How To Get In The Best Shape Of Your Life Without Changing Your Diet Or Workout Routine

Spring is here and with it comes more sun (yay), longer days (yay), lighter clothing (yay), and an overload of marketing encouraging you to detox because "bikini season" is coming (ugh).

Now before I continue I do want to emphasize that I wholeheartedly believe that eating real, nutrient-dense foods and moving your body consistently are key to helping you achieve optimal levels of health and wellness. However, for most of us this is easier said than done, and it can be overwhelming when we don't know where to start.

There's a reason this advice is on repeat like the latest Beyoncé hit. It's so important—and truly one of the best and easiest habits for shedding excess weight and toxins. Hydration is key to keeping things moving and functioning properly and helps your body carry out waste and other toxins. There's been a ton of research that has shown that people commonly mistake dehydration for hunger. Studies also show that people who drink more water tend to consume fewer calories, which makes it easier to lose weight. That doesn't necessarily mean drinking water has a specific physiological effect that induces weight loss—although some experts do believe it increases your metabolism—but it will definitely help you phase out those sugary drinks.

Due to the effects of the standard American lifestyle (think: prolonged sitting and diets high in sugar and trans fats) many of us suffer from poor circulation. This is far from ideal as your organs (including the heart and the brain) won't receive all of the nutrients they need to function properly. Not to mention when circulation slows you use less glucose (blood sugar that the body uses for energy), burn less fat, and accumulate cellulite. Not fun.

This is where dry brushing comes in, a technique that improves circulation and promotes lymphatic draining. By taking a natural bristled brush and rubbing it in small movements on your skin you stimulate your body's largest organ and enhance blood circulation. These movements also promote lymph draining (by loosening up toxins from your skin to be excreted through the lymph system), help you shed dead skin, get rid of cellulite, and will even give you an energy boost.

Infrared sauna therapy is huge in the wellness world—and for good reason! While traditional saunas use heat to warm the air, which in turn warms your body, infrared therapy uses light rays (like the sun, minus the UV exposure) that heat your body's core temperature directly, enabling it to deeply penetrate tissue and remove heavy metal toxins and fat stored within your cells.

This is a key component of fat loss and weight, as stagnant pockets of fat in our bodies are storehouses for chemical toxins—and the more toxins that accumulate in our bodies, the more we create additional fat storage to protect our vital organs from those toxins. As we shed these chemical toxins, our fat cells shrink in conjunction. The heavy sweating (and believe me, you WILL sweat) also provides a safe and effective cleansing method as we use our skin to expel toxins instead of putting additional pressure on our already overworked liver and kidneys. This promotes circulation and with it gorgeous, glowing skin.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, a good night's sleep is one of the best things you can do for your health. Lack of sleep can affect our weight, insulin sensitivity, cognition, hormones, and result in higher risk of fat gain and general obesity—not something any of us want.

Our gut is commonly referred to as the second brain. Emotions affect our digestion and thoughts are a form of nutrition for your bod. Is the thought, "I'm so fat," what you want to be feeding your body? Or is "I am beautiful, I am strong, I am healthy" more like it?

There's also a small part of our brain called the reticular activation system (RAS) that turns on and off our perception of ideas and thoughts and determines the lens through which we look at ourselves and the world. When you tell yourself and believe in positive self-talk and affirmations you're building new pathways in your brain. Aligning our thoughts, words, actions—such as what we eat—and core beliefs is the key to success in looking and feeling the way you want.