Summer will be here before you know it (in the USA). Will this be the year that you get into amazing bathing suit shape for the beach or the pool? Follow this fool proof plan, starting today, and you’ll be sure to turn heads this summer.

Step1 – This is important! Take out one of your favorite swimsuits or bikinis. Put it on and look at yourself in the mirror. Write down what you would like to change about your body and try to imagine how your body will look with those changes. Also try to imagine how you will feel about yourself after those changes occur.

Take a mental snapshot of how you look in the mirror and make mental note of the things you want to change. This will be extremely helpful as you get closer to the summer season. If you don’t like what you see in the mirror, don’t get discouraged. Get inspired!

Before you take off the bathing suit, look yourself in the eyes, and make a promise to yourself that you will stay committed to making the necessary changes.

Step 2 – Start exercising. Don’t get crazy here, because you will end up quitting. Sit down with your calendar or schedule and write in your workout days, times and places. Not every workout needs to be in a gym. Your home, a local park or even a local playground are great places to have effective workouts.

If you haven’t been working out, start slowly and gradually build up your time and intensity. If you have been working out, start to kick the intensity up a bit. In the course of a week, you want to complete 3 – 5 cardio sessions, each lasting 25 – 35 minutes and 2 – 3 resistance/toning sessions, each also lasting 25 – 35 minutes. This is general guideline. Some weeks you may be able to do more and some weeks less. It is ok to do cardio and resistance on the same days if that is what your schedule allows.

Step 3 – Write down everything you eat and drink in a notebook (or PDA). The true secret to having a beautifully defined body is calorie control. The easiest, most realistic way to get them under control is to keep track of them. Don’t be obsessive here or you will drive yourself nuts.

Most of our foods have easy to read labels that are easy to understand. Use the calorie info on your labels and record these numbers next to what you eat and drink in your journal. Knowing how many calories you are taking in makes it much easier to adjust if you hit a plateau while trying to lose body fat. This method may require a bit of work in the beginning, but it is the method that has helped many of my clients defeat the body fat monster more than any other method in existence.

Step 4 – Stay committed to your self. If times get challenging, remember your mental snapshot of you in the swimsuit and picture yourself on the beach in the upcoming hot weather season. Remind yourself of the goals you wrote down. You may even want to make few copies of your goals. Put a copy on your refrigerator, one on your work desk, and one on your bathroom mirror. If you are not making progress, add a little time to your workouts or tighten up on your calories a bit.

Step 5 – Realize that you are in control of yourself and that no outside force can keep you from what you are going to achieve. If you miss a workout, tomorrow is a new day. If you eat too much, or you eat junk food (it is ok to ‘cheat’ sometimes), let that fuel your motivation in your next workout. Better yet, before you even slip up with your nutrition, ask yourself this key question, “Is what I’m about to eat going to help me be swimsuit ready?” If you answer this question honestly, then the proper action will come next.

Don’t let your friends, family members or co-workers sabotage your efforts. Live according to what is important to you and acknowledge your own progress.

Your simple, new habits will be the magic that helps you get awesome swimsuit shape.