90 Days 'til Pride: Five Ways to Get You Ready

The Northeastern frost isn't even off the ground, nor the discounted Valentine chocolates off the shelves. But we're all beginning to make plans for summer parties, cruises, vacations and Pride.�

Will we ever get the holiday weight off?�How will we possibly get cut up enough to fit in the new swimsuit?�Most of all, how are we going to look during the Pride 2017 celebrations?�Here's how we'll do it:

1. No labels. Go natural, eating no food that comes with a nutrition label: fresh vegetables, fresh cuts of meat and fresh eggs.�If it exists in nature, have at it.�You'll be satisfied by eating healthy foods without ingesting man-made products, preservatives, additional sodium and sugar.�Try eating this all-natural way for a month, and you'll notice a change in your energy level and BMI.
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2. Don't be sweet.�Cut not just candy, cookies and cakes from your diet -- drop the simple carbohydrates altogether, including fruit.�Don't fall prey to artificial sweeteners or honey either. They can be just as dangerous for your waistline. If you remove from your diet anything that will turn to insulin, your skin will shrink-wrap over�your muscle.
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3. Keep a routine. Every other day you train, make sure your workout includes burpees, squats, pushups and step-ups. All four are considered full-body exercises, because they use more than just the targeted muscle, getting maximum results from your workout. Make sure it's a proper workout of four sets of 20 for each exercise. When they start to get easy, modify them to make them more challenging: Add weights to your squats and step-ups, or do your push-ups on one leg or elevated.

4. Shake it up with new cardio. Your body can grow used to the cardio you do, unable to burn off fat calories the way it used to. It's called hitting a plateau, and it's happened to all of us. When I need to lower my body fat percentage, I get on a cardio machine and go for 20 minutes: 90 seconds at a moderate speed, 30 seconds balls to wall -- like you can't even talk during those 30 seconds. After 20 minutes of that, I do 30 minutes walking on a treadmill at a maximum incline of 15 at a speed of three.

5. Pass it on. It's Gay Pride, honey -- actually be aware of that for which we are proud. Read up on some of the history of Gay Pride. And during all of your celebrating, take time out to look in the mirror and be proud of what you see.