I bought a swimsuit last week - online.

OK, I don’t know what’s worse: trying on swimsuits in the store or rolling the dice and ordering one online.

Summer is coming and all of my suits are getting old and they’re two-pieces, and I’m 40 and I don’t need to look like a 25 year old anymore… I wanted something a little classier and less revealing.

So I got this suit from Target, and…

There’s always that moment of truth when you put it on - you’re either going to say “ok, I feel good in this”, or most of the time, it’s “ohh man… I need to get in better shape.”

I know you’ve been here. Summer is coming and you might not be feeling like you’re in very good shape right now and not as trim as you’d like to feel. And honestly, you know it’s not just about looking good in a suit.

Sometimes, putting the suit on reveals how much confidence you have in your body. How fit and healthy you feel.

Right now, I’m asking myself “Where’s my body at? Am I in as great of shape as I could be going into summer? Will I be able to do everything I want to do and feel really great doing it?”

When you ask yourself that question, what’s your answer?

• If the answer is NO, then you’re standing at a crossroads:
  • You can either crash diet for a week, mentally determined to strip yourself of all the junk food to make all the changes and drop 10 pounds fast - knowing in the back of your mind that it’s not going to work longer than a week and you’ll be right back to where you are right now
  • Or, you can follow my plan that I’m about to go through, line by line with you.

Grab a pen and paper.

Or open the notes app on your phone, because we’re going to get super tactical.

Over the next two episodes, I’m going to do something a little different - We’re going to do this coaching call style

I’m going to pretend that you and I are on a coaching call together, and you just asked me “What exactly do I need to do to slim down a little bit and feel really fit and strong for this summer? How should I be eating?”

I’m not going to beat around the bush.

• I’m going to assume a few things with your nutrition
  • You’ve tried crash dieting in the past, and it backfired - didn’t last and you don’t want to do that again
  • I’m going to assume that you have a sweet tooth or you struggle with junk food and splurges
  • You’re eating fairly healthy, it’s just haphazard and you’re not making progress
  • I’m also assuming you’re doing ok with you’re water

3-step nutrition plan to feel trim, healthy & energetic for the summer

I want you to start by making sure you eat every 3-4 hours

• The majority of your haphazard and poor food choices happen because of this one thing:
  • You’re getting overhungry because you’re going too long in between meals
• Breakfast at 8am, lunch between 11 and 12, snack around 3 or 4, dinner around 6 or 7
  • If you don’t usually eat breakfast, just start this 3-4 hour pattern with your first meal.
• At first it might feel like you’re eating a lot because if you’re used to going 6, 7, 8 hours between meals, your hunger cues have stopped talking to you and everything in side of you will say that you’re eating too much
  • By eating every 3-4 hours, we’ll be able to make sure you get all of the nutrients your body needs to accomplish the goals you have and the splurging part is going to be so much easier

Next, at each of these meals, you’re going to eat your PRO’s

• I need to see protein on your plate, and I need to see as much fresh produce on your plate as possible
  • You can garnish with nuts, seeds, and oils, and you can still have whole grains with your meals, but these things are secondary to the stars of your dish - protein and produce
  • Breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner need to be PRO’s
    • Breakfast: veggie omelet or a big bowl of Greek yogurt with berries
    • Lunch: a can of tuna or chicken with half a bag of chopped salad
    • Snack: 2 hard boiled eggs with veggie sticks dipped in hummus or a protein smoothie
    • Dinner: Grilled salmon with roasted veggies and rice
• Yes, you might feel more full than you’re used to: 350 calories of chicken and roasted vegetables fill you up WAY more than processed carbs, like chips and pasta and Skittles. When you eat those things, you don’t feel that full even though you’re accidentally consuming WAY too much energy without feeling like it.

Finally, you’re going to have one splurge a day

• I’ll be straight up with you and say that things feel super haphazard and unproductive the moment you have multiple, random splurges a day
  • But they also backfire the moment you try to have zero splurges all together
• What’s your favorite thing? Chocolate, wine, french bread, a soda or a mocha?
  • Figure out what the one thing is that you enjoy and it satisfies more than anything else. You might have a couple things based on different situations.
  • It’s probably something that’s either sugary or savory - sweet or salty
• Each day have that one thing at a very intentional and thoughtful time of day.
  • For me, I like a glass of wine or a beer around 5:00 in the evening.

This habit comes last, because when you’re eating all of your meals and you’re filling up on PRO’s, you’re going to find yourself with far more self control and wherewithal to choose one splurge.

And NO, you don’t get any extra credit if you don’t splurge at all. Because the next day, your brain is going to say to you “You didn’t splurge at all yesterday, so today you can have two”, and now we’re getting that all-or-nothing pendulum swinging again.

Will you succeed or fail?

If you keep flying by the seat of your pants with your food choices and lacking any form of discipline or structure with how you eat, you’re not going to get anywhere.

• You won’t see a difference in your body. You’ll put your summer clothes on for the first time and feel disappointed. You won’t have any energy.
• And you’ll find yourself, once again, at a crossroads of whether or not to crash diet for a week or to give up on it all together.

BUT - if you simply follow this 3-step plan:

• Eat every 3-4 hours
• Eat your PRO’s at those meals
• Splurge once every day

Over the course of a couple weeks, you will gradually feel your body improving and feeling so much better. AND this is going to give your body the energy it needs to do the other part of the equation - exercise! Next week, I’m going to break down your summer shape up workout plan.

In real life

One of the ladies I did a coaching call with recently said to me “I knew all this stuff in the back of my mind, I just needed someone to spell it out for me in plain english and make it crystal clear.” She followed these steps, and lo and behold, with some consistency here, after just 10 days of this, she started to really feel her body shift.

• Her bloating wasn’t at bad, her clothes were fitting better, and she had more energy
• So it works.

Takeaways/Call to Action

Start this today, right now, at your very next meal. There’s no reason to wait or put it off, until you’re “in a better situation”. You have to eat anyway, and these habits take very little mental energy.

I want to actually give you a gift, too.

Starting today, I’m running a special Spring Flash Sale on my Jumpstart 30 program, where I walk you through these nutrition habits (and daily workouts, too!) spelling out exactly what to do each day - what to focus on - that’s going to help get you organized with a clear plan toward feeling amazing this summer.

Right now is the time to start. Don’t wait until June.

For this week only, I’ll give you 20% off the Jumpstart 30 program if you enter the coupon code 344 at checkout. (Coupon code expires on Thursday April 11th at midnight PST.)

More Resources & Links

The Jumpstart 30 Program for Beginners - Spring Flash Sale!! Enter coupon code “344” at checkout to receive 20% off!!

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