Our perfect summer body secrets: We’ve found the ultimate shortcut to the ‘after’ photo… and the easy ’30:30′ diet that sparked a 22-pound transformation

Memorial Day is over and it’s time to get serious.

The notion of a ‘beach’ or ‘summer’ body may be a little divisive these days – with body positivity changing notions of beauty and pushing previously unquestioned ideals aside.

But there’s no denying that we’re entering the time of year when frankly more of us is likely to be on display and, if there’s a gulf between the body we see in the mirror and the one we’d like to see in the pool, it’s more keenly felt.

TikTok and Instagram are crowded with ‘quick fixes,’ miracle pills and dubious regimens that promise outlandish results.

So, what really works – with different lifestyles, life stages and goals?

The Daily Mail spoke to four very different women who shared how they got the ‘summer body’ they were looking for… and have managed to keep it all year round.

‘I looked like my friend’s before photo and I wanted to look like her after photo, so I made some changes’

Natasha Colkmire, 42, is a travel influencer and mother of two kids ages 13 and 10. She has been married for 22 years, lives in Nashville and shares her travels on The Free Life Family.

Before I started travel writing, I used to say as a joke, ‘As long as my husband and I are growing at the same rate, then everything is fine.’ However, two years ago, when a friend posted a before and after picture of herself, I quickly realized that I was her BEFORE picture and I wanted to be her AFTER picture.

I also really wanted to feel better about myself, so I signed up for a seven-week course with a registered dietitian.

The first thing she said was that I needed to focus on drinking water and getting enough protein. I remember she showed me a container of yogurt and said, ‘This has 15 grams of protein so you should eat not just one but two for your first meal.’

She taught me all about counting macronutrients, meaning I kept track of carbohydrates, fats and proteins, to help me meet my goals. I learned how to make great-tasting swaps that were healthier, like having chickpea pasta instead of regular pasta, how to weigh my food and how to enjoy treats without it hurting my goals.

Once we had my diet figured out, I started doing at-home exercises given to me as part of the seven-week course.

I’ve always been physically active. I would run and do barre classes and body weight workouts. When I started out, I was 125lbs, which at 5ft4in, isn’t overweight, but I was still ‘skinny fat’ – thin but not toned. I was a size 4 but when I wore pants, there was a little muffin top and I had a bulge at the back of my bra.

Today, I walk at least 12,000 steps a day and, instead of Pilates, I’ve signed up for the FitBod app. It takes me through progressive overload weight workouts, which means I’ll do 20lbs for three sets and 12 reps and then step it up to 25lbs, for three sets and 12 reps.

I work out four days a week, including three full-body progressive overload workouts, each an hour long.

I used ChatGPT to help me build a ten-minute ‘core crusher’ to help strengthen my lower abdomen and lose my ‘mommy pouch.’ I also do a HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) workout one day a week on my rebounder trampoline, or I’ll play an intense game of pickleball.

This summer we’re taking a family trip to Europe, and I can confidently say that I’m ready for the beaches. I feel stronger, I look leaner and I’m starting to even see some definition in my stomach, something I never thought could happen in this stage of life.

Last night my son told me that my calves look awesome. For a 13-year-old boy to say that makes me feel like I’ve made it in life!

‘I created a plan that would help me and my son get healthy for summer — together’

Meridan Zerner is a registered dietitian who worked at the Cooper Clinic, specializing in preventive wellness, in Dallas for 25 years. Now in private practice, Zerner, 56, author of the forthcoming book The Thoughtful 30: 30-Day Reset for Midlife and Beyond, took her son up on his idea to get healthy in time for summer and beyond.

When Jordan, my now-21-year-old son, came home from college last summer and wanted to try a regimen called 75 Hard, I knew that it wasn’t for me. It’s a self-discipline challenge that you have to strictly follow for 75 days straight, and if you screw up you have to start again.

So, a little over a year ago, I decided to draft my own plan.

At the time, I didn’t feel great in my clothes, my joints were achy and I wanted to feel a little bit more like myself – not my 20-year-old self (I don’t need to look like that), but more self-confident and feeling better in my body. I also wanted my menopausal body to lose 12 to 15 annoying pounds that I attributed to hormone shifts.

I decided we would bookend the day with movement, ideally working out up to 30 minutes, morning and night. We followed the MIND diet, a combination of the Mediterranean diet, which is rooted in plant-based foods, and the DASH diet, which limits sodium.

I created a program in which we were eating 30 grams of protein three times per day (for example, adding chia seeds and a teaspoon of protein powder to my morning oatmeal) and 30 grams of fiber daily, from berries, black beans and chickpeas. We each prepared our own portions depending on our needs and goals.

I also tried for 30 more minutes of sleep, a 30-second gratitude practice and 30 ounces of water times three. Finally, I committed to doing ‘supportive supplementation,’ which included taking a multi-vitamin, vitamin D, a probiotic, collagen and creatine.

The first 30 days were intense more from a scheduling standpoint and getting in that second bit of movement. It took a lot of sticky notes and several alarms on my phone to get into a new rhythm, but it helped that I had an accountability partner in my son.

I lost about a quarter of a pound per week over those eight to ten months. I’m 5ft7in. When I began, I was 147lbs. I dropped down to 125lbs and then realized I needed to loosen the reins a bit and settled at 130lbs, which I have maintained for the last five months.

Since then, I’ve softened the edges of this regimen a bit.

