Habits for leaning out

I've entered a new phase in my bikini competition prep, and my goal is to lean out (or some would say....I'm losing weight)  I'm not far from where I want to be, but it's amazing that the last few pounds (3 or 4) can make all the difference when it comes to being stage ready.  For those of you who don't already know, I spend much of my time in my beautiful hair salon (located in Boston, MA) and my clients often ask me about my competition, and enjoy hearing how I've been training and getting the results I need to compete.  One of the questions that I've been asked several times as of late is: What are your habits for leaning out?

One of my habits for leaning out is that I immediately write down my goals.  This helps me for a few reasons:  I can celebrate my success along the way because I'm able to measure where I am on my journey, and how far until I reach my destination.  I actually set mini goals along the way so that I know how much progress I am going to have to make each step of the way.   It's much easier to have several small goals than to just look at one big goal and get overwhelmed by it.  For instance,  I have a dress fitting scheduled for 10 days from now, and I'd like to be down 2 pounds from my last fitting (so that they can get most of the tailoring done early on my competition dress, which would take away stress for them...sometimes I lean out at the last minute and they are continuously taking it in which adds sterss for them) so I have been measuring my progress (weighing myself 3 times a week) and comparing it to my goals.  Today I realized that I am slightly behing on my progress, so I will add in a little physical activity (a long walk and 5 minutes of jumping rope at the gym) to make up for that progress.  I don't usually do cardio, but when I do I get results very quickly as my body isn't used to it.

Some people say throw away the scale, but I use mine to track my progress. I also use how my clothes fit, and how my body actually looks as an indication of progress.  My goal weight now is about 8 pounds up from a few years ago when I step on stage.

The faster I want to reach my goal, and the further my goal is from where I am now, the more that I must change my habits.  I thing about the big (and little) things I can do to acheive the changes I'm seeking.  For instance: I take the four flights of stairs every day instead of the elevator to get to my salon, I change my everyday 3 egg sandwich on raisin bread with butter to a chocolate protein shake with spinach, I weigh and measure almost all of my food, I cut my twice weekly treat meal to one time per week. walk more, add 2-3 super quick cardio sessions, and I enter my nutrition information into my tracker at the beginning of the day to ensure that I will be able to come in slightly under my calorie goals at the end of the day.

I'm not starving or suffering durining this phase, and I drink tons of water to stay hydrated and avoid hunger pains that are actually just basic dehydration.  I make sure to eat high quality foods that have more volume so that I get the nutrients that I need while also feeling full.  I usually have a beef jerky for a snack before I go to sleep or a lower carb protein shake so that I can sleep more soundly.  There's nothing worse than trying to go to sleep while starving.  These are some of my habits for leaning ut, and I get great results with them!  stay healthy and beautiful!  Megan