Although  summer in South Florida  isn’t as eagerly welcomed as it is in most parts of the country, most people still want to look better on the beach.

So, are you ready?

Here are a few fat loss basics that will get you lean and mean by the 4th of July. If you apply these 6 basic strategies, you’ll be able to drop at least 15 pounds of body fat in no time at all, but you’ll  need to start now!

1. You need to create a caloric deficit - no doubt about it, the only way to lose fat and weight is to consume LESS calories than you burn. Even if you choose the ‘right’ foods, you may still be eating too much. I suggest dedicating one week to understand portion control. Buy a food scale, use your measuring cups, and identify proper portion sizes for all of the foods you eat most often.  Although this may feel tedious at first, after one week of consistently doing this, you’ll be able to eyeball your meals and determine if you’re overeating.

2. Eliminate ALL sugar and processed carbs from your diet for 5 days out of the week. Sugar is a drug, and it’s not an easy one to give up.  However, if you don’t significantly decrease your sugar intake you will never get lean, because sugar inhibits the hormones that facilitate fat loss. If it’s not realistic for you to ditch your sweet tooth all together, commit to eating NO sugar or white carbohydrates for 5 consecutive days.  You might find that on the 6th day, your cravings are gone, if not, have a piece of dark chocolate, some frozen grapes, or a half of cup of frozen yogurt with a few blueberries sprinkled on top.

3. Exercise HARD at least four days per week. Interval training and high intensity resistance training will give you the fastest results in the least amount of time. Each of your workouts should consist of full body resistance training and short but intense cardio bursts.

4. Supplement.  I’m not a supporter of supplements that promise to melt fat overnight, however I do believe that a good quality multivitamin and omega supplement is critical for not only fat loss, but good health. However, the key in receiving these benefits is to choose pharmaceutical grade supplements that contain REAL food and not synthetic ‘mimics.'

5. Get a coach to hold you accountable!  Accountability is critical when it comes to sticking to a fitness program. Chances are if you don’t have someone to ensure you consistently show up for your workouts, you probably won’t show up for your workouts.

If you take some time to implement these 5 strategies you will definitely see some results by July but the key is you must take ACTION.

To help you do just this I’ve created a special Beach Body promo going on now until May 30th. Check it out at www. SynergizeBeachBody.com.