Welcome to Bikini 101! The 10 first steps to your best beach body ever

Liz Brody

Hey, we've been waiting for you. Thanks for checking out Bikini 101-Shine's new summer shape-up Shangri-la.

Don't let the name deter you. So, your style isn't exactly Kardashian kilowatt. Whether you live to rock the bare minimum, or prefer the more demure-say, a sturdy black one-piece-"bikini" is less a fashion statement than a state of mind.

We're talking about fun, a free spirit, flaunting your fabulosity-that feeling of knowing you're hot enough to cause global warming. Granted,most of us need a bit of help here. Which is why the top trainers, nutritionists, psychologists, beauty experts, and fashionistas are all showing up to make sure you look extremely fine all the way through beach season. Where to start?


STEP ONE: Accept where you are. If you hate your body, don't deny it. But try to recognize that you've done the best you can so far, and there's every reason you can do better in the future. Like a country, if you're at war with yourself, you're in a much weaker position than if United You Stand.

STEP TWO: Get your calendar, and schedule yourself in. "We are always taking care of other people," says Bikini Boot Camp creator Jeanette Jenkins, whose student roster includes Queen Latifah, Kendra Wilkinson, and Christina Applegate. "But you need to give yourself time each day to put yourself first. Without this, you won't make any changes."

STEP THREE: Create a vision board of what you want to achieve. You can do this by making a collage, says Mandy Ingber, whose "Yogalosophy" workout has shaped celebs like Jennifer Aniston and Brooke Shields. Use personal photos, magazine cut-outs, ads, and calendars, choosing images that evoke the feelings you're looking for rather than the visual results (check out Ingber's demo). "Everybody wants great thighs," she says, "but what we really want is to feel sexy."

STEP FOUR: Get your body in "go" mode by making a special gotta-move-it playlist. Some of Jenkins's favorites:
Lady Gaga: Just Dance
Beyoncé: Single Ladies
Black Eyed Peas: Boom Boom Pow
Shakira: She Wolf
Alicia Keys: Empire State of MInd

STEP FIVE: Strategize about who will support you-and who won't. "Men often try to sabotage your efforts to lose weight," says psychologist Alice Domar, PhD, coauthor of Live A Little! "because they're threatened." Talk to your guy, and tell him you're not out to attract other men; you just want to feel better about your body-which, by the way, can only be good for him.

STEP SIX: Get a friend, family member, or coworker to be your workout buddy.

STEP SEVEN: Start eliminating high fructose corn syrup (HFCS)-sorry, that's the sweetener in most soft drinks (try Hansen's and Jones soda instead.) Note: You can still have sugar. But a new study out of Princeton shows that rats gained significantly more weight when given HFCS versus sucrose (table sugar), despite the fact that their total calories were the same. "Also the rats consuming HFCS increased their body fat and triglyceride levels, (the circulating fat that's bad for your heart)," says Nicole Avena, PhD, a visiting research associate from the University of Florida, "suggesting that it might be causing obesity."

STEP EIGHT: Add a green leafy vegetable to every meal-yup, breakfast, too, insists Jenkins: Have broccoli in an omelet, a side salad with eggs, or try a green smoothie made of spinach, apple, lemon, and ginger. "Trust me, it's a great morning juice."

STEP NINE: Channel your sexual energy. "You know how when you have a crush on somebody and suddenly you can stay up all night without eating?" asks Ingber. Try to conjure up that crazy adrenaline rush and, instead of using it to get the guy, focus it on your own body. "Pretend you're dating yourself," Ingber says. "You might just fall in love."

STEP TEN: Okay, time to move-but only 10 minutes. Try doing one of these bite-size challenges from Jenkins, and rotate them throughout the week. You can start with just a couple of minutes at a time, as long as you accumulate the full 10 by bedtime, so you can start making a difference.

* Roll on the floor and do a few pushups (knees on the ground is fine). Try for 3 sets of 15 by the end of the day.
* Do 10 or 15 sit-ups, with a goal of 100 per day.
* Stand for 100 squats, starting with 20 at a time.
* For arm dips, sit on the edge of a chair, hands on the seat, and slide your butt off. Start with 10 dips at a time for a total of 50.
* Walk for 10 minutes.

Talk to us: What's stopping you from your fitness goals? Of course, we want to commiserate, but maybe we can help. The bikini bonding starts here!

For a little extra push in the tush, read more on

Mid-week motivation
A little card trick
Help for setbacks


[photo credit: Getty Images/Digital Vision