For example, I don’t bookend every single day with exercise and instead take a day off each week. I don’t have the time to be this intense all the time. Yes, I was only looking to drop 15lbs or so, but it made a big difference – my joints feel better, my self-esteem and mood have improved and I have a little bit more pep in my step!

Summer is definitely a motivator. It’s this idea of feeling great in my skin, getting myself a good bathing suit and then looking forward to what’s next.

I feel better in my yoga pants, I feel better wearing shorts and I do feel more confident, but I didn’t do this to look hot in a bathing suit by summer. Feeling healthier is always what will motivate me the most.

‘My injury sparked a total body rebound’

After shattering three ankle bones, tearing a ligament and needing emergency surgery, Scarlett Espinoza, 39, couldn’t do any weight-bearing activity for two months. As she began to recover, she signed up for the 60XT challenge at her local LifeTime gym with the goal of healing, rebuilding strength and getting her summer body back.

My accident in August 2024 changed everything. I was practicing my handstands and, instead of doing one on a wall, I did it on the door leading to my laundry room. The door flew open, catching my ankle between the washer and dryer and shattering it.

Having emergency surgery was just the beginning of the changes in my life because, afterwards, I wasn’t able to do much of anything except go from crutches to my wheelchair and back again.

Eventually, I started physical therapy and, five months after the accident, I started to walk again. That’s when I decided to go back to the gym and see if I could do some very light weights and leg presses. When I heard about the challenge, I felt like it was calling me, so I signed up.

As part of the challenge, I was able to choose from four goal-based strength training plans, each designed with three weekly strength sessions and three cardio workouts. I also completely changed my diet.

I used to love dessert. I’d start my morning with a Cuban pastry and I liked drinking soda. From the start, I cut out alcohol and only drank water.

I’m 5ft56in and in 60 days, I went from 156lbs to 142lbs, boosted my muscle mass by 6lbs and cut my body fat nearly in half -from 30 percent to 16 percent. I not only took part in the challenge, I won it, landing $10,000 in prize money.

I feel so much better. I’m way more clearheaded when I have protein at breakfast, whether that’s Greek yogurt with chia seeds or eggs. I’ll snack on edamame and sweet potatoes. I also focus on high-fiber foods to keep me full.

Now I’m wearing fitted things. I like seeing my muscles when I’m working out, and I’ll admit, when I plan a beach outing, I’ll think about how I need to eat cleaner the week before and make sure I’m not bloated.

I live in Miami, which is big on aesthetics. Even when people go to the store, they aren’t wearing many clothes. But for me it’s not just about looking good. I’ve changed my priorities. I’m not trying to stay thin. I’m trying to build muscle and stay as healthy as possible.

‘A GLP-1 prompted a 96-pound weight loss’

Mother-of-three Elyse Schroeder, 40, signed up with Mochi Health and started taking a GLP-1 in 2023. At the time she was considered morbidly obese and weighed 218lbs. Today, she is 122lbs and has no plans to stop taking the medication.

I’ve been on a GLP-1 twice in my life. I first got one at a med-spa in the spring of 2023, but I was given no direction about how to use it. I stopped taking it after four weeks due to the side effects – I had diarrhea and vomited a few times.

I started taking it again after I went for my annual blood work a few months prior and got concerning results. My blood pressure and cholesterol were high. My doctor also labeled me as prediabetic, which was a huge wake up call for me when my children were just three, six and eight years old.

I was also taking a nap every day because I had no energy. I was binge-eating in secret. I would hit the drive-thru and hide the wrappers in the bottom of the trash. I didn’t know the first thing about nutrition. I thought protein only came from peanut butter.

I felt awful. We live in Hartland, Wisconsin, and my husband and my three kids would go on hikes after dinner, but I would always choose to stay home because I knew I couldn’t keep up. I felt like I was missing out on so much of my life. I knew I couldn’t continue to live like this and needed to get help.

I knew I had to do something. At the same time, I worried I wouldn’t be able to afford the medication. When I heard about the telehealth platform, Mochi Health, I decided to give a GLP-1 another try and was paired with a nutritionist and a healthcare provider who guided me on how to take it.

When I started, I was slow to make any big lifestyle changes. I was learning to eat differently. I wasn’t going to the gym a lot. I took walks with my kids and dogs. Then I tried jogging and, eventually, weightlifting. When your body feels better, you’re more comfortable making changes and you make better choices.

It’s incredible to say that last March I hit 155lbs, my goal weight. And it gets better: once I started going to the gym and fell in love with working out, I lost an additional 30lbs.

Life is so different now. For example, if we’re on a road trip and the kids want McDonald’s, I make better choices. I’m almost embarrassed to admit that my order was once a ten-piece extra value meal with two McChicken sandwiches on the side. Now I get a happy meal and drink water, and it’s an occasional treat, not my dietary staple.

My favorite thing these days is to be active with my kids. We love to play pickleball, hike, swim and play basketball. I truly can’t remember the last time I needed to take a nap and, most importantly, my kids get to live their lives with a mom who is healthy and present.

I recently decreased my dosage, but I’ll be on this medication for life. The binge-eating portion of my brain is still there. When I had to go off the medication for four weeks for a surgery, the food noise came right back – I craved terrible choices and couldn’t stop when I was full.

As for getting my best summer body, I respect the woman who was 218lbs – I was doing the best I could at that moment – but I feel more confident now.

I want to wear smaller swimsuits and cute summer outfits. It’s not about showing off thinness but sharing how proud I am about my toned arms. I want to buy tank tops to show off that strength.