I am no health expert, but I know all these summer BBQ’s I’ve been attending lately are making me feel a little nervous about bikini season. Therefore I’m on a personal mission to try to get healthier this summer. I always hear my friends, family and co-workers say they don’t have time to be healthy because of their hectic work schedules. And I think it’s kind of annoying, yet understandable. It is too easy to make excuses rather than take action.

Here are a few easy ideas:

1. If you need to get out of the office over lunch to clear your head, go on a walk.

2. Eat breakfast. You’ve all heard it a million times. Now do it! Here area few explanations on why breakfast makes you eat less calories throughout the day, balances your blood sugar level to avoid hunger and energy drops, and speeds up your metabolism:

3. Stop drinking pop all day at your desk. I don’t care if it is diet pop. Read Skinny Bitch for the explanation of why even diet pop is bad. Here’s the simple math on regular soda: at about 140 calories a “pop” at 3 per day, you are packing on 420 extra EMPTY calories per day-which would require running over 4 miles to burn. Drink 3 pops all work wee this 5 days a week and you are packing on 2100 calories per week.

4. Get rid of that candy bowl on your desk. NOW.  All that sugar is making you more lethargic which means it is much less likely that you will make it to the gym after work.  Also, if it is right in front of you, you will probably eat much more empty calories that add up fast.

5. Eat breakfast that you prepare yourself. This means no Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks or McDonald’s breakfast sandwiches or muffins. I’ve been making quick protein shakes in the morning and find that I am less hungry all morning.

6. Pack a few snacks. As you know, eating several small meals throughout the day turns up your body’s “furnace.” Pack a baggie of fruit, almonds, a hardboiled egg or a granola bar to get you through your hunger pangs.

7. Stop making excuses.

8. Be willing to change your habits, lifestyle and attitude. For me this means thinking ahead when I’m grocery shopping and before I go to bed in preparing food for the next day. It also means drinking less alcohol and going out to eat less. Everyone has their hang-ups. Identify yours and be willing to adjust accordingly.

9. Look into free teleseminars and resources online. Last night I listened to a free tele-seminar on how to bust through sugar cravings. I also checked out sparkpeople.com. It’s a great way to track your calories and water intake if you have the patience to record it each day.

10. Leave a huge water bottle on your desk and drink it all day. This is probably the easiest habit to form and stick with. Check out webmd’s explanation of how drinking lots of water can speed up your metabolism.

11. Take your vitamins each day and add some flaxseed oil supplements.

12. Go for a walk with your girlfriends rather than meeting them for ice cream or drinks.

13. Cut back on drinking alcohol. If long nights of drinking with friends causes you to eat late night food and miss the next days’ work outs, you are not only adding the sugar and calories of the alcohol (often about 100 calories per beer) you are eating more AND working out less. Drinking a lot is a triple-whammy for weight loss.

14. Make changes slowly. Otherwise they will NEVER stick. Rome wasn’t built in a day but it can be destroyed in a day.

15. Pack your lunch rather than dine out. Going out to lunch every day is a sure way to pack on the pounds. Not only are your portions way too big, but often times fast lunch places offer choices that are laden with preservatives and salt. Not to mention dining out is expensive. I know most of us are much more likely to eat a fatty yet wonderful meal when going out because it is considered a treat.

16.  Don’t rely solely on cardio to lose weight. Weight training actually keeps your metabolism going all day even after you stopped. Don’t worry about bulking up; it’s very unlikely that would happen.