Countdown to the beginning.

So tomorrow is January 27th. That makes it exactly 6 months to my 25th birthday and the beginning of my bikini birthday challenge. I’ve decided to make up a list of things that I will and won’t do during the course of this challenge but any tips I can get would be greatly appreciated.

What I will do:

• Practice yoga at least once a week
• Take my puppy out for a walk after dinner (at least on weeknights)
• Drink one to two glasses of water before each meal
• Cut back (and I mean waaay back) on refined carbs and sugar.
• Up my vegetable intake probably through green smoothies (fruits are easy but I always seem to neglect my veggies)
• Eat mindfully! This one is big; I am the world’s worst mindless eater.
• Only eat cheese when I visit my dad’s house (I should have prefaced that by saying that I really love cheese)
• Lift heavy weights – I push myself when I do cardio, but I’ve been lifting the same weights for about a year
• Measure how much peanut butter I’m eating rather than eating straight out of the jar (sounds easy right? I took a picture of an actual tablespoon of peanut butter and a Samantha-sized tablespoon — huge difference)

Don’t worry, I put it all back in the jar and then let my dog lick the plate!

What I won’t do:

• Start denying myself things I really really want; if I want it I’ll hold out and if I still want it later then I’ll have a small portion.
• Stop drinking — I drink rarely as it is. A couple of glasses of wine a week are acceptable.
• Starve myself (this was less of a tip and more of a command from my older sister)
• Binge eat. I often find myself binge eating when I’m bored, stressed, and alone.
• Lose sleep over my goal. I’m really nervous about this and scared that I won’t look my best in the summer, but I’m going to try my very best not to let it stress me out.

I’m so excited to do this! I just hope I have lots of support!