ Because your why is what gets you out of bed when it’s dark outside, it’s snowing outside, it’s cold and you just want to crawl back in.

When I was competing, and I didn’t want to get out of bed I would think about people who had kids. I don’t have any children, and I would think about there’s some mom who is leaving her kids and she got up at 4:00am so she could be back to send her kids to school, and I got nothing. I don’t have anybody to send off to school, I just got me to get my tush to work and that’s it, and I would get myself out of bed. 

Now, I just think about what my goal is. In less than a month I’m going to Hawaii on vacation, and I will want to look awesome. So, as I lay in bed, I’m like, “You know what, lying in bed ain’t going to get me looking awesome on the beach, so get your booty out of bed Kim.” And I get my booty out of bed.

I want you to think about what is that for you so that when you’re lying there saying, “I don’t want to”, what’s that thought process that you’re going to go through that’s going to just say, “Alright, I’m up and at ’em”‘

And that just made me think about when I was a little kid, when my sister and I just did not want to get out of bed, my mom would open up the door and she would be like, “Up and at ’em” all the time, and that was her kind of second stage of if we don’t get out of the out of bed she was going to lose her stuff. So, think about it.

Be Accountable

Accountability is a big thing. I have a good friend and we’ve been doing this for years, every Sunday I text, “Here are the days I’m going to the gym.” And if she doesn’t hear from me by Wednesday about what I’ve done from Sunday to Wednesday she’s like, “What’s up'” And then I do the same thing for her, and it’s just us checking in on each other.

And it could be something as loose as that, or it can be something really formal as over the past several years I’ve had coaches for pretty much everything, for my business, for my body, and when I have had coaches for my body I’ve had to detail every single thing I’ve put in my mouth -6:00 a.m. I woke up and I had a cup of coffee. 7:00 a.m. I did this. And they’re looking over my shoulder to give me that guidance, to give me that feedback. So, I want you to think about who’s got that, who’s got that for you, and who can help you out with that. And if that’s something you want to talk about, please let me know.

We have a hundred days until summer, everything I gave you is doable, everything I gave you isn’t this hard thing. We make it hard. So, I challenge you to just figure out what it is that you want, what are the slight tweaks that you can make, how do you make that into a process. Don’t make this a complicated process, just make it really simple, like can I sit down on Sundays and map out my week’ Can I sit down on Saturday, make a grocery list and get my booty to the grocery store or have Instacart come drop groceries off to me’ Can I think about anything that’s going to pop up and get in my way’

And lastly, who’s going to be the person who… I make this master awesome plan, who’s going to be that person who’s going to be like, “Are you doing it'” And the main thing is what’s your why’ So, if that all sounds awesome to you, let me know. 

Grab Your Blueprint

I’ve created a Four Alternatives to Dieting, and basically what I’ve just said is summed up in a document.. Use this as a blueprint so that you can glide into summer and rock that swimsuit and feel comfortable confident as you walk down the beach this summer.