The beach; the thing we look forward to but also our greatest fear. It’s the place to enjoy the sun and sand but also the dreaded debut of this summer’s swimwear and with it the bikini body. But why do we try to desperately shed the pounds just for the summer, instead of trying to maintain that healthy beach body all year round? Let’s avoid this age old fad of ‘yo-yo dieting’ and look and feel great all the time!
Most people will ‘yo-yo diet’ at some point in their lives, in fact celebrities like Natalie Cassidy, Lilly Allen and Kelly Osbourne do it all of the time. But most of these celebrities have spoken of feeling their worst after drastic diets. Putting on and loosing weight quickly can affect our mood, skin, hair and general healthy. So why put your body through that when with just a bit more effort over the year you can keep a healthy weight, look fab and be happy?
Winter offers us the perfect chance to stay covered up in those toasty jumpers, but let’s pretend that this isn’t an option and try to keep up a healthy weight throughout winter. Wouldn’t it be great to feel good all year round instead of putting pressure on ourselves to lose unrealistic amounts of weight for summer?
There are many tips for keeping up a healthy weight (the usual fruit, veg and water spring to mind), but by just being a bit stricter with ourselves we don’t have to go without all together. Substitute chocolate for healthy food and fizzy drinks for squash. Small changes make big differences but by moderating ourselves we can keep a healthy weight and still treat ourselves when we feel like it. Instead of making unhealthy food a necessity make it a luxury! The student lifestyle goes hand in hand with takeaways and drinking, so why not avoid the “I can’t believe I had cheesy chips last night” conversations by making other meals healthier; it’s all got to balance out eventually, right?
All of us at Lancaster have the perfect opportunity to really improve our fitness and weight with the opening of the new Lancaster Sports Centre. Make exercise fun by going to the gym with friends or joining a team when the new academic year begins. Exercise can be a way to see friends and can be – dare I say it- fun. Let’s face it, we all have one friend who will make an exercise class hilarious by going the complete opposite way to everyone else! Zumba anyone? Enjoy the new facilities and make maintaining a healthy weight an every day occurrence and not just a frantic fast near the summer.
Yo-yo dieting may be practical for a week, but those sneaky pounds lost will only go straight back on later when we are not being as careful with what we eat. So why not try and make a new resolution to try and stay healthy all year round and instead of those afternoon power naps in preparation for a night out, wake up your body by visiting the gym!
