Get Summer Ready: Bikini Body Tips

This is the season that we concentrate more on our body and take care of it and that’s why we call it ‘bikini body’ season! It’s when we’re finally off to the beach and show a lot more skin in our bathing suits. Talking about showing your skin, today I will concentrate on tips on how to deflate your belly and feel a bit more comfortable when at the beach instead of hiding under your towel!

1. Exercise

It’s never too late to join the gym - that’s my number one rule! I am a great supporter of exercise and I strongly believe that whenever you decide to change your body and your attitude towards exercising you should do it. It’s late June and some of you might think that you don’t have time to toss those extra pounds but joining a gym or exercising regularly doesn’t only mean that. It leads to a healthier lifestyle and starting now will just be the beginning. I really enjoy joining classes at the gym, just because I feel like being in 'group therapy' when other people have the same goal with me and struggling with any activity alongside them gives me the courage to carry on. Also, when I need to join a class I have to be there at a specific time and this really motivates me to go! I really love Zumba and I find it to be a wonderful and exciting form of aerobic exercise, however it’s not suitable for people who have back or knee issues, so just talk to your physician before joining any class to avoid getting hurt.

Apart from joining a gym, which might be something that you can't afford, there are other ways that you can exercise. There is a plethora of youtube channels that can help you with exercising at home and the ones I recommend are Blogilates and FitnessBlender. Also, try to make exercise part of your life by getting more active in general, like taking the stairs and not the elevator, walking to work, even going window shopping (if you're on a budget, otherwise trying on clothes burns even more calories!) will get you moving and start burning calories and fat.

2. Eating clean

Every woman magazine that respects itself has a section dedicated to ‘how to get a flat belly’ in this month’s issue! I’ve been having articles pop up all over Facebook as well and ads that promote creams for cellulite and flat belly and so on and so forth. I was never a believer that you can apply a cream, lie in your couch, eat your chips and magically your belly will flatten and your cellulite will be gone. Or that you can flatten your stomach in 2 days! I am a believer that our body reacts to what we fuel it with. That being said, I am a supporter of eating clean and incorporating foods in our diets that will benefit us. That doesn’t mean that I won’t have that cookie I’m craving or the frozen yoghurt, or the ice cream, or a bar of chocolate and the list goes on! I will definitely have them and truly enjoy them. However, a healthy lifestyle means balance and enjoying food. No lotion will work its magic while you’re not feeding your body with what it needs to fight cellulite.

In summer, our body needs even more fruit and veggies because they are very high in water, which we need during the hotter months to avoid dehydration. So you might want to opt for cucumbers or watermelon that are high in water and very low in calories! Bananas are very high in potassium and it can off-set sodium and prevent bloating, as well as greek yoghurt which is also a great source of protein (you can blend both in your green smoothie and have them first thing in the morning, click here for a recipe). Cutting down on salt is a great thing to do to deflate your belly. Also, replace anything white with brown stuff, like rice, pasta, bread or cereal, they taste the same but they are higher in fiber, which helps with constipation. Incorporate some oats in your diet, either in the form of oatmeal or just by adding them to your smoothie, and you'll see the difference. In order to fight cellulite you want to increase your daily intake in vitamin C, which helps to avoid those fat cells poking through and having the 'orange peel' effect. Citrus fruit, kiwis, blackcurrants, mangoes and tomatoes are very high in vitamin C. You should also avoid fizzy drinks as they are number one enemy to your cellulite-free booty!

Summer and hot weather in general work in our dieting advantage really, because the hotter it is the harder our body works to cool down, which decreases our appetite as the body heats up when we eat! One of the most important things you can do to help your body is to take a packed lunch to work. Not having planned your lunch will lead to either not eating at all for the whole day and eating double portions in the evening or eating junk or whatever take out you can find. Also, drinking fatty drinks won't benefit you at all because they are what I call the 'hidden calorie' traps. Try to swap sugar for stevia or fructose in order to minimise the calories in your daily coffee, opt for green tea or check the calories of your beverage and resist that fatty Starbucks latte.

3. Hair removal 
I have a whole post dedicated to hair removal methods ( which you can read here). For a perfect bikini body you need to have smooth, shiny legs, don't you think?

4. Tan
You have probably noticed that when you're tanned your skin imperfections, like cellulite and stretch marks, are camouflaged. So, don't wait until you're at the beach to get fried in the sun and get tanned. I have tried self tanning before and it didn't work for me, probably I haven't tried the right products but this is whole other story! Unfortunately, in Greece there are limited options of self tanner to choose from at the drugstore. However, Avene does a self tanning product which will give you a slight tan, which is ideal especially if you're very fair like me, and it means that it won't get patchy or look orange. Also, a very hyped up product, which is on the pricier side, that you can try is the St. Tropez Self Tan Express, which allows you to control the depth of your tan by deciding how long you're going to leave it on. You then shower and the tan will be developing for the next 8 hours. My pick for tanning for the last 3 years is using a sunbed. I know that there is a whole lot of research and paper work behind the issue and that it is said that it can cause skin cancer. There are some safety measures that need to be taken and it is not suitable for everyone, for example if you have lots of moles or if you're taking any medication or creams that make your skin sensitive to sunlight you should avoid them. Last year I didn't use a sunbed because I was on Adaferin and my skin was way too sensitive. Also, make sure that the lamps on the sunbed you're using are new, because otherwise it might cause sunburns. Do smaller sessions at first and don't go all the way with tan enhancers. A six minute session day after day for 2 weeks will give you a slight tan that will very easily get deeper once you sunbathe at the beach. I do 10 sessions in total every year, half are 6 minute ones and half are 12 minute ones. I don't get really tanned, for the first six to seven sessions you can't even tell the difference, but once I hit the beach I don't get burnt, as usual, and it turns to a flattering bronze tone very easily.

Have you got any tips for 'bikini body'? Share them with me below, I'd love to hear from you! 

Georgina x x x