How To: Get your body bikini ready

Learn how to get your body bikini ready.

Try these proven methods to get an awesome bathing suit bod.

You Will Need

* Self-discipline
* A place to swim
* A pedometer
* A natural bristle body brush
* A Zen attitude

Step 1. Flatten your tummy

For washboard abs, start pedaling—in the air. Research suggests that the bicycle maneuver is the top exercise for abdominals. To do it, lie on your back with your knees raised and bent, your hands locked behind your head. Now alternate touching one elbow to the opposite bent knee, as you extend the other leg.

Step 2. Become a tight ass

To firm your butt, do lunges every day. Begin by standing up straight with your feet shoulder-width apart. With your right leg, take one long step forward, keeping your back straight as your body lowers itself and your knees bend. Move back to the starting position in one smooth motion.

Step 3. Start swimming

Find a pool and start doing laps: Fittingly, the single best exercise for getting your body toned for the beach is swimming.

Step 4. Cut out beverages

Stop drinking everything but water. For the average American, this simple move will save you a whopping 450 calories a day.

Step 5. Step it up

Get a pedometer and set a daily step goal. Analysis from Stanford found that people who monitored their walking with a pedometer increased their physical activity 27 percent.

Step 6. Brush your body

Each day before showering, take a natural bristle brush made especially for body brushing and, starting at the feet, brush your skin with long upward strokes. This stimulates blood circulation, which can reduce the appearance of cellulite.

Step 7. De-stress

Do whatever it takes —meditation, yoga, deep breathing—to de-stress. A study found that anxiety leads to the body's build-up of toxic wastes, which turns into cellulite!

Fact: The white bikini that Ursula Andress wore in the 1962 James Bond thriller Dr. No was auctione