Ship Shape Plan for Toning Up in a Hurry

With an amazing family vacation creeping upon us more quickly than I anticipated (doesn’t everything?) I have come up with a plan to lose a few pounds and tone up what I’ve got before setting sail on our Disney Cruise in January. I’m calling it my “Ship Shape” plan! Pretty clever huh?! *insert eye roll and LOL*

With this plan I’m hoping to lose about 10 pounds, and as I said before, simply do some toning. Nothing major, no entire body over haul, just a few things here and there to make me actually WANT to wear a bathing suit.

I know myself well enough to know that I am not willing to go without food, eat things I don’t enjoy, nor deprive myself completely of my favorites. I have two 3 year olds, so I do try to keep relatively healthy food items on hand and limit our splurges in hopes of teaching them life-long good habits. (They know nothing about my secret stash of Dove dark chocolates or my late night cookie baking –when they start scrubbing toilets and picking up after ME, then maybe I’ll share, but not until!)

I’m an exerciser. After 30 years of living with me, I know that the only way to see changes in my body is to work at it, literally. I am not capable of starving myself skinny, and quite frankly, I’d rather be firm and strong than “skinny”. Fad diets, I’ve tried them all, and again, because I’m not willing to majorly alter my eating habits for extended periods of time, they’re a complete waste of my time.

So-without further adieu-here is my “Ship Shape” plan!

*Increase water intake.

*Be conscious of portion sizes, stop eating when I’m full, and don’t eat when I’m not hungry. And, log calories and exercise in My Fitness Pal app.

*EXERCISE! This part is actually the most structured because it’s what works for me.

*Run with a friend for a minimum of 30 minutes Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays.

*Do an at least mid-length Zumba Rush class on Xbox 360 when I find myself looking for things to do-at least a couple times a week.

*Actually USE the exercise plans I have pinned on my “Working It Out” board on Pinterest. (To make this more likely, I’ve printed off several workouts that target what I consider my “problem areas”.)

*Dry brush cellulite riddled areas (TMI, but I believe in keeping it real :oP), and follow up with a cellulite cream.

Okay, so my plan is nothing stellar, but it’s a plan!

Do you have any small change tips that make a big impact? If so, I’d love to hear them!