Wanna tighten up for that wedding, pool party, or beach vacation? Of course you do. 

Lay on a steady dosage of these three and you’ll be good to go:

  1. Alcohol 
  2. Sodium intake
  3. Working out (I’ll keep my tips here totally doable and realistic)

Drink less alcohol? That’s no fun!!

Don’t stop reading. Trust me, it’s possible to have plenty of fun and not completely give up the booze. 

You want bright, tight, vibrant skin. Welp, cutting back on the booze, especially during the week will go a long way.

My home run strategy for drinking less. Go Sunday through Thursday alcohol free. If you decide to drink on a Friday or Saturday, down a glass of water after each drink. 

DO THIS. I promise it works. Guarantee you will be less inflamed, your skin will be brighter and tighter, and you WILL feel better. 

**bonus: go alcohol free for a two to three weeks before the event. Even better results. 

Sodium makes our skin puffy??

Our skin may seem more inflated if we bump our sodium intake. Why is this? 

Excessive amounts of sodium will cause our skin to look puffy and bloated. This is because of water retention due to too much salt in our diet. This can also cause bags underneath our eyes. Who wants that?!

Be aware of what you’re eating. Eating out during the week does not help your cause. It’s tough to go low on sodium when we eat out. Eat clean bro! This means veggies, fruits, healthy fats during the week.

Cutting out the booze and staying away from fast food, eating out, and salty snacks will set you up to look your best when the weekend arrives. 

Working out

Let’s take the example of beach vacation. You’re going to the beach in four weeks. 

Pretend that I have a magic wand that gives me power over you and the decisions you make. This is what I would do.

First off, I’d have you go to sleep and wake up around the same time at least five days a week (Sunday through Friday).

Second, I’d make sure you worked out five days a week. Each work out would last between 30 and 45 minutes (this includes a five minute easy warm up and 5 minutes of stretching).

Lastly, I’d incorporate fasting into my strategy. I would have you fast 12 hours (Ex. 9pm to 9am) at least five days a week. I would have you workout before your first meal. This would ensure that you’d be in a fat burning state when you do workout. 

Why does it matter to be in a fat burning state when you exercise? This means you will use pre-existing body fat to burn calories during your workout. When we workout in a non-fasting state (ie: working out an hour after eating food), we will use burn carbohydrates first before burning fat.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a magic wand

I would have you go to sleep at 9:00pm and wake up at 5:00am five days a week. I would make you workout at 9:30am. I would take away your cocktails five days a week. I would eliminate sweet salty snack foods from your diet too.

This is a lot to ask. I realize this is can be a major shift. Start slow. Start early. If you incorporate one of these habits at a time, odds are you will be far more successful in cutting fat and inflammation in the long term.

 A little bit of discipline goes a long way. One less cocktail, one less snack, one more workout a week… these decisions make a monumental difference.