The 10-Pound Sprint: Look and Feel Your Best This Pride Season

Like Christmas once a year, it's time for Pride.�No presents, only presence, which everyone wants.�But with all the training and dieting, how will you push it over the finish line?
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1. Just say no.
For quick results, cut out carbs and sugar. It doesn't have to be permanent. Rather, it's an extreme change designed to take off the last bit of body fat before the big day.

Follow the diet of a body builder the week before a competition.�Base your entire caloric intake on protein and greens.�No snacks, no fruit,�no juices. Your body will look like it's shrink-wrapped.�Of course, the day after Pride, when you go back to your normal diet, do not let your psyche take a hit when the cuts disappear.�This isn't life training: It's Pride training.
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2. Up the cardio.�
You already spend a lot of time in the gym. You can keep lifting, and your muscles will keep bulging.�However, to get a shrink-wrapped look, add 30 to 60 more minutes of cardio to your routine.�

Body builders recommend:�Walk on the treadmill at a three to 3.5 speed and a maximum incline to burn fat but not muscle.�If you add 20 minutes of interval training on any type of elliptical or cross-trainer, add 90 seconds at a moderate speed with 30 seconds of balls-to-wall speed.�Do 20 minutes a day, and you'll see the cuts.
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3. Go hungry.
Follow the saying "Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper." This gets your metabolism going in the morning, fuels you through the day and leaves you burning your energy as you sleep. You'll get used to the hunger pains until it feels like a natural state of being. When Pride is over, you might be so accustomed to it, you'll never have to do the 10-pound push again.

4. Say bye to booze.
Life is short, and people do like their drinks. But do you know how much sugar is in those drinks? How about calories? I'm not telling you to give up cocktail hour forever -- just until Pride. If you intend to drink at Pride parties, remember that what you put in your stomach doesn't show up until a few days later. Lay off liquor for a week, drink at the parties and have a Bloody Mary at brunch the next day.

5. Accept yourself.
Or you could keep on track with your regular routine, love the way you look, show off that self-confidence and know that others will be attracted to you because of the energy you put out, not your cuts and rips.

Everyone is beautiful. And that means you. Live in it.