Hey–guess what?

As of today, you have exactly 99 days until Summer.

Okay, let me say that again–YOU HAVE EXACTLY 99 DAYS UNTIL SUMMER!!!!!

I say this not to frighten you, but to serve as your friendly reminder fairy that bathing suit season will be arriving right along with it.

(Source: DualFit.com)

That always makes me think of this picture I frequently see on Pinterest. I don’t want to be covered in clothes at the beach. I don’t even have plans to go to the beach this summer or be anywhere near water, but if the chance arises, I want my hard work to represent.

In a bikini.

I’ve been on the quest to don a bikini since this whole weight loss journey began. {And no, dear readers, it’s not all about that. Wearing a bikini doesn’t mean you’re fit; it doesn’t mean you’re healthy. I could’ve worn a bikini at 230 lbs. I can wear a bikini now. But would I have looked like I wanted to 3 years ago? NO. As of today, will I look like I want to in one? NO. }

Most of it entails getting my stomach to be flat. I had the worst stomach when I began. I see before photos of other people and they seem to have had one big ‘ol round belly. Mine didn’t look like that. It’s like I had one huge upper roll and one huge bottom roll. Though the stomach has shrunken as a whole, it’s been a constant battle to get the rolls to flatten out.

Errrryone ask me, “What’s the secret to getting a flat stomach?” “How did you get rid of your loose skin?” “Did you have surgery to flatten your stomach?” “Are you going to?” “How many crunches do I need to do to get my stomach to flatten?” “How can I just spot reduce my stomach?” Whooooooa nelly, I say to all of this.

First of all–mine is not flat yet. Nope. Not after all this time. STILL. Yet, I’ve seen others going through weight loss journey in 8 months and theirs is flat. How? Why? Well, they did what they needed to do to flatten it; I didn’t. What should I have done? What am I actively doing now that is making it go down?

1.) Forget spot reducing. Get it out of your head. Doing a zillion crunches is you working harder, not smarter. You’re much better off doing exercises like planks, side planks, bridges, & L raises to target the core muscles. Yes, do cardio–we all know it’s a fat burner. But do not neglect the weights! Again–DO NOT NEGLECT THE WEIGHTS. The more muscle you have, the more calories you’ll be burning while you sit here reading my blog.

2.) Drink water, water, water. I’m a proud member of the Gallon a Day Club. Every day, I drink a gallon of water. I love the stuff and love what it does for me. When you increase your daily consumption of water, your body starts to shed its excess fat–also the fat stored as cellulite! Water also helps to strengthen the collagen in your skin, which helps to get rid of that cottage cheese, lumpy look.

3.) Eat clean. Eat clean. Eat clean. Cannot stress that enough. Not what you THINK clean is, but really what clean is. If you don’t know what it is, start here. Then Google Tosca Reno. She is the Queen of Clean Eating and will school you.

4.) {And this is a ‘lil bonus from me to you…} Stop looking for a quick fix and follow steps 1-3. I know–you don’t feel like lifting weights, you’re sick of water, and “clean” to you is a fried chicken salad with croutons and light dressing from Wendy’s. Besides, your friend says she takes magic pills and they do the job just fine. Oh–and your neighbor just went to one of those “wrap parties” so she’s going to wrap her fat off. And your coworker swears by that lotion that you rub on to make your cellulite go away. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! These are all quick fixes, my friend. If they even fix anything at all. Again–save yourself the time, the “I Told You Sos,” and put in the work to get your flat tummy. Think of how far ahead you could be in 99 days!

So yes, in 99 days I’ll be donning my bikini. Now whether or not I post a pic, I cannot confirm nor deny, but I will be doing my best errrrry day to get where I want to be. I do cardio & weights, I drink my water, I eat clean. The key is to be consistent and consistency is the key. I may have 99 problems but a bikini is not going to be one of them!