1. DRINK PLENTY OF WATER

2. WALK MORE

Walking has a huge amount of awesome benefits. Not only does walking promote cardiovascular health by getting your blood pumping, but it also helps keep your bones strong, promotes flexibility, helps burn fat, and is great for your lungs. Walking has wonderful physical benefits and is also known to increase mental function and clarity as well. Why not enjoy a sunrise walk on the beach after a great nights rest at one of these awesome oceanfront Topsail vacation rentals?  

3. SKIP THE CARDIO, HIT THE WEIGHTS

advantage of their weights or if you already have weights at home, check out this website that has 6 moves every beginner should know (along with how-to videos). 

4. High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)

High Intensity Interval Training, better known as HIIT, is a workout routine composed of a burst of a specific workout followed by a short rest. For example, you could do 30 seconds of intense jump rope followed by 15 seconds of rest. You continue this cycle (switching up exercises if you wish) until you’re done. The great thing about HIIT is you don’t have to put in hours and hours at the gym to see results. 10 to 15 minutes a few times a week is all you need 

(paired with light exercise on your non-HIIT days and a healthy diet) to start seeing results. The key to being successful with HIIT is giving your workout 110% and putting everything you have into it. HIIT is also something the whole family can join in on, especially younger kids. With all of that energy, they’ll love jumping around and burning off steam.

5. WATCH YOUR DIET

Ever head the saying, “Abs are made in the kitchen?” Well it’s true. Exercise is extremely important to your overall health and chiseling out that beach body but if you’re not properly fueling your body, it can’t perform as intended. A few simple ways to clean up your diet are to lose the soft drinks and only drink water, cut out the junk (like cakes, ice-cream, cookies), reduce your intake of white colored food (carbs that turn into sugar), and load up on fresh meat, veggies, and fruit. 

6. Get More Sleep

7. Yoga

8. Group Fitness Classes

Community and accountability are two factors that often play a large role in the success of losing weight and getting fit. People are typically more likely to stick to something when they are being held accountable and have friends or family running along beside them. Check out your local fitness classes (a lot of community centers offer great free classes!) like Zumba, kickboxing, or Pilates just to name a few. If group classes aren’t your thing, grab a friend or family member and workout with them. Motivate each other, laugh, and learn together as you travel down the road to awesome beach bodies! 

9. Stick to the Plan

When changing your lifestyle for health and fitness goals or reasons, it’s easy to get off track or even discouraged in the beginning. Maybe you’re missing those Mountain Dews, craving cheesecake, or just not seeing any progress. Be patient! Getting the beach body you’ve always wanted won’t happen overnight, but if you stick with your plan, you will see results. One thing that may help you see progress when the scale’s not budging is to take weekly measurements of your chest, hips, waist, and thighs. Often when the scale’s not showing progress, your body is still changing. 

10. Forget About that Bikini and Love Your Body for What It Is

Although we hope making an effort to be healthy is a part of your daily life, life is too short to stress over every little dimple, wrinkle, or so called “imperfection” you may have. Our bodies are amazing and can do some pretty incredible things. Don’t beat yourself up if you don’t look like a swimsuit model… nobody really looks like that in real life anyway. So put on that bikini, strut out on the beach, and have a blast making memories that will last a lifetime.